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A 10-year-old Coral Springs girl won’t be allowed to sing a controversial President Bush-bashing ballad at her school talent show after her principal deemed it inappropriate and too political.
The song, “Dear Mr. President,” performed and co-written by the singer Pink, criticizes the president for the war in Iraq and other policies, including his stance on gay rights.
Nancy Shoul said her daughter Molly should be lauded for choosing lyrics that are full of substance rather than pop-music fluff. She said the principal’s ban sends a bad message and violates her daughter’s right to free speech.
“If this was a student singing a pro-administration song, no one would quibble with it,” Shoul said.
“This is a fifth-grade student that wants to perform a song filled with lyrics about drug use, war, abortion, gay rights and profanity,” district spokeswoman Nadine Drew said. “This is an elementary school that includes kindergartners and pre-K students.”
The song does not mention abortion. The only profanity mentioned is hell. The drug use refers to Bush’s alleged conduct before he became president.
Why expose kids to the process of forming opinions that deviate from the “official” line? Why let kids examine the content of conformity?
Exactly what I would expect from Florida where schools can’t celebrate halloween with any withes, vampires, mummies or anything else that is “satanic” or even slightly objectionable to any fundamentalist loony.
What have we allowed this country to become?
This reminds me of the Philippine president’s goons accosting a heckling Filipina student.
“Molly should be lauded for choosing lyrics that are full of substance rather than pop-music fluff”
Did they not say this was a song by Pink.
And something about no pop music fluff
#3 — didn’t listen to the lyrics, eh?
While we’re at it, let’s have fifth-graders sing songs about child molestation, violent rape, or maybe shooting at their classmates, or doing drugs! Those things are part of the world too. As long as there’s no actual profanity, it’s TOTALLY appropriate for a FIFTH GRADE assembly.
Right?
Principal to little girl: “Can’t you be more like that nice Kelly Pickler girl?”
I love that song by Pink! It’s about time for artists to finally get some backbone.
What’s happened to our world when it takes Neil Young’s social conscience three years to catch up with the Dixie Chicks?
Maybe she should just sing the national Anthem in Spanish. Surely that would silence any controversy (oops) đ
It no better then teachers that make their students sit through anti Bush videos or forcing them to write anti Bush letters or not allowing students to display the American flag.
Its coral gables, is anyone surprised? I just laugh as I watch those dweebs on I95 driving to Miami every day, complaining about gas prices & rushing back to enjoy their McMansion. Honestly would you expect anything less from suburbia?
C’mon, Paul. The best you’re offering on a Monday morning is a “what-if”? If you’re not careful I’ll repeat my ever-popular Ruud Gullett quote about “what if”.
Make another pot of coffee/
“While weâre at it, letâs have fifth-graders sing songs about child molestation, violent rape, or maybe shooting at their classmates, or doing drugs!”
I agree. Kids should be taught, early and often, to be aware of problems in the world and that they have a responsibility to do something about them.
If the kid wrote the song, then let her sing it. But if she just parrots somebody elses lyrics then she isn’t doing anything for herself or the school.
I think you guys are missing a point here: it’s for a talent show. A talent show. Yes, this girl wants to sing a political song in a talent show in an elementary school. Here’s my question: What talent is she displaying? Writing lyrics? It’s not her song. Singing? Then she can easily sing another song.
I can’t help but think that she chose this song because it sounds smart and would probably get some extra response (just like the artist did). Her singing this song would probably get more votes/points for her political bravery then the kids who actually worked on their acts, even though she probably doesn’t know anything about the issues she is singing about past what that very song talks about.
“No songs should be political.”
You obviously didn’t grow up in the 60’s.
Um, she’s freaking ten! I don’t give a damn if her “free speech” rights were oppressed (which they weren’t). What the hell does she have to say of value?
#11, Paul
Not quite true. Everyone in America, citizens and non-citizens alike are entitled to the rights and freedoms of the constitution. The rights are not absolute for underage children, but they are not inalienable either. In schools, however, the rules change. The school mayprohibit certain conduct if it is detrimental or disruptive to the teaching and good order of the school. That does not give the schools carte blanche to do whatever they want. The students, as well as the school, must still respect the rights of all students and faculty.
Molly would need to show that the principal has allowed pro-Bush songs, speeches, or posters in the school in the past. That might even include a pro-Iraq invasion message from anyone on the faculty or school administration. Once the door has been opened, the school would have a difficult time closing it.
No rights? Ya right, for the wishful thinking maybe.
Um, sheâs freaking ten! I donât give a damn if her âfree speechâ rights were oppressed (which they werenât). What the hell does she have to say of value?
More then you, obviously.
Nice Song,
As far as having it at a talent show, I personally don’t see anything wrong with it. I take it she is a folk singer, and the basis of a goodly amount of folk songs are talking to people in power. She doesn’t mention any SPECIFIC president, however, she does mention some specifics about his life. She could make this a more universal song if she took out the line about whiskey and cocaine. The stanza that contains this line, might even be removed. Had she done that, it could relate to MANY ‘presidents,’ past, present, and future.
Maybe if the principle looked deeper into this song, and suggested something like I did, it would have floated better. I still see it as an abridgement of her freedom of speech. The Supreme Court has ruled in 1971, that students, in fact, have their freedom of expression.
Maybe the principle is a go along, get along type, who wants to avoid confrentation. Most management types I have known are like this. They are Egyptians, living in denial!
Just my dollar three eighty and eleventy three cents!
Have to wonder for a 10 yr old… Her choice or her parents choice for the song?
#15, 17, 19: Irrelevant. Even if she doesn’t have legal free speech rights being a minor, I still like to think in a free society the ability to speak your mind is something that’s taken away with good reason rather than earned. In other words, she should have it by default and there has to be reason for any time she doesn’t. Again, I’m not speaking in terms of law, just on general principle.
You make assumptions about her political ignorance, and even if they are true (which they most likely are) that isn’t by itself a good reason to silence her. We could both come up with lists of pundits who should then be silenced due to ignorance, and we probably would disagree with each other’s choices.
If the principal or whoever doesn’t want preschoolers to hear a reference to cocaine or the word “hell”, that’s certainly a legitimate reason. I don’t find that out of bounds. But I will say that because the criticism of the song is partially inaccurate and misleading, it does strike me as a knee-jerk reaction.
#24 – I’m going to bet that the liberal mommy and daddy told her daughter that the president is a bad man and should sing the song.
What can a 10 year old girl know about the real world? Silly Liberals, songs are for kids
If you follow Paul’s posts you can see when the medication starts to take effect and he becomes somewhat calmer.
“No songs should be political. None of these artists know a damn thing about anything that matters.”
Are you trolling or do you seriously think that all music and art should be mindless pop music.
Does Bad Religion have your permission to write political songs? The lead singer has an Ph.D. in evolutionary paleontology from Cornell. Or can he only write songs about monekys and dinosaurs?
#24, 27: So considering roughly twice as many adults disapprove of the president as approve, and roughly half the country strongly disapproves, there’s no way she could possibly come to a conclusion like that on her own, right?
And your side doesn’t have the high ground on indoctrination.
Underage(18) folks have all the rights of an adult, except, when it comes to parental authority and in a school. Once they enter that school building they lose what rights they do have, schools can cutail speech, and writing, they can have their back packs, or lockers searched at anytime without a warrant. These things have been upheld by a lot of courts as well as by SCOTUS.
But using a bit og generalization, I seriously doubt she picked the song or that it was her idea…..this is the parents or possibly an older sibling. She could be precousious, but I doubt it.
While some may disagree with me, my question and point are simple. Do we want to teach children that censorship is âcoolâ or âOKâ? I have spent most of my adult life defending the freedoms that we enjoy as American citizens. One of those is defiantly the freedom of speech. No matter whether we agree with the statement or not, or whether or not this girl understands the âpoliticalâ statements of this song, it is important to instill that there is a constitution and that it does defend the citizens right to state there opinions regardless of what any other citizen thinks about them.
The Supreme Court said in Tinker v. Des Moines (393 US 503), that students wearing black arm bands to protest the Vietnam War could not be forced to remove the arm bands by school officials. As written in Tinker, “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” However, “[If] conduct by the student, in class or out of it, which for any reason – whether it stems from time, place, or type of behavior – materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others is, of course, not immunized by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech.”
And
In Bethel School v Fraser (478 US 675), the Court ruled that a school was not violating a students rights when it suspended a student for the use of crude language in a speech to a school assembly. Said the Court: “It does not follow … that simply because the use of an offensive form of expression may not be prohibited to adults making what the speaker considers a political point, the same latitude must be permitted to children in a public school… The determination of what manner of speech in the classroom or in school assembly is inappropriate properly rests with the school board.”
So if you think that this does not meet the standard of Tinker, the school is wrong, or if as in the Fraser case, the school board has set a standard that is violated by the singing of this song, I guess the school would be considered in the right. If that were the case, the parents can vote in a new school board that made more appropriate rules.
Well, if I’d been the girl’s production adviser, I think I would have reminded her that dissenting political material is a poor choice to showcase her singing talent. The audience is going to be solidly pro-Bush from kindergarten right through 3rd grade. Our elementary school polls show that the numbers don’t indicate much anti-Bush sentiment until 4th grade, with only the 6th grade being solidly against the war and showing lack of confidence in Bush’s leadership. What can I say–6th graders tend to be rebellious.
If this is a talent contest, she doesn’t have a chance. She should invest in a good baton and sing “God Bless America” like a proper young lady.
joshua, minors also have different ârightsâ when it comes to driving, drinking, marriage, weapons, etc. The limitations do not apply to just schools and parents.
Sorry, but those are privileges, not rights. Privileges are readily regulated by the state, rights may not be.
Wow Milo. You’re always talking about people’s medications. Makes me wonder how you know so much about the effects. You’re probably in league with that person on TV who said that blacks who support Republicans suffer form a mental illness and are repressed slaves or some such.