Racial Slur at school....

[Shelton123]

If a teacher hears it, detention at my school, whether it was meant to insult or not.

Of course, most of the time it's not meant to insult... IMO it's not that big of a deal unless someone truly means it. I mean, I'm a kid, and we're going to grow out of it, because that's how the brain works. As you get more mature, you stop doing those things... I think. I guess it's possible that if it's not stopped now, it can never be stopped. So I don't know which side I'm on.

Actually a pot stirrer who enjoys the controversy. Getting kind of boring actually.

Okay, off topic, but I was seriously about to respond to this furiously thinking that it was a post I made... even though I didn't remember posting in this thread before

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

If the racial slur precedes an assault, this could be labeled as a "hate crime" and cause problems much bigger than just a name calling.

Oh yes, would anyone like to borrow this?

 

[spaceacewannabe]

To answer the OP's question, it would depend on the situation. Some kids will test a new word they heard, not meaning or understanding---that would be a verbal reprimand and then following up (this is more the littler kids).

A kid who really is being inflammatory...at the junior high, we had a student who was not allowed in the hallways with other students---had to be escorted from class to class and didn't get the freedom of passing time. So I guess loss of social privilege there. He was actually a really nice kid and got past it quickly---he was a minority and had come from a large community where race relations were much more strained (and ethnically-tied gangs were an issue), so he was immediately on the defensive. After he had been at school for a while and realized that nobody had an issue with his ethnic and racial background, and that he didn't need to posture and intimidate for his own safety, he was totally cool, made friends, and the hallway problems were over.

Actually a pot stirrer who enjoys the controversy. Getting kind of boring actually.

 

[FireDancer]

I know I will now get the flames thrown at me but as someone who thinks speech should be as unrestricted as possible I would think it should be left to the parents to punish the child at home. With very few exceptions I don't think any speech should be limited, even mean speech. If the speech is used to incite a riot, which a slur alone is not, it should not be punished by any arm of the government including education. As a pp stated, we have become far too sensitive about words and should go back to the "sticks and stones" days.

This issue came up in another thread about the people of the park page and that it should be shut down because it is mean. While I agree it is mean being mean is a side effect of free speech. If it is slanderous or libelous it should be taken down via the courts.

Any word is just a word. Words alone cause no damage. They only have the power they are given by us and if we don't give them any power, as I don't, then none will hurt or offend you.

Now, that doesn't mean that the parents shouldn't take action, and I would if I had a kid call someone a racial slur or gay slur, but that is because I as the parent choose to do it. I'm sure this isn't the popular opinion but I believe in the freedoms we are granted and am willing to take the bad with the good. I have very libertarian beliefs and I am not one of those people that only holds onto their beliefs when it is convenient or suites them.

If the racial slur precedes an assault, this could be labeled as a "hate crime" and cause problems much bigger than just a name calling.

Yes, in that case the crime is the assault and the word is used to show intent. When speech moves past speech into action the rules change. It is the action in this case that caused harm, not the word in isolation. I don't think speech should be absolute and think slander or hate speech is punishable but hate speech IMO has to go beyond simple word choice into intending actual harm as in a rally or public declaration of intent to do harm because of race, religion, sexual preference, etc.

 

[Cornhusk]

Any word is just a word. Words alone cause no damage. They only have the power they are given by us and if we don't give them any power, as I don't, then none will hurt or offend you.

Now, that doesn't mean that the parents shouldn't take action, and I would if I had a kid call someone a racial slur or gay slur, but that is because I as the parent choose to do it. I'm sure this isn't the popular opinion but I believe in the freedoms we are granted and am willing to take the bad with the good. I have very libertarian beliefs and I am not one of those people that only holds onto their beliefs when it is convenient or suites them.

Just out of curiousity, have you ever had a racial slur told to you?

 

[FireDancer]

Just out of curiousity, have you ever had a racial slur told to you?

Probably. I don't remember everything I've been called because I don't dwell on them.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Well that persons reply is shocking especially looking and reading a certain post. Wow! Jo

 

[TheZue]

I'm not sure what would happen at my son's school, but I hope it would be at least a couple days suspension. They need to learn early that isn't acceptable.

Here's my outing as a gaming geek, but I used to run a raiding guild in World Of Warcraft and the whole thing almost fell apart because one member called an African American member of our guild the n word. We ended up imediatly kicking him out and trying to convince the person who was the target to stay in guild along with all his friends. The next two years I had to listen to the guy I kicked out whine about it because his real life friends were all still in guild. So he really didn't get that it was a big deal before and I think he would have rather learned that lesson in school than trying to find a guild for a couple years.

 

[disfan07]

I have not been subject to racial slurs but...

My two best friends and I are jewish. In our elementary school we were the only ones out of about 150 students in our grade who were jewish. There was one girl who was in our class 5th-8th grade who was a real witch.
All 4 of those years, the holocaust was discussed at some point during history class (tolerance lessons, WW2 lessons, etc) and everytime it was part of the lesson, we knew she was going to get suspended soon because with no fail, she made some comment and/or threat that warrants suspension. So every year, for 4 years, she was suspended at least once.

She suddenly disappeared after 8th grade. No idea what happened to her and in reality, I might sound like a terrible person but man there were many things that I wished would happen to her.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well...that's a hard one. I mean...school is a place to learn, so one would hope that there was some teaching going on. Obviously this was a blank spot in the speaker's education. Would be nice if they were given education about it.

And it's hard for me to reply since any slurs for my heritage don't hurt my feelings and might not be that bad...I'm mainly Irish.

DH is Korean, and he found that utter shame and embarassement worked well one day in high school. He was on both the football and the A/V teams. He was friends with everyone. Except this one guy just took issue with Dh's mom's heritage, and wanted to make something of it.

So for days this guy was yelling at DH, calling him a word that is a shortening of the name of one Asian group, but not *his* Asian group. DH ignored him for days. And finally, during passing period, in front of everyone, DH *projected his voice* (oh yeah, he was in theater, too) and said (using the right words) "I'm a 'G-word', not a 'J-word'...if you're going to try to insult me, at least get it RIGHT."

And the dude never said anything to DH again. And the silly thing is, even if the guy had called him the G-word for a Korean person, it's not an insult in and of itself, as it simply means "person" in Korean. So it's even more NOT an insult, regardless of the intent of the other person.


And of course in DH's situation, if a teacher had heard and cared, they might have thought that DH should be in trouble! Which is why it's so important to take context into account.

Just realized...education was given by DH to the other student. He probably never made that mistake again, and probably never even "tried" to make the mistake again.


Hopefully they won't *just* punish unless this is a repeat problem!

The lack of one in your previous posts is the reason you're perceived as a "troll".

Wanted to "second" that response.

 

[Cornhusk]

Probably. I don't remember everything I've been called because I don't dwell on them.

No. I mean, a racial slur not normal little teasing. Something that is intended to make fun of you because of your race.

 

[Disneyland1084]

 

[FireDancer]

No. I mean, a racial slur not normal little teasing. A basic statement that is intended to make fun of you because of your race.

I don't know. I might have, I might not have. It wouldn't have left an impression.

That is irrelevant though. What has happened to me or what I do isn't the crux of what I am saying. There are lots of things I think people probably shouldn't do but should be free to do. I've been made fun of for being short but I don't really care and am the first to make fun of myself for it. I don't want being made fun of for being short to be any more banned then racial, religious, or any other slur or ridicule. I'm Polish and Italian (well, Sicilian) and I do not care one tiny bit if someone calls me a Pollock, Dego, WOP, Ginny, or anything else. I feel they all fall under free speech when they are not accompanied by action, call for action, or intent to cause actual harm, not just hurt feelings. I don't think people have a right to not having their feelings hurt.

There is a vast difference between what people should do and what people should be allowed to do. Far too often people feel that just because they don't do something or find it wrong other people should have to feel the same way. There are also way to many people that change their opinion on a subject once it hits close to home, I don't do that either. It happens all the time on threads here. It happened on the "Ban the R word thread". You saw all of these people who said they don't normally want words banned but this one is different. No, it isn't. No word should be banned, even if it hits close to home.

 

[Cornhusk]

I don't know. I might have, I might not have. It wouldn't have left an impression.

That is irrelevant though. What has happened to me or what I do isn't the crux of what I am saying. There are lots of things I think people probably shouldn't do but should be free to do. I've been made fun of for being short but I don't really care and am the first to make fun of myself for it. I don't want being made fun of for being short to be any more banned then racial, religious, or any other slur or ridicule. I'm Polish and Italian (well, Sicilian) and I do not care one tiny bit if someone calls me a Pollock, Dego, WOP, Ginny, or anything else. I feel they all fall under free speech when they are not accompanied by action, call for action, or intent to cause actual harm, not just hurt feelings. I don't think people have a right to not having their feelings hurt.

There is a vast difference between what people should do and what people should be allowed to do. Far too often people feel that just because they don't do something or find it wrong other people should have to feel the same way. There are also way to many people that change their opinion on a subject once it hits close to home, I don't do that either. It happens all the time on threads here. It happened on the "Ban the R word thread". You saw all of these people who said they don't normally want words banned but this one is different. No, it isn't. No word should be banned, even if it hits close to home.

Once again, you are proving your inadequency. Whereas you may not have had a racial slur against you, there are many who have and it hurts. It seriously hurts, you can stick and stone it. Whatever. However, a racial slur is really something different then teasing. This of course is your "opinion" yet it is based on what little knowledge you have. The "free speech" concept has been used so many times but there is actually a point to when a slur can be a verbal harrassment.A child should have every right in school to not have to be called the N word or any other term that describes race. Schools do not allow for young people to make fun of one another and guess what, this is under their control. Simple. Cold cut, it is even in a school's handbook and if a parent does not want to oblige by this, then guess what? They don't have to put their child in that institution. It hurts when someone uses a derogatory term to describe your race and I hope you never have to go through that experience.

 

[FireDancer]

Once again, you are proving your inadequency. Whereas you may not have had a racial slur against you, there are many who have and it hurts. It seriously hurts, you can stick and stone it. Whatever. However, a racial slur is really something different then teasing. This of course is your "opinion" yet it is based on what little knowledge you have. The "free speech" concept has been used so many times but there is actually a point to when a slur can be a verbal harrassment. It hurts when someone uses a derogatory term to describe your race and I hope you never have to go through that experience.

I never said I didn't have a racial slur against me, I just don't remember if I did. I also don't remember being born but I was.

As for the bolded part, no, it's not. You may choose to perceive it differently but it really isn't. If it makes you feel better you can call me a racial slur right here on a public forum and I would ask the moderators to leave it up. I don't want your freedom of speech infringed either and I really wouldn't care.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this. You are as entitled to your opinion as I am to mine. See, everyone wins.

Again, because this seems to get lost in the shuffle, I don't use these slurs, I just don't want to dictate which words are allowed and which are not. Words are just words, the only power they have we give them. I am talking about a public school. I think most people would say that religion shouldn't be taught in a public school because it violates some interpretations of the first amendment. How is it that the exact same amendment is then ignored when talking about free speech? Selective enforcement of the constitution is far more offensive to me then any word.

 

[shortbun]

Are we yelling this word in anger or is it being used casually amongst friends?

 

[suzanna1066@comcast.]

Free speech is one thing, but kids using racial slurs is a form of bullying in my opinion and bullying should never be tolerated. If my child were called a racial/gender/religious epithet, I would expect the school to take action.

If my child ever hurled a slur at another kid, hell hath no fury---she will regret it, I promise you.

 

[Mermaid02]

I homeschool, but I would hope absolutely none.

Yes I am saying that.

Not even a reprimand. I never once said I thought they were fine and good. But nice to try and put words into my mouth.

Exactly

I just wanna say that I for one am VERY glad that you homeschool....

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I'm trying to picture school where the kids have full constitutional protections.

Teacher: Johnny, is that a gun?

Johnny: Back off, @#$@% (statement protected by 1st amendment). It's a AK-47 assault rifle, which I have every right to keep and bear (2nd amendment).

Teacher: That's enough insubordination from you. You're going to detention.

Johnny: Whoa! Not until I've gone before a grand jury (5th) and had a trial (6th). From now on, I'm not answering any of your questions without an attorney, which I expect you to provide, being present.

 

[sunnyday123]

You know, I'm just wondering if Firedancer or Testifyoncruises has ever cracked open a history book.