Gay highschooler suspended for ripping pages out of Bible.......

[dimbear]

http://nation.time.com/2013/11/05/bullied-gay-high-schooler-suspended-for-ripping-pages-out-of-the-bible/

Isaiah Smith, an openly gay 18-year-old senior at Birdville High School in North Richland Hills, Texas, was suspended for three days last week after ripping pages out of a Bible in class.

Smith says that he tore the Bible while trying to make a point to his classmates about bullying. Last Monday, Smith told the Star-Telegram, his classmates started bullying him in Spanish class by telling him he was going to hell for being gay. Smith, who had his Bible with him, started tearing out pages of the Book of Leviticus, which he said many classmates quote when they taunt him.
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dimbear: nowhere in the article is there any indication that the bullies were also suspended, as far as I can see. Disproportionate and unfair.

[Kelvin Mace]

1. It's his Bible

he can tear any damn page out of it he please.

[rug]

3. In a classroom?

Smith provided his discipline slip to the Star-Telegram. It stated that the nature of the problem was “distraction and disruption in class by tearing up Bible in class.”

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/11/01/5298379/birdville-student-suspended-for.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

[Kelvin Mace]

4. Perhaps,

but then the bullying wasn't a distraction?

School is siding with bullies. Standing up to bullies should not be a punishable offense.

[rug]

5. The OP doesn't say what happened to the bullies. Hopefully more than a 3 day suspension.

But in the zero tolerance atmosphere of most public schools these days, this suspension is predictable.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. That's the kind of infraction I'd expect detention for

Maybe it's a cultural thing; in my British schools, suspension was a serious punishment that went on your permanent record.

[rug]

7. Generally, principals are allowed to give up to ten days suspension without a hearing.

School records are generally confidential but it can come into play for certain college admissions or jobs that require a deep background check.

Detention is for the most part limited to skipping class or minor infractions.

This incident sounds ugly from beginning to end. He said he was bullied in the class and then he ripped out the pages. I'm surprised it didn't escalate further.

[rug]

2. Here's his suspension ticket.

Isaiah Smith holds a copy of his Disciplinary Referral Form Thursday October 31, 2013 in North Richland Hills, Texas. Smith said he was bullied and that he wanted to show students that there were passages in the Bible supporting homosexuality. (Star-Telegram, Ron Jenkins)

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/11/01/5298379/birdville-student-suspended-for.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

[dimbear]

8. In my view, this deserves the same discipline as tearing pages out of Time magazine.

Would that be three days? If it isn't, the authorities are privileging a specific religion.

[rug]

9. How much time would you give for ripping up Time Magazine during biology lab?

[8 track mind]

10. I used to live right down the street from that place

I once attended the graduation of my neighbors kid at that school and it was like a mild church service. The principal at the time (female, can't remember her name) talked a lot about Jesus and the 12 Disciples during the ceremony. This same principal also allowed a church to use the high school campus for Sunday services. There was an atheist group that protested this to no end. I have heard lots of tales of bullying, police take-downs on campus, while the football jocks roam the halls like gods.


You have to realize that this area is full of churches, to the point that you couldn't swing a dead cat in a circle without hitting one. GW Bush (drunken coke head) is still spoken very highly of because, and i am not making this up, a very godly president.

They are all about the size of small Wal-Mart, with massive flashing LED signs out front usually pronouncing "MR AND MRS ACCEPTED CHRIST INTO THEIR LIVES ON SUCH AND SUCH DATE YAYYYYY!!!!" followed by some random bible verse that you obviously need to know.

The fact that this kid was suspended for ripping pages out of bible (that he owned) while the bullies roam free is no surprise to me. The real reason he was suspended is because he is gay in Super Duper Texas Jesus-Land, and they found a convenient excuse to make it happen. After all, those fine christian kids were doing gods work.

Glad i vacated that state.

[Heather MC]

11. So he ripped paged out of his own antiquated text book

Texas is such a disappointment