That's Outrageous 3

...or is it? I am open to discussion on this one. A Catholic School in Detroit has banned MySpace for their students. Sounds good to me! I really don't think that any sort of blogs or "social spaces" have any place at school. But here is the kicker: the students will be suspended if they are caught using MySpace at school or at home! My initial reaction to that is that it is patently absurd. And wrong. And dangerous precedent. My ONLY hesitation is because it is a Catholic School.

I can't stand the idea of schools, or any other public institution trying to dictate the way that parents raise their children. I am NOT a subscriber to Hilary Clinton's "Village" raising my child. Thanks, but... umm NOT!!! Most of the "village" nowadays is.... let's just say, not what I want for my kids. And guess what, I still have the right to choose what I want my children to be exposed to in this country, thank you very much. My child is not the property of the state or the republic or any other institution. I do have the right (and the responsibility) to raise my child to the best of my ability with my world view. I personally believe that a really good, thinking parent will, as the child becomes able to assimilate it, present the alternatives and encourage the child to make his own responsible, informed choices. But I don't have the right to force every parent to do so. Amish can teach their children that being Amish is the only right way. The Catholics can do the same. We LDS can also teach that ours is the truly right way. The kids can then grow up and use the thinking skills and spirit that their maker gave them to decide that their parents are full of it. After they turn 18;o) I am not, of course, addressing so-called parents who abuse or neglect their children in a criminal way. Different subject altogether. I am under the working assumption that we are talking about responsible parents with different opinions and world views.

How does all this apply to a MySpace ban? My kids are not allowed to use MySpace while they are underaged. I have the right as a parent to ban it. But I just don't see that it is ANYONE ELSE's right or privilege or responsibility to allow or disallow it. My quandry is that I do believe that private institutions such as private schools, churches, the boy scouts or what have you should have the right to have standards of behavior that are required to participate in them.

So, I guess that my bottom line is that I believe that this school is misguided and is addressing a valid problem in an invalid, ineffective way but I guess they have the right to do it. And, were I a parent at that school, I would have to seriously consider the school's mission and methods.

THAT'S OUTRAGEOUS 1 and 2

I am a fairly conservative person in most respects and I realize that that makes me somewhat outre to some of the "trendy" type people but, you know what? More and more... that is fine with me. As I listen, watch and read the media, I am very often completely appalled by the way so many people think nowadays. So, after I ranted and raved to may family... who were also completely appalled, thank God, I decided to start a new "section" to my blog which will be labelled That's Outrageous. So, if any of my imaginary or real readers are of a liberal bent, I still love you but you may want to skip the posts with that label since you probably won't be nearly as disgusted by these things as I am. So, with that said....

1: On our local news there was a story about a young U.S. Marine recently returned from Iraq who was killed in an automobile accident. A bunch of war protestors held a protest AT HIS FUNERAL!!! Are ya kiddin' me?!!? Thankfully, a group of bikers heard this was planned somehow and made a human wall between the family and the protestors so that the funeral was not disrupted. My Gini tells me that one of the protestors held a sign at this Christian family's funeral that said, "God is your enemy!"

You know, I respect the right of idiots to believe what they will and I certainly respect the right of people to object to this war and to war in general but only the sleaziest of humans would make a spectacle like that at a young man's funeral.

2: I subscribe to Premiere magazine. I am a huge movie buff so that is kind of a natural. I usually just chuckle and pass on when I come across something ridiculously liberal but this issue really got to me. In an article by Libby Gelman-Waxner, the author is waxing sentimental about her daughter, Jennifer who is getting ready to go off to college; Harvard no less. I definitely can identify with proud mamas so I settled in to read the article, ostensibly about the great female role models in movies today. Here is the intro to the article.

"Shockingly, my perfect daughter, Jennifer, will soon be heading off to college, and this has put me in a weepy and contemplative mood. I've been examining all of my treasured mementos of Jennifer, from her baby pictures to the most recent video that she posted on YouTube, of herself dancing drunk and topless in the parking lot at her senior prom; the prom's theme was "Show Us Your Nipples." Happily, Jennifer edited this video to a soundtrack of the President's recent State of the Union address, and used it as part of the application package that got her into Harvard...."

One more time, say it with me now... are ya kiddin' me?!!? Without even touching on the fact that an assumably school sponsored even had a theme such as that or the fact that Harvard has become the throne of extreme liberal B___S__t, that was one of her mother's "treasured mementos"?????????????????????????????? Even if that was tongue in cheek, just to give her the benefit of a doubt, she is talking in a public forum about her daughter making that kind of video and allowed her to use it in a college application? And yes, boys and girls, I am still one of those old fogeys who believes that a parent does have the right to allow or disallow certain extremes of behevior even in their older teens. I will even go so far as to say that I am of the really old school belief in the old saw, "while you are under my roof...." Good grief.