Schools and silence

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has an editorial pointing fingers at some Pennsylvania school administrators who try to use their power over students withing the school setting to squelch speech outside the school that's critical of their martinet approach to doing their jobs.

Mr. Layshock mocked his Hickory High School principal by creating a fictitious and unflattering profile of him on an Internet site in December 2005. The then-high school senior's sophomoric parody, which caused no disruption in class, was created outside of school and on his grandmother's computer.

He wasn't even making fun of the school policy against drugs, he was just making fun of a pompous ass of a principal. We kow the principal is a pompous ass because

Nonetheless, the Mercer County public school system suspended him for 10 days, ordered the honors student to enroll in a program for troublesome students -- and prohibited him from attending the prom or graduation ceremony.

You'd think the people who run our schools actually have important things to do that would take up most of their days. But you'd be wrong, they don't really have anything to do except protect their own fragile egos.

When my generation was in school the same jerks ran the schools, and if you laughed at them they'd hit you with a big piece of wood. Now they suspend you.