An
open letter to the faculty and administrators of East Islip High School
To
whom it may concern,
Our
liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited
without being lost. -Thomas
Jefferson
Even in our most fundamental right, the right to free speech, press,
and petition, there are limits. One
cannot print material that is openly threatening or defamatory, seditious or
riot-provoking, slanderous or misinformative.
In this time of added tension both socially and politically, it is
imperative that certain boundaries never be crossed in our peaceful
demonstration of ideas and opinions.
The recent disturbance of our predominantly calm school atmosphere (admittedly
a premeditated and riotous act) has brought into attention what amounts to
the local gossip column, namely cbwebring.com.
cbwebring.com contains what most would consider vulgar and obscene
language, descriptions of activities to which most parents would not wish
their children be exposed, and vehemently opinionated rantings by anonymous
persons. The school has a right and an obligation to block such
material from school access, which it has done with varying degrees of
success. However, the fact
remains that cbwebring.com was a privately owned enterprise, not being run
on school networks, and therefore falls outside of the school's jurisdiction. The material posted on cbwebring.com addressing various
faculty and staff was, though somewhat off-color, never threatening, always
presented in a humorous sense, and invariably accompanied by the disclaimer:
"the opinions presented here do not necessarily represent the opinions
of cbwebring.com or its owners". As
to the issue of cbwebring's relationship to the planning and carrying out of
the recent disturbance, there is no concrete connection between the site's
owner, Ryan Capone, and the premeditation of said action. It is wholly
illogical and unfair to expel outright a high-profile person who contributed
less to the disturbance than did others, simply because his public forum
contains objectionable material.
As to anonymity, on the internet there is no such thing.
There are technological methods by which persons actively posting
riot-provoking material can be traced.
If it is proved that material relating to the events of recent weeks
was, in fact, posted on the cbwebring.com message boards, it is the duty of
the school not to place the blame on merely the most obvious candidate, but
to investigate further, using any and all means to identify the actual propagators
of the information leading up to said events.
The premature actions taken against cbwebring.com and its owner are a
disservice both to the school, and to the rights of students to express
themselves.
On behalf of the student body of East Islip High School, and in the
name of our right to express ourselves, regardless of our opinions, I ask
the school to re-evaluate its decision concerning the punishment of Ryan
Capone, and the pressure exerted to destroy a wholly harmless endeavor.
Respectfully,
Damien Pagan, 11th grade
