Today's Pamlico News has a front page article reporting a case of alleged "cyber stalking" at Pamlico High School.
It's hard to tell from the report, but it seems as though some students at the High School created an entry on a social networking site pretending to be the targeted school official, and advocated obviously absurd actions on the part of students. It's hard to say what the content of the site was which so offended officials, since the site has been removed.
The great mystery is why school officials chose to make this a criminal matter. It seems as though the students in question intended the site to be a parody or satire.
It might have been used as a "teachable moment." It is now a wasted opportunity. Lawyers are involved. Too late.
A classroom discussion might have examined and discussed the literary history of satire, beginning with Jonathan Swift's "Modest Proposal." It might have examined acceptable boundaries of satire and parody. It might have examined issues related to the internet.
Classes studying History, Government and Civics might have examined the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. This is one of the fundamental sources of our freedoms, that seems no longer as valued as it once was. In a 2005 study, high school students seemed to favor more government censorship. The First Amendment Center conducts an annual study, that unfortunately reveals widespread ignorance about and lack of commitment to this most basic freedom. The James L. Knight Foundation conducts detailed studies about the future of the First Amendment. The results aren't reassuring.
It doesn't help when people in authority get carried away.
About forty years ago, many young Americans wore T-Shirts emblazoned with the slogan: "Question Authority."
In a democracy, that's an essential practice.
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