fandomhigh | Leadership: Wednesday, Period 1, Class 5 (2/3/09)

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Leadership: Wednesday, Period 1, Class 5 (2/3/09)

"Today we're going to talk about beliefs and values," Nathan said as he passed around a handout. "For the purposes of today's class we're defining values as what you feel is important and beliefs as what shapes your values. For example, you would not value care for the elderly if you did not believe that the elderly were important.

"Beliefs can come from many areas. Religion, experience, culture, family, and so on," Nathan said. "As a leader it's important for you to recognize what your beliefs are. This may sound obvious, but many of us don't realize how many of our beliefs we take for granted. That creates problems when we don't realize why we do what we do. It also makes it difficult for us to relate to those who don't share our beliefs. Beliefs can occasionally work as assumptions. And we all know what happens when we make assumptions." Nathan grinned at all of them.

"Knowing our beliefs and values also helps serve as a self-check," Nathan said. "I value justice. I believe justice is important. Therefore I should make sure that as a leader I do things that help to encourage a just society. Knowing my values also helps me to make decisions. Do I value justice more than I do a healthy economy? Do I value the ends more than the means? As an American, do I value some parts of the Bill of Rights more than others? Do I believe that my preferences make a difference?

"For today's class you'll be split into groups. Take a moment to think about what you believe and value, then discuss how you would solve the problem I'm going to give you. There's no right or wrong answer, and your group doesn't have to agree. The goal here is to get a feel for what you believe and value, then see what it's like from the perspective of someone else who may not share those beliefs. As always, I'm here if you have questions."

Problem: Does a publically funded high school have the right to censor a student-written article for the school newspaper? The article is about teenage pregnancy within the school. It doesn't name names, but educated guesses could be made based upon the details given. The journalism students feel that it is important to speak frankly about the issue of teen pregnancy. The school administration feels that it is a violation of privacy for the pregnant students. What do you think?

Group 1
Myn Donos
Inara Serra
Peyton Sawyer
Naomi Wildman
Annja Creed

Group 2
Yurika Dōjima
Zayne Carrick
Dahlia Mancini
Hoshi Sato

Group 3
Tahiri Veila
Lee Adama
Ichigo Kurosaki
Yasutora Sado

[ooc: ocd is up! Example based on Hazelwood School Dist. v. Kuhlmeier]

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I believe this should be collapsy.

Lee Adama

K-Mart

Naomi Wildman

Tahiri Veila

Dōjima Yurika

Yasutora Sado

Hoshi Sato

Ichigo Kurosaki

Peyton Sawyer

Myn Donos

Zayne Carrick

I believe this is where one would take notes, pass notes, talk amongst yourselves, and/or pretend that the truth telling of yesterday never ever happened.

Lee, thankful that yesterday was over and done with, took a few notes but mostly concentrated on not talking in case he had leftover honesty.

Yes, yesterday could have been better. But it could have also been a lot more embarrassing, and Tahiri was focusing on that happy(ish) medium as she pondered the lecture.

Hoshi tried to take notes, but it was a fight just to stay awake thanks to her hangover.

Problem: Does a publically funded high school have the right to censor a student-written article for the school newspaper? The article is about teenage pregnancy within the school. It doesn't name names, but educated guesses could be made based upon the details given. The journalism students feel that it is important to speak frankly about the issue of teen pregnancy. The school administration feels that it is a violation of privacy for the pregnant students. What do you think?

Yeah, Peyton had pretty strong feelings about this. "No. if you can figure out who the people are involved then, no. They have a right not to have everybody all up in their business. If they want to write about teen pregnancy fine, but not like this."

"Soooooooo... everyone in school already knew these girls got knocked-up, right? I mean, that's kinda hard to hide. How, exactly, is printing an article about pregnancy a 'violation of privacy'?" Dōjima asked, confused. "I am never going to understand America."

"Imagine if they had days like yesterday," said Hoshi, looking rather sluggish. "No one would be able to hide anything."

"No kidding. And I'm sorry, but those girls waived the right to hurt feelings when they showed up showing," Dōjima replied, rolling her eyes.

"If it's a public school, with a publicly funded newspaper, then as members of the 'public', the students have a right to print, oh, gee, news. Information. An article about teen pregnancy that doesn't name names is totally informative, and isn't a gossip section. Some people need to get over their Special Snowflake-ness."

Tact had never been on of Dōjima's strong points, and today was no different than yesterday in that regard.

"Exactly! And by trying to tell the school newspaper that they can't do this article, they're trying to control things because they had no control on these girls getting pregnant in the first place," said Hoshi.

"Couldn't they avoid the whole problem by getting permission from the girls before printing the article?" Zayne asked. "If they can get permission, the school's argument is ruined and the newspaper could print the article freely."

Hoshi gave a little snort. "Yeah, right. Asking for permission from the girls still gives them all the control and not the administration. They'll make up some excuse about how it doesn't solve the issue."

"But it would be an even weaker excuse," Zayne pointed out. "It might only be a little victory, but those can add up to getting the newspaper the kind of freedom they want."

Was Zayne idealistic? Maybe a little.

Hoshi might have been more idealistic if she wasn't fighting a massive hangover.

"Even if you overcome one of their weak excuses, they'll probably come up with another one," she pointed out. "And in a situation like that, the school probably holds all the cards."

"I don't know. I think the school would eventually give some kind of compromise where they can save a little face while still letting the article run," Zayne said.

"Probably, if the students really put some pressure on them," Hoshi conceded. "I'd expect that they'd only accept a really watered-down article, though."

Lee chewed on the end of his pen while he contemplated the question and waited for his group.

"I think it depends on how most of the school would treat the pregnant students," Tahiri ventured. "The educational value is a good thing, but not if public sentiment would be harmful to the girls."

"I can agree with that," Lee said. "From what I've read, most modern schools don't have that much issue with the public sentiment but there's always going to be one or two who can make it miserable."

"Anyone else," Chad offered after a moment, "think this is pretty...ironic to talk about? At a school where practically everything is broadcasted over radio?"

No, it didn't seem to contribute much to the topic, but it was a persistent enough of a thought that Chad bothered to add it. He was Chad, after all. Talking in groups wasn't something he did much.

"Most people probably wouldn't bat an eye here," he said. "By broadcasting it, maybe you beat the public to the punch of not having them discover it and cause chaos?"

He believes that he knows more than most people.

I believe I'll be at work even though it snowed tonight.

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Leadership: Wednesday, Period 1, Class 5 (2/3/09)

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During the Lecture

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Class Exercise!

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Talk to Nathan

OOC