Wednesday, November 25, 2009

What the meep is going on?

Some high school administrators in our country are trying to save students from the subliminal evils of The Muppets and boys playing shirts and skins basketball.

In Danvers, Mass., the high school principal has banned students from saying the word, "Meep!"

Why? Glad you asked.

Thomas Murray, the high school principal, said the word was going to be used as a planned disruption organized on Facebook. Murray says the warning was needed because students didn't heed his "reasonable request" to stop the meeping.

The Salem (Mass.) News reported parents got an automated call about "Meep!" from Murray. He warned them that students who said or displayed the word at school could be suspended.

What exactly is "Meep!"? It was a word favored by bungling lab assistant Beaker of "The Muppet Show."

How in the world is that enforceable? Isn't that a little bit of overkill. That's one four-letter word I never thought would be an issue.

And on the subject of overkill, let's give it up for the new administration at Chattooga (Ga.) High School and their censorship of the 2009 high school yearbook.

Some students paid $50 in advance to pick up yearbooks in September, but that was delayed until earlier this month because new administrators had to remove the offending pages. Students discovered pages 11 through 14 had been literally cut out of their yearbook.

What was it? Guys slyly hiding the middle finger in a group shot? Curse words that some fun-loving editor tried to sneak in?

Nope. It was photos of shirtless boys playing basketball in a PE class.

The yearbook was dedicated to former Chattooga teacher Dr. Alan Perry, who supervised the yearbook for the past 27 years. After he retired in May, a new principal and yearbook advisor didn't like what they saw, so before distributing the yearbook to students, they began the two-month process of cutting pages 11-14 out of every yearbook.

Perry told WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tenn.: "I'm very disappointed with the decision to mutilate a wonderful yearbook--a decision that was completely unnecessary. There was absolutely nothing inappropriate about the pages that were cut from the book; I am offended by the lack of regard shown for the students pictured on those pages, the students who worked on the yearbook staff last year, and most of all, the students who purchased the yearbook."

Students and parents were upset, but new principal Jimmy Lenderman defended the actions of protecting the virture of the students.

"Inadvertently, the school administration did not approve the 2008 -2009 yearbook in its entirety," he said. "There were several photographs that did not reflect an appropriate image of the school or our community. The pages which contained the photos were removed."

The school has offered to refund students who already paid for the yearbook, but the damage has been done.

"No deal," said Beth Wentz, a parent. "The right thing to do would be to give a new book with all the pages in it. These pictures are no worse than anything I've seen in other yearbooks, ever since I was in school 30 years ago."

Boys playing basketball with their shirts off? And yearbooks are slashed because of that? Wow.

No comments: