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Frequently, fliers rile--Parents unhappy over content
Many parents have expressed concerns over a recent anti-abortion flier distributed by Auburn Middle School students, as reported in the Oct. 29 Times-Democrat. But none were as upset as a couple of mothers whose children's names had been included on the flier as advocates of a proposed silent protest against abortion.
Four student names were printed on the flier that stated a belief that abortion is wrong. Two parents indicated they were not given the opportunity to give consent to include their children. They didn't know the students' names were printed on the fliers until they were distributed.
"I don't want my family in any way to be associated with that flier," said Angela Lody. "My son didn't know his name was on the flier. He didn't even know the definition of abortion."
That seemed to be one of the complaints voiced by many parents: the age-inappropriateness of the subject for 11-year olds. But the issue boils down to students' freedom of speech.
According to Elizabeth Ewing, staff attorney and director of legal and policy services for the Virginia School Boards Association, the issue keeps many lawyers busy nationwide.
"Distribution of materials in school is not at all uncommon," Ewing said of the issue in general. "Often, community groups want to distribute materials through students' backpacks. But it's different when it's a student who distributes materials, and it's different depending on the court's jurisdiction."
In Fauquier County, students may distribute information to other students before and after school, during lunch and on the bus, as long as it is not during instructional programming.
"Basically at the moment, the Tinker standard is used," Ewing said of current case law.
The Tinker standard looks at freedom of speech in relation to whether a student's actions is "keeping a school from doing its job," resulting in an immediate disruption, such as school riots endangering the physical well-being of students.
"It is the disruption of the educational process; it's unrelated to the content of the speech," Ewing said
"School districts really try to be responsible members of the community," the VSBA attorney added. "They are involved in every aspect of community life. They are often caught between distributing all kinds of materials to distributing nothing."
She suggested that such an experience can be very valuable. "The community may decide where that line [of distributing all or nothing] can be drawn," but added that sometimes the alternative might not be liked, either.
In regard to using other children's names on a flier, Ewing said, "those children may have learned a valuable lesson on using names without permission."
E-mail the reporter: afelts@timespapers.com.
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