A Lebo Citizens reader submitted this comment under an earlier post, but in my opinion, is deserving of a whole new thread.
The paper was distributed today in school, complete with a response to the "opinion piece".
Here's a copy of the article:
http://i.imgur.com/8wam2wU.jpg
A few thoughts from my perspective.
I would like to thank the eighteen students from the editorial board of the Devil's Advocate, who took the time to write such a thoughtful response to this blog. I would like to clarify that the name of this blog is "Lebo Citizens," not "Concerned Citizens of Mt. Lebanon."
If the comments are anonymous, how do the students know that adults are writing them? Could it be disgruntled or bullied freshmen?
Is it satire? Later in the response, the column in question was considered as "an opinion based on the writer's observations." The DA response indicated that it was "a humorous examination of life in the school." Satire, observation, or examination of life in the school? Which is it?
Dr. Steinhauer is your superintendent and deserves your respect. Timmy hasn't earned my respect. My tax dollars pay for his pizza lunches, his phone from where he sends his mindless Tweets of which I am blocked on his Twitter account, his excessive salary and benefits, and his idiotic blog on the District website, funded by yes, you guessed it, my tax dollars. Thankfully, IT has Timmy's Twitter feed available again on his blog. Timmy has lied under oath at a Municipal hearing, again funded by my tax dollars. Your superintendent shows no respect toward taxpayers who are cheerfully and willingly footing the bill to your education, not to mention the $100 million+ high school renovation. I am calling him Timmy, no doubt a name he has been called at other points in his life.
Finally, promise me this, Students. Keep this article and read it in five or ten years. You may be reading it from our perspective, and understand why your "opinion piece" garnered such spirited debates here on Lebo Citizens.
I hope to get a better copy of the article and post it here some time this weekend.
68 comments:
Are you seriously arguing with High School students now?
So let me get this straight. They defend the writer but then acknowledge that they should apologize for offending people with the published article.
You can't have it both ways. Either defend it and say it is protected speech written as satire (or opinion if you want), or apologize for the content of the article because you realize people likely felt bullied by it (as evidenced by your apology at the end).
The article wasn't poorly written, but it was in bad taste. That writer probably learned a lesson about how impactful words can be. And if that's all that came out of this, then great.
Nobody on this blog suggested the writer or paper lacked the right to publish the piece. The arguments here were whether words that can be so hurtful (as agreed to by the paper's own editorial board) should be published by a school paper when bullying and political correctness are in the headlines each day.
I like how the paper is set up. The adviser hopefully just asked the writer if she was really sure she wanted to publish the article and moved on.
I do find it interesting that a "news organization" (as the editors call their paper) failed to get the name of the blog right.
3:44 - People on this blog did argue whether the paper had the right and authority to publish the piece.
And you can can defend an action, but also acknowledge and address unintended consequences. Not that this is relevant, but when you frame a debate or write a research paper, you acknowledge the caveats and arguments against your thesis.
No, they didn't. Elaine argued that the student adviser had the right to pull the opionon piece. She certainly had strong feelings on whether it was proper to publish the article but I don't see where anyone argued that the student didn't have the right to write the article. The dilemna on everyone's mind was whether it was the right thing to do.
In this case moral and legal acceptance are not the same thing.
It's unfortunate that there can't be more of an overlap among the blog commenters, the school staff/administration, and the students. However, I think it's good that even if there isn't overlap, at least there was an argument. Communities that don't argue either are lucky enough to agree or have already given up.
I'm sorry...but the response to this student editorial is, in my view, somewhat catty and unnecessary.
This blog called out the editors, and their advisor. Whether it was by name, or by inference, the paper and it's integrity was questioned...and even a person livelihood was called to terminated. They responded, and quite well (even if the title they chose was not the "official" one used by the blog...but the group that was formed in 2010 to oppose the HS renovations which evolved and made this blog home).
Many of you didn't pick up the satire in their piece, but I can smell a hint of sarcasm and denial of fault in the response from grown adults here...even if it wasn't intended. They called the blog out for being negative and slandering their advisor and editors...and you didn't like that.
I applaud this blog and Ellen, like 8:56, for the fact that opposing views are allowed to be posted and discussions occur...but at this point, arguing with children on the internet is getting a bit out of hand. If it were one of your children having blows taken at them like this online by an adult, I bet there would be quite the kerfuffle.
Could we let this trivial argument go and stop fighting with children. Let's show them how to act with a positive demeanor and with some maturity.
The fight has always been with the administration and how they handled this. The parent had concerns about the article. Timmy's first words out of his mouth were "I'm surprised that you have my emails." Timmy immediately took an adversarial position with the parent.
I am sorry that you think this is trivial. A parent's concern for his or her child or any child for that matter, should never be considered trivial. The fact that this subject received 236 comments tells me that there are a few who disagree with you. The school district would rather sweep this under the carpet, but the community deserves to hear the response from the Devil's Advocate. I have a feeling that the DA students' response was written with my readers in mind. So I published it here.
ELAINE
Mrs. Gillen,
I'm one of the editors who collaborated on the response in this month's issue of the Devil's Advocate. I appreciate your concerns about the piece, and please let me address them.
First, I apologize that we misrepresented the blog in the piece. That was certainly not our intention. And, to the commenter who questioned our status as a news organization due to the oversight, no newspaper is perfect. We report news in the high school, therefore we are a news organization.
To your first question: we cannot know for certain whether or not the anonymous commenters were adults. You're right on that front. However, the language that was used indicated to us that adults were writing the anonymous comments. For example, the commenter on the last blog post who likened our writer's piece to abusive parents (an example used in the response) used the phrase "my very first real job." Additionally, the blogger who said that our writer should not be admitted into college mentioned that they were a graduate of Mt Lebanon "within the past 20 years."
To your question on satire/opinion/humorous examination: in my opinion, the three are not mutually exclusive. Satire could be based on a person's opinion from what he or she experiences in his or her everyday lives. Now, that examination of the satirist's life is blown out of proportion close to the point of being outright absurd, and in our opinion the language used in the original piece falls within that category. All of this falls under the realm of opinion, as well. So, I don't think the three phrases are as polarized as you pointed out.
To address your point about Dr. Steinhauer, it is my personal belief that every person deserves at the very least some respect from everyone. If everyone operated that way, a lot of conflict could be avoided. Obviously you have a long list of complaints against Dr. Steinhauer, and that is your right. In fact, I applaud you, because without complaints there is no way to move forward in a democratic society. However, there are polite and impolite ways to bring about such complaints. I don't think calling him "Timmy" is one of the polite ways.
Also, to everyone stating that we cannot defend our writer and apologize simultaneously, that is not the case. We had to defend the integrity of our writer, and we had to point out that she was well within her First Amendment rights to write the opinion she did, but at the same time the freshmen at Mt. Lebanon are our audience as much as the seniors are. So, if any of them felt threatened by a piece in the paper, we have every right to apologize for any emotional damage the piece had caused. Both are valid statements, and we can still defend our writer while assuring people that we meant no harm and apologizing to those who felt harmed inadvertently through a piece in the DA.
Finally, we do understand that you are looking at the issue through an entirely different lens than we are. I'm sure you've seen much more in life than we have, and I'm sure our views will change as we age as well. We certainly aren't so narrow-minded as to think that nobody has different opinions than we do. Our issue stems from the unwarranted attacks on our advisor and our writer. Disagreement is fine, in fact it's encouraged, but when it crosses into name-calling and slander, then we all need to take a step back from the issue.
Hopefully that is an adequate response to your concerns.
The editorial board surnames may be an indicator of the misrepresentation of your blog, Elaine.
Yeah, I picked up on that, 8:17 AM. There are some familiar last names.
Elaine
You know, 8:17 AM, the editorial staff would have been in middle school or even elementary school when we were using that name for the petition asking to cap the high school project renovation to $75 million. We weren't against the high school renovation, just wanted it to be scaled back.
I think there is some baggage hidden in all of this.
Elaine
Elaine, they aren't above using their kids to push their agendas. Its been done before...What the Kluck !
OMG - now you have gone too far.
To suggest that a young, hard-working, teenage girl who is just trying to graduate and move onto the next phase of her life is either complicit in or an unwitting pawn in local political issues, simply because she is the daughter of a poster you disagree with is, quite honestly, disgusting and should be beneath you.
Before you paint me into a certain "against Elaine" camp, consider this - I think your blog is an important forum. I doo not agree with turfing the fields; wrote MANY MANY letters and signed appropriate petitions to stop the escalation of high school renovations. I also spoke out against the Middle School renovations and was mortified at the TERC curriculum when one of my children piloted it in 5th grade. I voiced my concerns at the time to the curriculum supervisor and the implementation head. But, right now I am SMH.
9:46 AM, there are 18 kids on that board. The response was from the collective group. Just what are you accusing me of? The original opinion piece was written by a young lady I do not know. All I agreed with is there are names I recognize who were listed on the response. So back off, pal.
Elaine
I was responding directly to the 3 posts that preceded mine, and none other.
9:46 am, the point that I think Elaine and others are trying to make is that the DA students were too young to remember Concerned Citizens of Mt. Lebanon. This Blog has always been Lebo Citizens.
http://bloglebo.blogspot.com/2010/11/lebo-citizens-blog-launched.html?m=0
Elaine has "jumped the shark" with her lambasting of high school students who addressed her with due respect at Mrs. Gillen.
This blog, while being informative in the past, is now laughable.
Thank you, 10:23 AM. This blog has always been Lebo Citizens. Calling it Concerned Citizens of Mt. Lebanon is a dead give away. Don't assume that I am talking about a poster I disagree with.
I don't appreciate your inaccurate assumption.
Elaine
Lambasting? Really?
Elaine
Right on the front page of your Lebo Citizens blog you reference "Concerned Citizens of Mt. Lebanon" so it isn't some obscure reference that some nefarious parent would have to feed their kid to get a dig in on you.
Sorry, but I don't see it on this blog anywhere.
Elaine
BUSTED! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Right on the frontpage of this site http://www.lebocitizens.com/Lebo_Citizens/Home.html), which you run and link to from this blog, the "Concerned Citizens" blog is mentioned in the first five words.
So yes, you have it referenced very prominently on a site you maintain. Not this one, but whatever.
If you are going to play the semantics game, I guess that's a battle you will win. However, the fact is that it was a minor oversight, I'm sure, by the students who--you should be happy to know--must be reading your other site.
The students specifically said the spirited debates were on the blog, "Concerned Citizens of Mt. Lebanon." The students know the difference between a blog and a website. My website is called Lebo Citizens, as well. There is no such thing as the semantics game when it comes to web addresses. There must be a a real weakness in our education system when it comes to citing sources. Nice try, 1:31 PM.
BTW, they aren't reading the other website. I know who is reading it.
Elaine
OK, now that we have that out of the way, this thread is about the Devil's Advocate response to an "opinion piece" approved by the administration. Parents expressed a concern. What is the teaching moment?What have we really learned here?
Elaine
Hey 1:31, where does it say Concerned Citizens blog?
BUSTED AGAIN!
The title "Concerned Citizens of Mt. Lebanon" was the name of the group who circulated petitions asking for reasonable spending on the high school renovation. The DA response looked like a lawyer wrote it, it takes one to know one. The goof on the title was a dead giveaway.
"Teach your children well" is something that would go a long way here in the bubble.
to the anonymous editor at 11:50 do you think "Timmy" should show R-E-S-P-E-C-T when he speaks to parents? Has the original question the parent asked ever been addressed( the safety issue)?Do you think "Timmy" knows what R-E-S-P-E-C-T is?
Wow..it sure does sound like a lawyer wrote it and I'm not one to know one. I hear the helicopter circling...
For those readers who are unaware of the origin of "What the Kluck," here is some background.
The Town-Hall Meeting
and
Protest peaceful at Mt. Lebanon meeting
Look closely at the photos. They say that pictures are worth a thousand words.
Elaine
This comment is directed to adults, not to students. How many times has the response from parents and bloggers been referred to as a "small public outcry", with emphasis on the "small"? I believe the choice to describe unfavorable responses to how the administration handled this situation with the parent/headmaster as a "small public outcry" is oppressive, dishonest, and seeks to minimize concerns from parents/residents. Again, not directing this concern toward students, as I believe this statement was made by Dr. Steinhauer prior to the DA written response.
The superintendent, building principal, advisor, author, and editorial board need to take their noses out of the air and learn the lesson that political correctness trumps satire and bullying.
Some free speech has been codified as hate speech and is now illegal. Being a bully is now being fought out in the newspapers nationally about an incident in the NFL.
Being bully has been problem in our school district for at least 30 years. Now the kids of former students that were bullied are being bullied and the whole incident is being covered up by the superintent who relays on the building principal who relays on the teacher to do the right thing. The students involved are reliant in the teacher and the teacher is culpable of POOR judgment.THE TEACHER SHOULD BE REPLACED
If the school won't do anything about bullying and intimidation then the school newspaper should be shut down and employee salaries, pensions and healthcare should be put to better use. SHAME ON TIM AND THE SCHOOL BOARD FOR CULTIVATING A POOR EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT BY NOT PROPERLY ADDRESSING THE BULLYING ISSUE. THIS HAS TO STOP NOW TIM!!!!!!!
P. S. SOME OF THE SURNAMES ON THE EDITORIAL BOARD ARE THE ATHLETIC BULLIES IN THIS TOWN.
Freshman parent/anonymous blogger here. The response was as audacious as the original piece.
12:32 - Stop being so histrionic. Every time something goes a little awry, and public funds are involved, there are calls for people to lose their jobs, healthcare and pensions. These are people's livelihoods. The article may have been "off", but it's not hate speech. Certainly it's not worth destroying someone's life over nor is it worth dismantling the entire student newspaper - which has enriched the lives of many, many kids. I suggest - that you are a bully. You dislike the school administration (fair enough), and you're willing to hurt people to prove your point. Shame.
12:32 PM, the teacher is not at fault here. She actually got the student to tone it down a bit. Before it went to press, she asked the editorial board one last time. The board wanted it published. The principal did not have a problem with it. So what was she to do? This is ultimately Timmy's fault. He was one of the last to see the article. (See the RTK.) Perhaps he had more pressing issues such as what kind of toppings he wanted on his pizza.
Elaine
Timmy's admission is in Part 2 of the RTK. He finally read it on Monday morning, October 14. See page 8 in Part 2 of the RTK.
Elaine
*12:32 AM. Sorry.
Elaine
Yes, Dr. Steinhauer was wrong for publicly stating he found the piece funny, without regard or concern for students that might not find it funny, at ALL.
And the board dropped the ball when it comes to being an advocate for ALL students.
From the board's web page on operating principles.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Advocacy: We are advocates for high standards and expectations of excellence for all students.
Team Members Pledge To:
Advocate for ALL students at all times.
Ensure effective and efficient operations to prepare ALL students to be successful in a global society.
Foster an environment that supports the education and growth of students at their highest levels.
Maintain and advance our high quality educational process to retain the esteem and respect of the community.
Establish the parameters under which the district operates by creating policy consistent with law, community expectations and educational excellence to achieve goals represented by the strategic plan.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The board used ALL the capitalized ALLs above in their original. As loyal subjects, we just do not have any idea what their definition of ALL is.
It was fine that the student wrote this piece and the paper published it, after ALL, it is based on the student's "observations."
According to the DA, "The column in question was just that, an opinion based on the writer's observations."
Rather than laughing ALL the way to the bank, the superintendent could have pondered where and when, any or ALL, such observations might have taken place. This piece might have been intended as a wake up call for ALL, that ALL is not well at ALL, in the bubble. Instead the superintendent got ALL twisted up in ALL the wrong matters. Demonstrating that individual respect does not matter at ALL when you have a early bird 5 year contract and ALL.
And the board should have advocated for ALL students, the ones exercising their first amendment rights and those whose rights might not be respected at ALL.
ALL is lost in Lebo.
IMO, the response seems to have been written by a bunch of spoiled brats. I am sorry if that sounds harsh, and I'm sure that they are not ALL spoiled brats, but that is the impression I am left with after reading the response to the original opinion piece.
Since moving to Lebo, I have gradually come to the realization that the "cake eater" reputation is really not too far from the reality here in the bubble. There is a sense of entitlement and superiority among far too many of the citizens, young and old alike. It's not pretty.
On a more positive note, I thought the anonymous post on this blog by one of the editorial board members was much more respectful than the official response in the student newspaper. Perhaps ALL is not lost in the bubble after all.
The only problem is that post was clearly written by a parent and most likely an attorney, not the child.
The bubble problem is magnified by have-not public officials who are more interested in being elected than doing the right thing. Right Mary?
Elaine why all the negative comments about Dr. Steinhauer. He doesn't run the DA.
3:29 PM, post or response?
The DA response was not written by a student.
I agree with 1:54 PM. "I thought the anonymous post on this blog by one of the editorial board members was much more respectful than the official response in the student newspaper."
Just Sayin' at 9:33 AM nailed it.
Elaine
Was there any growth in understanding among the students, teacher, administration as a result of this "small public outcry?".
Ernest Hemingway's advice to an aspiring young writer:
"Then get in somebody else’s head for a change. If I bawl you out try to figure what I’m thinking about as well as how you feel about it. If Carlos curses Juan think what both their sides of it are. Don’t just think who is right. As a man things are as they should or shouldn’t be. As a man you know who is right and who is wrong. You have to make decisions and enforce them. As a writer you should not judge. You should understand".
Come on, people, let's stay focused on the topic at hand: picking on high school kids who had the nerve to get the name of this blog wrong!
Or was it calling the kids who wrote the response piece in the Devil's Advocate liars because it's so obvious that they didn't write what they signed their names to?
It's so difficult keeping track of the theories and slights!
Nervous 9:39 ?
Is this even real life?
Are we STILL arguing with children over this response? I am with 9:46am in being quite shocked that things have been taken to this level.
The fact that some of you think parents and school administration wrote this page, and then had students lie by signing their name to it boggles my mind.
I think everyone needs to take Ellen's own advice and look back on what you are all doing. Maybe with a few days of separation you'll realize that you're all going off the rails a bit.
PROPS to the HS student who, again, eloquently stood up for themselves. You give me hope for the future.
9:39 PM must be delighted with your comment, Jeremy. He is the one who is saying that we are arguing with children. No one is arguing with children.
What part of "This is ultimately Timmy's fault" is unclear, 9:39 PM? I realize that you are just trying to hijack this thing and deflect.
Please reread Just Sayin's comment at 9:33 AM, Jeremy. It sums up what is going on here. Also, my name is Elaine, not Ellen. Thanks.
Elaine
Excuse me, Elaine. If we don't share their viewpoint, we are arguing with children? Is this the latest parenting technique in Mount Lebanon? We aren't allowed to disagree with seniors? Is that more "satire" from "You and I are not equal"?
A parent came to a board meeting with a legitimate concern, as all parents have when they come to a school board meeting. She received the typical treatment from Elaine Cappucci and Timmy. Disrespect. The lesson learned here is that no one should express concern for her child without running the risk of being publicly humiliated by the superintendent, school board, students, and parents. The RTK revealed that three parents and an unidentified headmaster were concerned about the tone of the "observation" as it is now being called. Hundreds of comments later, parents still have the same concerns, but our badass superintendent and school board don't give a rat's ass. We're seeing the same behavior on the commission. So disappointing.
Elaine
Don't forget at least one teacher had concerns as well. Ms Tigh, she had the courage of her convictions to step forward. From her we learned her freshmen students did not appreciate that op-ed either.
Hey Timmy found it FUNNY so that is ok. Perhaps he should just be the superintendent for the Senior Class since he clearly does not value the Freshmen Class.
DeLuca? DeLuca?
Why does that name ring a bell?
Maybe this issue isn't just about bullying but also about how kids learn to write and think about different perspectives. Likewise, perhaps it is about how our schools teach children to write. I asked my son's writing teacher if he could bring home his writing from middle school so that I could possibly provide him with some input, editing advice, etc. In our family, writing skills are highly valued. I was told, however, that he was not permitted to bring his writing work home and that I could see it at the end of the year.
12:23 PM, I know what you are thinking. I don't believe there is connection to our campaign manager. Jeremy is a really nice guy who heads Mt. Lebanon Percussion.
Elaine
Wasn't saying that he isn't a nice guy or that our Campaign Chair isn't a nice person as well.
Just because she's on the campaign doesn't make her evil or bad.
Just curious if there was a link.
OMG 3:21 PM, I never said that the campaign manager was evil or bad. I love how people try to twist things.
Elaine
Just found out about this while issue. Read the original article and found it wholly innocent. Read the editorial and found it refreshingly unapologetic. Read the stuff here and found it inexplicably hostile.
The issue is how the superintendent and school board handled the parents and the headmaster. Why is this so difficult to comprehend?
Elaine
Elaine, you misunderstood.
I just wanted to be sure that late viewers didn't accuse anyone of insinuating that any DeLuca is a bad person.
The original inquiry of the DeLuca name was simply because here in the bubble it is hard to tell the players without a scorecard.
Since Jeremy DeLuca's comment seemed to side with the administration there was a curiousity if there was a deeper reason.
Apparently not.
Neverless, no one is accusing anyone of anything.
The podcast to tonight's meeting has been uploaded on to Lebocitizens.com There were no comments from residents. All's right with the world.
Elaine
Elaine, You are missing the point, the issue is seniors bullying freshman. Dr. Steinhauer was not involved in bullying although he should have handled the parent's complaint instead of talking about his email.
Unfortunately 12:38 AM, the administration and school board dodged that bullet, unless someone has contacted an appropriate government agency. As far as the administration, school board, editorial staff, and some Lebo Citizens readers believe, this is a nonissue. It is over and done with.
Elaine
I am confused about your political stance. You attempted to get the Republican party to back you when you ran for office, yet you are constantly looking for some "appropriate" government agency to look at something you don't like. This is a typical "progressive" (what we used to call liberal) stance on everything. Someone up there knows better than we stupid people whose only power is to elect people we agree with.
9:10 AM, I have been called many things, but you are the first to call me a liberal.
There is no need to deflect anymore. The school district is content in categorizing a student's observation piece as satire. I have been belittled by high school students, as well as the usual bullies here on Lebo Citizens. It is over and done with. Why don't you move on?
Elaine
Why don't you move on. Dormont is just down the road. Since you hate everything about this town, you would do everyone a favor, including yourself, if you moved.
Thank you, 10:38 AM.
Elaine
So Elaine's a liberal, 9:10 AM? I guess that makes the people you voted for Nazis.
Those who run the DA are a great group of students and are held in high regards amongst their peers and teachers alike. I am a Mt. Lebanon High School student and I can assure you that no harm was done with the publishing of either article. I have no interest in journalism, and, truthfully, I don't enjoy English either(this is a disclaimer, as I'm sure a response to this comment will be one correcting my spelling or grammar). Regardless, I'm personally offended that any of you would actually believe that a group of students aren't capable of creating a well written piece defending their position on their own. A lawyer? REALLY??? You are all being incredibly distasteful in your comments and I do hope that you find something better to do with your lives than continue spending your time debating over something that, despite your age, you clearly know nothing about.
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