Valedictorian's speech cut short by school district because she mentioned God...

[Charade]

discuss...

http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5042317&nav=15MV

Personally, the skoool was waaaaaay out of bounds rejecting her first speech. So she committed it to memory and used that one in her speech. As soon as she deviated from the new "approved" speech and mentioned God, they cut off her microphone (as they said they would). They said she couldn't reference God because it was proselytizing. Yeah, OK.

What a nice way to ruin such a special moment for her.

A local high school graduation ended with roars of protest after school officials turned the microphone off right in the middle of one of the valedictorian's speeches. The microphone cut out after the valedictorian at Foothill High made reference to God.

The family says the District's decision isn't fair. Brittney McComb says she's a straight A student, number one in her class, and is headed to Biola University in the fall.

Brittney attributes all of her success to God. Trouble is, she tried to explain that during her speech which the school district said they told her beforehand was a no-no.

"God's love is so great."

This was part of the speech that Brittney McComb says she so wanted to give on graduation night. But because it did have numerous references to God and Jesus Christ, the school district cut off the mic, leaving her practically silent. That's when many people stood up and booed, showing their support.

Now, the day after, McComb says she got nothing but support from her fellow students. "All of my classmates came up to me and were so happy. They told me they loved me and I said God's awesome because I couldn't have done it without him."

McComb says the district reviewed her speech beforehand, just like everyone else. But she says they sent it back with the last half chopped off.

"They said it was offensive, it identifies a particular religion," explains McComb. "I really think it's free speech; we're American, we should be able to handle that."

We asked her father about that.

Rob McMillan: We have freedom of speech, but what about separation of church and state?

Michael McComb: They brought that up, and they say they were going to give us some documentation to prove why she could say that in her speech.

They said the documentation was ambiguous. That was when Brittney said she took it upon herself to go ahead and give her speech as written, no matter what the consequences might be.

The district tells News 3 there are guidelines for what valedictorians can and can't say, but they didn't get back to us on our request for an interview. A district spokesperson told us they were not trying to avoid interviews on this subject and that multiple graduation ceremonies prevented top administrators from giving us an interview.

The school district maintains it was simply following procedure at the Foothill Graduation.

We're told students are required to submit their speeches in writing ahead of time and they're told if they deviate from the script at all, their microphones will be cut off. The district maintains that's exactly what happened in this case.

 

[transparant]

I heard her interviewed yesterday. What a great kid. It's truly pathetic that her school did this to her!

 

[golfgal]

I REALLY, REALLY wish people would look up what separation of church and state really means. It does NOT mean you can't mention God in a graduation speech, it does NOT mean that a teacher can't wear a cross necklace in school. It means that the government can not force you to practice a certain religion, nothing more, nothing less. She had every legal right to say what she wanted to say, she wasn't forcing her religion on anyone she was simply stating her belief that God helped her through school. Nothing wrong with that. I bet the ACLU gets involved in this one.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

That is beyond ridiculous. I don't even know what to say.

 

[AprilShowers]

One of the reasons my children don't attend public school.

And we have a GREAT public school system.

 

[cardaway]

Without seeing what she wqas going to say I don't think we can say if anybody was right or wrong. Clearly there are things everybody could agree should not be said in that speach, religous in nature or not.

 

[Sparx]

I REALLY, REALLY wish people would look up what separation of church and state really means. It does NOT mean you can't mention God in a graduation speech, it does NOT mean that a teacher can't wear a cross necklace in school. It means that the government can not force you to practice a certain religion, nothing more, nothing less. She had every legal right to say what she wanted to say, she wasn't forcing her religion on anyone she was simply stating her belief that God helped her through school. Nothing wrong with that. I bet the ACLU gets involved in this one.

Thank you fro posting this! It was created so we wouldn't have a "national religion"

and I'm not even christian and I can say that anyone ever thanking their god has never offended me. nor has being wished a merry christmas or anything like that. and a cross definatly doesn't offend me or anyone I know.

Live and let live.

 

[ducklite]

I have to side with the district. They have rules, and she knew that. They didn't approve her speech and she knew that. Had she been speaking of Allah or Jah would everyone be as sympathetic? It's highly doubtful. She should have come to a compromise with the district before graduation, instead of just going ahead with a speech that she knew the consequences of giving, and then gteting upset when those consequences happened. Just another example of the entitlement mentality at work in America.

Personally I wouldn't have an issue with her making a one line statement saying that her belief in [a generic] God helped her when things got tough. But IMHO anything more than that is inappropriate and yes, prosteletizing. Her speach had many references to God and "Jesus Christ" and IMHO that has no place at a public school graduation ceremony.

Frankly, I'm not even thrilled with benedictions being given by local ministers at these ceremonies, because they are always done by a protestant minister, and there's seldom if ever representation by a rabbi, imam, priest, or Tom Cruise. (adding a little humour )

Anne

 

[NewJersey]

I'm about socially liberal as they come, but I don't see a problem with her thanking God. I thank God everyday that I turned out to be the fine human being I am today. As long as she wasn't focusing her whole speech on the fact that she's a Catholic, or what have you, and discussing the faith and adding church doctrine or things like that to the speech, there's no problem in thanking God for helping her get to where she is.

However, she shouldn't have taken the rules of the district into her own hands, which seems to be why the microphone was cut off.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'm with ducklite on the action that took place.

We just had a thread a few weeks ago over the 6 or 7 valedictorians with a shared speech and the last girl insisted on going last and then planned her own speech that either added to or was completely different from what was submitted and rehearsed. And consensus was that it was inappropriate of her to do that (And her religious comment was directed at the audience instead of herself).

This is no different. The young woman was not "punished" per se for WHAT she said--she was "punished" for not following instructions and the censors were on standby and she knew the consequences.

Now I think it is rediculous that a child cannot thank God for his influence on their life--something short simple and sweet. However, it isn't fair to others that are present to be preached to. ("I thank God for what he has done for me" is fine...adding "and if you had God in your life blah blah blah" is not fine).

But she got punished for not reading her approved speech and that is all that happened.

Now the censoring of the speech and if they were being too darn persnickety or not is a separate issue and without knowing what her original speech was supposed to be, it is difficult to accurately weigh an opinion on the actions of the district prior to the ceremony.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I have to side with the district. They have rules, and she knew that. They didn't approve her speech and she knew that. Had she been speaking of Allah or Jah would everyone be as sympathetic? It's highly doubtful.

I'd have no issues if a student spoke of Allah or any other deity.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

What a nice way to ruin such a special moment for her.

Her special moment was defiance.

The district ruined her speech prior to the ceremony by censoring her speech. (though we don't know the full contents of the original).

She ruined her moment on her own during the ceremony by defying the decision.

 

[NewJersey]

I'm with ducklite on the action that took place.

We just had a thread a few weeks ago over the 6 or 7 valedictorians with a shared speech and the last girl insisted on going last and then planned her own speech that either added to or was completely different from what was submitted and rehearsed. And consensus was that it was inappropriate of her to do that (And her religious comment was directed at the audience instead of herself).

This is no different. The young woman was not "punished" per se for WHAT she said--she was "punished" for not following instructions and the censors were on standby and she knew the consequences.

Now I think it is rediculous that a child cannot thank God for his influence on their life--something short simple and sweet. However, it isn't fair to others that are present to be preached to. ("I thank God for what he has done for me" is fine...adding "and if you had God in your life blah blah blah" is not fine).

But she got punished for not reading her approved speech and that is all that happened.

Now the censoring of the speech and if they were being too darn persnickety or not is a separate issue and without knowing what her original speech was supposed to be, it is difficult to accurately weigh an opinion on the actions of the district prior to the ceremony.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Without seeing what she wqas going to say I don't think we can say if anybody was right or wrong. Clearly there are things everybody could agree should not be said in that speach, religous in nature or not.

I'd have to agree with this. There's not enough details to know whether the valedictorian was truly proselytizing or just making a passing reference to God. If the school district has a rule against proselytizing in a graduation speech and that's what she was doing, then I agree with school officials cutting her off.

 

[cardaway]

Now I think it is rediculous that a child cannot thank God for his influence on their life--something short simple and sweet. However, it isn't fair to others that are present to be preached to. ("I thank God for what he has done for me" is fine...adding "and if you had God in your life blah blah blah" is not fine).

Agreed. Big difference between a speech and a sermon.

 

[Quinn222]

She ruined her moment on her own during the ceremony by defying the decision.

Exactly. She was told what would happen, she defied the rules and suffered the consequences.

That's not to say I agree with the rules. But I wouldn't really want a kid who is part of a Satanic church talking about that at a commencement but if you allow her to talk about her God then he/she could talk about his too. So an argument could be made either way.

Not to mention for a Jewish person having to listen to her say the name of G-d over and over again would be horrid, it's a real offense to them to speak the name of G-d aloud.

 

[robinb]

She knew what she did was against the school rules and she now has to live with the consequences of her actions. If turning off her microphone ruined her graduation she brought it on to herself.

 

[poohandwendy]

I think it is a shame that schools cannot allow valedictorians to give their speech without censorship. We are talking about a speech coming from the best of the best...sheesh, if people cannot handle hearing the top student's personal thoughts and reflections for a few minutes ...that is just sad.

The only reason I think a valedictorians microphone should be turned off is if they start using profanity or other words that are not allowed to be used in the school hallways (per the student handbook).

 

[SamRoc]

This is getting beyond ridiculous. I think its great this girl did what she wanted. I am sure she didn't go on and on, she thanked God and there was probably some nervous ninny sitting there waiting to cut her off. Whats next, everytime an Oscar winning actor accepts their award on Oscar night and thanks God, will the Academy turn off their microphones and yank them off the stage?

 

[salmoneous]

Personally, I don't see how anyone can form an opinion on the appropriateness of the school boards actions without seeing the speech that was rejected.