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| Bill of Rights, National Archives |
High school students do not leave their constitutional rights at the door. Nor do school administrators teach good citizenship when they suppress ideas that make them squirm. Instead of dreading controversy, school administrators (and parents and their communities) need to encourage students to express themselves.
Teresa Kinney, the 2023 valedictorian of the Poseidon Early College High School, a joint program of Brookdale Community College and the Neptune (New Jersey) Township School District, wanted to talk about bullying and sexual abuse during her school years. The program’s valedictorian customarily speaks at the graduation ceremony. Kinney proposed to say in her speech that:
“What I went through was awful and nothing I wish upon another person. However, because of it, I found my love for advocacy.”
She also intended to say that her personal experiences gave her “fuel to persevere.”
What better message could graduates want to hear?
Kinney explained that she intended to use her experiences in her future career to help other people. Unfortunately, after previewing a copy of the speech, school administrators called an urgent meeting with the student and her mother and decided not to let her speak.
Even worse, it is reported that they did not even call her out as the program’s valedictorian. (She was recognized in the printed program.)
Now, certainly, many people would rather not hear a controversial speech during a graduation ceremony. Indeed, readers’ comments on the article mostly endorsed the school’s censorship, although some thought the issue could have been handled better.
Nevertheless, by suppressing the student’s speech, the school administrators decided that tranquility should triumph over truth while unpleasant truths are best ignored.
In my long experience in education, most people intend to sleep through graduation speeches, cheer for their graduates, collect their diplomas, and go home. In general, many people want ceremonial speeches to be tame and uninteresting. I entirely disagree. Throughout history, ceremonial speakers have made important points about public values and policy. Instead of celebrating Kinney’s citizenship, the school administrators chose to walk on the road of cowardice.
Kinney explained that she intended to use her experiences in her future career to help other people. Unfortunately, after previewing a copy of the speech, school administrators called an urgent meeting with the student and her mother and decided not to let her speak.
Even worse, it is reported that they did not even call her out as the program’s valedictorian. (She was recognized in the printed program.)
Now, certainly, many people would rather not hear a controversial speech during a graduation ceremony. Indeed, readers’ comments on the article mostly endorsed the school’s censorship, although some thought the issue could have been handled better.
Nevertheless, by suppressing the student’s speech, the school administrators decided that tranquility should triumph over truth while unpleasant truths are best ignored.
In my long experience in education, most people intend to sleep through graduation speeches, cheer for their graduates, collect their diplomas, and go home. In general, many people want ceremonial speeches to be tame and uninteresting. I entirely disagree. Throughout history, ceremonial speakers have made important points about public values and policy. Instead of celebrating Kinney’s citizenship, the school administrators chose to walk on the road of cowardice.
School, above all other places, should provide a safe place for people to exchange their ideas. If a speech makes people feel uncomfortable, so much the better.
Sadly, the schools’ personnel learned the exact wrong lesson from this incident. Superintendent Tammi Crader said that, “This unfortunate experience has taught us a great deal as it relates to process.” But what did it teach her? “Going forward,” she said, “all speeches — students and adults — will be due at least one week prior to graduation. This will allow ample time for discussion should the speech contain sensitive information that may require vetting or reworking.” In other words, the administration plans to get better at censorship.
Afterwards, Kinney commented that “I still think that it was mishandled.” She continued, “I'm trying to move past it.” She intends to study this fall at Middlebury College.
I predict that Teresa Kinney will have a long, wise, and productive future. She will no doubt soon leave narrow-minded people in the dust as she zooms past them. She did learn some painful things about human nature from her experience. I hope, but do not expect, that the school administrators will, some time before they retire, begin to understand their duty to encourage young people to express important but controversial ideas. I hope, but do not expect, that communities will learn the same lesson. Schools often fear controversy. Yes, school communities often reject controversy and painful ideas. But isn’t that the problem?
Like most communication professors, I am enthusiastic about free speech rights. After all, speech is what we do for a living. When people fear ideas, maybe it is the people, not the ideas, who are causing the problem.
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Earlier Posts about School Censorship:
The school needs to be concerned about bullying, and those who attend graduation should not be surprised that it occurs at their school. Let the girl speak!
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