Nothing teaches kids the importance of following rules like creating pointless ones for harmless fads — protected by free speech provisions of the Constitution (which the school hopefully teaches) no less — that would die out quickly if they said nothing. This will now live on for years and foster disrespect for important rules.
It started like this:
A new four-letter-word has some teenagers in Danvers afraid they might get their mouths washed out with soap.
The word is… meep.
Some say it was those pesky Muppets who started it. Remember Beaker? Some say it was the Road Runner. […] But Danvers High School principal Thomas Murray doesn’t care who started it, he just doesn’t want to hear it on school grounds. Murray called every student’s home with an automated message and sent out a mass email banning the word from school.
“Please be advised that any student who has the letters ‘meep’ on their clothing or uses the words verbally will face suspension from school…the police are monitoring this situation as well.”
The police? Really?
And has escalated with this:
It’s been a long time since I was in high school, but I still remember what it was like to be young, and chafing under what seemed like arbitrary and capricious rules set down by school authorities.
So in solidarity with the students of Danvers High, and on my own initiative, I took about five seconds and sent an email to Principal Thomas Murray ( murray@danvers.org ), Assistant Principal Mark Strout ( strout@danvers.org ), Assistant Principal Cornelia Varoudakis ( cvaroudakis@danvers.org ), and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lisa Dana ( dana@danvers.org ). All of these addresses are publicly available on the Danvers High School website.
My subject line said (in full), “meep.” The body said (in full), “Meep.”
Yesterday I received a reply email from Assistant Principal Mark Strout, which said (in full) “Your E-mail has been forwarded to the Danvers Police Department.”
[…]
Only a complete idiot would try to make and enforce (to teenagers, yet!) a rule that says “You’re not allowed to say meep.” And email a stranger in another state (an attorney, yet!) that there’s (impliedly) something illegal about sending an email that says “meep.”
[…]
In conclusion, meep.
Cripes!
I’ve found that people in the academic field don’t live in the real world. This doesn’t surprise me one bit.
#1: MEEP!
Dave let us know how that FBI interview goes Don’t say meep without your attorney present.
[I’m hoping to be waterboarded only once or twice. — UD]
The kids do it precisely because it makes the teachers and admins crazy.
I sent them my own e-mail. I have included the text below. Feel free to use it as a go by.
Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep!
DERP!
Cursor_
Next thing you know we will hear from the MPAA for copyright issues using the word Meep!
How do people like this get (and keep) their jobs??
Thomas Murray, you are the definition of an idiot.
Meep! Meep!
http://urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=meep
Meep: can mean anything you want it to. /// and goes on to list 78 more specific examples most of which are humorous and inoffensive.
“Kiddies, you are here to learn and be socialized. Now sit down, shut up, and conform to arbitrary stupid rules.” /// and so the process begins.
We are the knights who say “MEEP”!
Living proof of what Mark Twain said….
First God created an idiot.
That was for practice.
Then he created a school board.
I’m wondering if the Administrators realize how childish this makes them look.
Looks like the fun is over:
Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:
murray@danvers.org
Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 550 550-The MECnet email filters are blocking this message which received 8.0 SPAM
550-points. Please contact your systems administrator or the MECnet Helpdesk at
550-978-275-1600. X-Spam-Report: Spam detection software, running on the system
550-“mf2-4.mecnet.net”, has
550-identified this incoming email as possible spam. The original message
550-has been attached to this so you can view it (if it isn’t spam) or label
550-similar future email. If you have any questions, see
550-the administrator of that system for details.
550-Content preview: Meep. […]
550-Content analysis details: (8.0 points, 5.0 required)
550-pts rule name description
550—– ———————- ————————————————–
550-10 RELAYCOUNTRY_RU Relayed through Russian Federation
550 -2.0 SPF_PASS SPF: sender matches SPF record (state 18).
Unmeepingbelievable.
Well I am too old, but I remember the streaking fad and song from when I was in High School (1970’s). If a kid did that now he would wind up on a sex offender list for the rest of his life.
Zero tolerance = stupidity. Discipline has to be applied with a huge amount of tolerance with children.
12. “Looks like the fun is over”
It’s worse than that. If you go to the school’s website here. You cannot access the staff/faculty directory without entering a password.
Wasn’t Monty Python way ahead of this???
They should switch to saying “Nee!”.
It sounds silly – but think of what those kids did to make the principal go this route! The original article says kids used this word to taunt some teachers – just repeating the word over and over again, driving the teachers crazy. I get the principal, but he’s going at it the wrong way. The kids can just as easily use the word “blip” or “pip” or “floop” or whatever. Can the principal forbid people to repeat the same word over and over? They’ll just switch to repeating whatever the teacher says, or any other of a million possible things they could do to drive teachers crazy. The idea of trying to forbid specific behavior patterns is silly – it’s like, instead of making theft illegal, you forbid the usage of ski masks and crowbars. Go after the intent, and punish those kids on general disrespectful behavior.
Frak!
The principal (Danvers) should make a joke of the whole thing – and wear a pin or a badge with “meep” written on it. Encourage his students to call him Mr Meep.
After a week, the students will think it’s not fun or cool any more and move onto something else.
meh.
I think the student body should give all the adults the silent treatment and speak to them only when spoken to and no raising your hand to answer questions. They gonna make it against the rules to keep quiet? Meep!?
Um… Two words: Meep this.
—
Long Live The Buggs Bunny & Road Runner Hour!
(and the RHPS)
#14
My friend, one is never too old.
I seem to remember a common saying scribbled on HS bathroom walls back in the 70’s:
“Age is a matter of Mind, you don’t mind, it don’t matter”
—
Having been in high school in the 70’s myself, It does seem like the world has gone absolutely mad, since then, yes?
Somehow, i expected a completely different outcome in attitudes as a result in the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s.
“uptight and white” seems to fit a lot of this BS these days..
(which in hindsight, goes to show the “natural progression” of humanity [unity] has been completely manipulated 180 degrees into endless microcosms of division)
Streaking was a weekly occurrence in the schools i went to and the only the outcome was a good laugh by all, -including faculty.
About the only “horrid” thing that came out of the seventies was fag beatings, big hair, Angel Flights, and i guess, Disco..
(though i do miss wearing purple satin Sassoon jeans on occasion)
Always a hippie at heart, In the heatwave/black out of ’77 (nyc) I discovered NOT blow drying my [big] hair made for far more “cooler” big hair.
Enter: -my 1979 “joe cool” pic:
http://gallery-1.soundwash.net/index.php?gallery=.&image=cecilHS79.jpg
-they were definitely stress free fun times.
What i don’t get is how the generation(s) that crossed HS in the 70’s could have produced the the ultra warped, deaf, dumb and blind, neo-liberalcon-nazi-social-fascists that seem to infest every iota of government, education and academia today…?
(ok -allow me to ignore the 60’s crowd for just a fraction of a nanosecond)
-But then, maybe it is because i’m a a walking conflict myself.. perhaps a best described as a relatively conservative, patriotic, constitutional loving, agnostic hippie
driven by science, “spiritual gut instinct” and “child’s eyes”
wearing a pair of those glasses almost gives one x-ray vision. -and one dark sense of humour.. :O
-and the realization that we live in a Mirror Image Reality.
-or, maybe it’s just because of the fact that The Powers That Be, do in fact, exist. *shrug*
-or maybe “mescin it” the whole summer of ’78 was not in my best interest after all..
-or maybe it’s just because i turned off the tv?
Dammit..another brain cell just jumped ship and went screaming down the street..
I shall covet the remaining two..
Coffee is ready..
-s
(turn off your tv)
does anybody remember odd todd. meep
“Meep” is definitely Beaker’s word, though the Road Runner also says “Meep Meep” instead of “Beep Beep.”
Banning Muppet and cartoon words is just weird.
I urge every person who reads this to email a large, loud, blue (or any other color and size) Meep to all those email addresses listed above and blow their mail server out of the water.
C’mon, you know you want to…………….:-)
I bet we could get M33P through. Go for it. Give a finger to “THE MAN”.
#12 Meep is considered spam now apparently? that word is so Evil! >gasp!<
maybe this guy is trying to add to George Carlin's 7 bad words you can't say on TV? If he were a alive today he verbally chew this asshole out.
Ok, the police thing is overboard, BUT…
The article says that “meep” may be a taunt directed at a teacher, probably one who looks like Beaker.
We had a substitute who looked like an owl. He couldn’t get anything done over shouts of “hoot! hoot!” It was ridiculous, and annoying.
So if the school wants to ban “meep,” let em.
30. “The article says that “meep” may be a taunt directed at a teacher”
“So if the school wants to ban “meep,” let em.”
I know it’s hard, but you (should) have this thing called a brain between your ears.
If the problem is the taunting, then fricken ban the taunting. Kick out any kid who taunts teachers. Problem solved.
There is simply no reason whatsoever to arbitrarily ban the word “meep.”