Story Archive

More Beeped-up Character Education at Another Beeping School

It started with a comment on the grammar of the F-word: a “tweet” on the social site Twitter by Austin Carroll, 17, who said “... is one of those ... words you can ... put anywhere in a ... sentence and it still ... make sense” — with the curse included in every gap. It was the middle of the night, he couldn’t sleep, and he posted it, he says, to his personal account using his own computer. But when school officials at his Garrett, Ind., high school saw the message, they expelled Carroll. Officials insist they only acted once a school computer or network was involved. “Whether it’s already on there or not ... if they bring it up on their school computer then, then it’s a school issue,” said superintendent Dennis Stockdale. In a further demonstration of Garrett officials’ view of student speech, police were summoned to the school after students threatened to protest Carroll’s suspension. (AC/WPTA Ft. Wayne, CBS) ...Tell me again how we need public schools to prepare people to be citizens in a free republic?