FOX News has been reporting on a lot of these cases lately. A student in California is suing his history teacher for making remarks in class that the student found insulting. Chad Farman, the student, recorded James Corbett, the teacher, implying that churchgoers are more likely to commit murder and rape than other people. The student’s parents say that they might drop the lawsuit if the teacher is ordered to take sensitivity training and to apologize to any students that he offended.
Ugh!!!! I do not support this lawsuit. Even though it is tempting to say that turnabout is fair play, I don’t think Christians should react to being offended in the same litigious way as the politically correct elite. I think the teacher overstepped his bounds, and I think his logic is questionable, but I don’t think a lawsuit is necessary or even warranted. Unfortuantely a federal district judge thinks that it is.
What’s wrong with appealing to the school district officials and then dropping the matter if they fail to respond? The teacher caused the student no actual harm, as did the student whose free speech rights were violated or the student who got a zero for an art assignment that included Christian material. The kid will live through it, as my mother used to tell us whenever we were slightly injured or a bit offended.
On the other hand, the teacher was insensitive. The same people who disapprove of so-called anti-gay rhetoric had better back this student. I think that the teacher should voluntarily apologize or be ordered to by his superiors.
4 responses so far ↓
Mervi // April 3, 2008 at 10:58 am
R /Man
Sorry, but I will disagree with you on this one. Our children who attend the public school systems need a way to bring some sanity back to this system. For the lawsuit to really end up before the justice system, I hope not. I do think the teacher needs to be asked or told to be more aware of his choice of words.
Mervi
http://passthisway.blogspot.com/
renaissanceguy // April 3, 2008 at 11:28 am
Mervi, that’s fine, if you are consistent.
Would you also support a lawsuit against a Christian teacher who happened to say that he thinks that homosexuality is a sin? Would you support a lawsuit against a teacher for saying that the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian principles?
languagelover // April 3, 2008 at 10:35 pm
It’s a tough thing, RG. Once you allow any lawsuits for something a teacher says in class, you pretty much open the door for teachers to be sued for anything they say in class. I’d hate to defend the examples you gave, but can you actually write down what a teacher can and can not say? This particular lawsuit really pushes the ridiculous because the teacher only IMPLIED something. If teachers are going to be sued for the implications of what they say, we may as well close all the schools now.
Sure, all good teachers try to be careful with what they say, but with students able to easily record every word said in class, but can any teacher say with 100% certainty that they have never said anything that might be considered offensive to a group?
renaissanceguy // April 4, 2008 at 11:07 am
LanguageLover, I personally don’t agree with the lawsuit. I think all such lawsuits are wrong. I would only support a lawsuit by a student if the student was actually harmed and could not get satisfaction any other way.
My comment to Mervi was to ask if he is consistent in what he thinks on the topic. I feel that I am consistent, because I do not support any lawsuits for being merely offended by people’s words.
And you are correct in pointing out that probably every teacher has said something, sometime, that offended some person or group.
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