Teacher says he lost course for using Iraq photos (Abu Ghraib)

[matcom]

<snip>

A Bellingham High School teacher sued his principal and school superintendent yesterday, contending they unfairly took away one of his classes because two parents complained that students had to study graphic photographs of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.

One parent complained to school officials about nudity in the photos after a class in May, while the other said the images from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq portrayed America in a negative light, teacher Brian Newark said yesterday.

Newark, 51, said he believes he was removed from the class as retaliation for his protest of an order to stop using the photos for assignments. He had been teaching the current events class since 2000. Newark will teach history this year and plans to return to work tomorrow to prepare for the school year.

''If public schools are going to be subjected to this kind of censorship, only bad things can happen," he said.

In the suit filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston, Newark's lawyers contend that school officials violated his right to free speech.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/08/25/teacher_says_he_lost_course_for_using_iraq_photos?mode=PF

[jeff30997]

1. "portrayed America in a negative light"

No? Really ? :eyes:

[struggle4progress]

3. Trail of Tears? Philadelphia, Mississippi? Never heard of 'em. eom

[coalition_unwilling]

2. Not only 'free speech' but 'academic freedom' violated

Altho I'm unclear whether concept of 'academic freedom' exists in any meaningful sense at the High School level.

Anyone care to comment on that?

[TexasBushwhacker]

5. As a former high school teacher

I would say that academic freedom doesn't really apply at the high school level. That's more about college professors and tenure. FWIW, I think this teacher is lucky he still has his job. That may not be fair, but that's the way it is.

[coalition_unwilling]

13. Hmm, I suppose it was tenure I was thinking about

In other words, once a HS teacher has "tenure", are they protected under the principle of academic freedom. Or is "tenure" for HS teachers a less absolute condition than for college profs?

[nolabels]

15. I am just lucky I didn't want to graduate from High School

I never believed in the things they wanted to tell me. I had always felt they were not really telling the whole truth on things. Seems that older I get more I realize that instinctual assumption was correct. It seemed the school had a bigger need for me to parrot the rhetoric of the state.

The establishment does not really want something like learning about locating resources and tools that could worthwhile or important. Memorizing exactly what they tell you to remember instead of why it would be important to remember is what they do. Even something that I might have been able to use later in my life was always to take a back seat. I had a few good teachers that were hip (seems I learned a lot from them).

Mostly though it all kind of felt like they were shoving you through some machine, molding people into them societal automatons they so need. The mantra was do what is requested and make sure do not ask any questions. In essence telling people you don't really want to know anything about what they are not telling you because it will only mean trouble for you. Treating people like some kind of lap dogs with idea that route method was all that is important


Yes I am bitter, with all this so called learning going on, all they can find is new ways to go to war. So what the hell is so good about the education they are teaching anyway?

[KayLaw]

4. Why?

What's the big deal? Just a few bad apples blowing off steam. Fraternity stuff. When they go to college the kids are going to see that stuff anyway.

:eyes:

[LiberalBushFan]

6. This is not middle or elementary school....

These kids are almost or are already draft age, so the photos are not inappropriate. If it was middle school or elementary school of course I'd agree he should be fired. In this case the principal should be fired.

The students should be allowed to see anything our troops might see.
The same reason why we all agreed F 9/11 should have been PG-13.

[Lerkfish]

7. screw whether the photos themselves are inappropriate...HELL...

WHAT THE PHOTOS DEPICT IS INAPPROPRIATE!!! Holy cow have we become the weirdest people on the planet.
To actually commit the acts of the atrocity is nothing horrible, but to view photos of it IS?

bizarro world, man.

[progressivebydesign]

10. Ah.. those puritan values. Death is okay, NUDITY is WRONG!!

These parents have it sooo twisted.

[hang a left]

14. Which brings up the provision in the "No Child Left Behind" act

that makes turning names and information on high school students to recruiters compulsory.

[lostnfound]

8. If this were any other class besides 'current events', I'd question..

his judgment, but these certainly qualify as current events. Selecting them for use in a writing class, or even government or history class, would seem inappropriate IMO especially for high school.

But for 'current events', this issue is of central and immediate importance.

[progressivebydesign]

9. We studied the Holocaust in 7th grade.

It was GRAPHIC and disturbing, and it left a mark on me forever.. but a mark that makes it impossible to ignore abuses and wars. This was in the late 60's, when parents still cared about their children learning the lessons of war. Now, all some parents seem to care about is hiding the TRUTH so that America doesn't look depraved.

[NorthernSpy]

11. some people's 'patriotism' is really just narcissism

One parent complained to school officials about nudity in the photos after a class in May, while the other said the images from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq portrayed America in a negative light, teacher Brian Newark said yesterday.


"Portrayed America in a negative light"...

So, in other words, our self-image is absolutely the most important thing in the world. We must sacrifice human lives and even the most basic ethical principles to prop up the national ego. It would be worth hiding a million atrocities, if that spared us a single prick to our vanity.

That's not patriotism. That's a character disorder.


Mary

[LeftistGorilla]

12. see no evil....

A current events class no less.....

[zbdent]

16. If I were a teacher today, I would spend the money and get

a camcorder set up in the best corner of the classroom.

Enough eight-hour VHS tapes for each year.

Then, when a parent whines about how their "adorable cherub" is being harassed by the "liberal teacher", pull out the tapes and have them watch their waste of sperm acted out in class and disrupted it . . .

[MAlibdem]

17. I am not entirely suprised...

Bellingham is in our league...the town is generally regarded as the closest thing to hickville emass has.

I am disappointed, however, because it reflects poorly on my state and is a disgrace to academic and personal freedoms.

[yellowcanine]

18. Students signed up for "Current Events" classes should be prepared

to see disturbing pictures from time to time. Often in these classes a daily newspaper is used as a starting point for discussion. What is the teacher supposed to do, cut out the offensive pictures?

[leesa]

19. Complained about the nudity...so typical of uptight conservatives

They can NEVER see the forest for the trees.

[gratuitous]

20. Pssst! Don't tell the uptight conservatives

But underneath my clothes? I'm as nekkid as a jay bird!

[tlcandie]

21. So, if he wanted a paper with documentation presented by each

student before the class on the Iraq invasion...we did this on the Vietnam War but as a debate...and A STUDENT BROUGHT THE PICTURES as documentation would it have been an issue?

EDIT: I think not. This is suppression of the truth because he is a teacher and not presenting the ideas the parents want their child to see regarding the illegal Iraq invasion.