Homophobic humiliation by principal

[The Shadow]

Homophobic Humiliation as Punishment.

Two Arizona high school students who were caught fighting faced a controversial punishment concocted by their principal: Either endure a suspension, or sit in the school courtyard holding hands while other students shout and throw homophobic slurs at you.

The message here seems to be that there’s nothing more horrific than being perceived as gay.

Unbelievable. And coming from someone who really ought to know better. Sad that people are supporting him.

[HYHYBT]

I think making them hold hands would be a clever response to fighting, if the school hadn't allowed the slurs.

[Greenday]

I think making them hold hands would be a clever response to fighting, if the school hadn't allowed the slurs.

You can't stop the slurs from coming though. Big group gets together, things get said. How are you to know who said what? And things will be said to the two after they are done being forced to hold hands.

I'm all for creative punishment to get people to stop breaking rules, but this one just wasn't thought out.

[SkullKing]

Since they had the option to take the default punishment, I don´t really have much of a problem with the action from the principal.

The slurs shouldn´t be allowed though.

[Panacea]

Since they had the option to take the default punishment, I don´t really have much of a problem with the action from the principal.

The slurs shouldn´t be allowed though.

It was a threat. A principal is the last person who should be making threats.

[Greenday]

Since they had the option to take the default punishment, I don´t really have much of a problem with the action from the principal.

The slurs shouldn´t be allowed though.

So how do you stop the other students from throwing out slurs? It's a large crowd and it's going to be tough to figure out who yells, "FAGGOTS!" from the back of the group.

[telecom_goddess]

I agree with this: “…this particular incident sends a clear message to gay students. It equates being gay or perceived as gay to punishment, and ranks it along side being thrown out of school. The knock-on effect of this sanctioned bullying will only serve to exacerbate the social ostracism that too many gay and lesbian students still experience in public schools.”

What about kids that are gay? God knows what kind of crap they are going to have to put up with now. Now it's perceived as being ok to ridicule them.

[crashhelmet]

Were the slurs encouraged by the principle or just a byproduct of the mob mentality?

[wraiths_crono]

OK I know this story, 1. it was their choice to hold hands or be suspended, they both picked to hold hands 2. the slurs came from the students not the staff at all.
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region...-as-punishment
Local news article with better information in it.

[smileyeagle1021]

Leaving out the question of the homophobic slurs, let's start with the more basic question.
Why is the principle not following his own established rules?
The rules were, students fight, they get suspended... what exactly made this one fight out of the probably dozens of fights that will happen each year that they got special treatment in the first place for it to go wrong?

[Greenday]

Leaving out the question of the homophobic slurs, let's start with the more basic question.
Why is the principle not following his own established rules?
The rules were, students fight, they get suspended... what exactly made this one fight out of the probably dozens of fights that will happen each year that they got special treatment in the first place for it to go wrong?

Because if the suspensions weren't stopping, he's gotta do something that'll make kids want to stop.

[smileyeagle1021]

Because if the suspensions weren't stopping, he's gotta do something that'll make kids want to stop.

Having time to think about it, I'll agree that yes, if suspensions aren't working to try something else is a good idea... however, forced public humiliation has never been shown to be effective. If he had said, punishment isn't going to change you, but I want you two to sit down with the counselor, hold hands, and have a conversation about what it was that you were fighting about to begin with and find a peaceful solution, then yes, that would be a unique and useful solution.
But the whole, hold hands in front of the whole school is on par with the latchkey employee who thought that the best punishment for a student who pantsed another student was that they'd have to drop their own pants in front of the rest of the latchkey kids... I'm sure you can guess how that ended for the latchkey employee (I'll give you a hint, we never saw her again).

[SkullKing]

It was a threat. A principal is the last person who should be making threats.

Could you pelase elaborate? I don´t see how he made a threat. There was a default punishment that would be applied, he was kind enought to give them an alternative.

THEY decided to take it.

[Jester]

As an Arizonan, I am familiar with the high school in question, Westwood High, which when I myself was in high school, just about everyone referred to as "Wastewood." Yes, people make fun of rival high schools, but Westwood was never really our rival in any way; it was just a name applied to them because, generally speaking, they were viewed as an inferior school, and their students were known to be dropouts and druggies. One of my good friends actually tranferred from Westwood into my high school in Tempe (she lived in Mesa, which by definition is out of the district for all Tempe high schools) largely because of the inferiority of Westwood, and the fact that her mother wanted her to get both a better education and into less trouble than she was likely to have happen at Westwood.

Was this an overgeneralization? Of course. The people applying the nickname were teenagers, after all, and they are generally not a group known for their tact or attention to actual facts. But it did reflect the general perception that Westwood was not a place you wanted to go or to send your kids. And in the article, it is mentioned that the principal had been brought in to improve Westwood's academic performance and general reputation, so it sounds to me as if "Wastewood" is still alive and well in the Valley of the Sun.

The above is merely an aside to perhaps give non-Arizonans a bit more insight into the situation. This is not to say I defend the principal's actions, however, as I do not. But, considering the high school that is at the center of this story, and its reputation, I can't say I am very surprised.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

I think that if the principal wanted this to be used a punishment, he should of set up a situation where any student who throws gay slurs would be punished as well or told to stop. A teacher, or several teachers, keeping watch and culling the gay slurs.

Personally if he wanted to do a "feel good, love not hate" punishment style, it shouldn't have been public. No one else needs to know what happened. Give them a project that can be hung up in the hall about what kind of damage physical altercations can do, and then attach how much money it would cost them to get fixed up at a hospital. (Ambulance rides can drain the wallet all by themselves!)

But that's just me. I prefer having them learn the consequences of fighting/their actions rather than just giving them an arbitrary punishment that the real world won't do. If someone fights in a bar, the police aren't going to make them sit in the bar holding hands. They're going to arrest them, and probably send them to the hospital depending on how bad the fight got.