When school adults refuse to set standards

January 21, 2004

Carl Seppala, of the Amherst Town Select Board, was on Bill O'Reilly show last night, defending Amherst Regional High School's decision to mount a student production of The Vagina Monologues.

We try to be open-minded, but come on, there are no other plays that the high school could put on? (When we were in High School we put on Cabaret, which was pretty racy, but the worst language was Juden and the worst theme was an ended pregnancy.) But we have to wonder, what's wrong with putting on a show appropriate for high school, say, West Side Story?

Get this, they nixed the choice of West Side Story, because they said it stereotyped hispanics.

A recent Townhall column by Izzy Lyman quoted Larry Kelley, "who organized a rally on the Amherst Town Common in support of the Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim classic:"

"Amherst Regional High School Committee became the only ruling authority in history to cancel a production of West Side Story because a distinct minority in town thought it was racist. Yet they embrace allowing young teenagers - who could not get into an R-rated movie without a parent or guardian - to revel in sexually-explicit material," stated Kelley.

We have nothing against "The Vagina Monologues." We just feel it's inappropriate for high school. "Permissive Parenting" has evolved into "Permissive Educating."

Add this to the list of ten thousand reasons why homeschoolers want out.

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Update: Thoughtful commentary by Dr. Lyman in the Washington Dispatch, dated Jan 21, 2004.

Update: Joanne Jacobs weighs in, with comments from Time. (1/23/2004)