Auden Can Rest: “Damn” and “Hell” Are A-OK
Well, that didn’t take long. The Coral Academy student will be able to to recite the Auden poem after all. Calmer heads have prevailed and U.S District Judge Sandoval “…ruled that the words were not profane in the context of the poem by W.H. Auden, “The More Loving One.” invovled in the incident in order to get the okay to read the horribly obscene Auden poem. Bravo Sandoval:
Defendants (Coral Academy) apparently consider the poem inappropriate because it contains language that conflicts with the school’s policies against students general use of profanity,” Sandoval wrote. “However, when spoken in the context of a poem at a school-authorized, off-campus competition and written by a nationally recognized poet, the Court finds that the language sought to be censured cannot even remotely cause a disruption of the educational mission.
More importantly, Diane K. Vaillancourt of Santa Cruz, Calif., one of Behymer-Smith’s attorneys believes this case has national implications.
We believe that important First Amendment rights are at stake when public school administrators prohibit a student from reciting what is universally recognized as great literature,” Vaillancourt said. “The strength of our democracy depends on having an educated and literate public. And in our view, the school (Coral Academy) is failing its mission.
Score one for sanity.
Similar Posts:
- Hell and Damn Prove Boon to Coral Academy
- Banned In Reno: Auden Turns In His Grave
- Teachers Under Attack
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[...] Coral Academy, the school that tried to stop 14 yr old Jacob Behymer-Smith from reciting the W. H. Auden poem “The More Loving One,” will receive $2,000 thanks to Behymer-Smith’s second place finish in the state Poetry Out Loud competition. Since they found the poem so objectionable, I’m sure they are going to refuse to accept the $2,000 prize money, right? I mean, it would be hypocritical for the school to keep the money after finding the poem and its use of the words “hell” and “damn” to violate its policy against profanity. They were so dead against it that it took a restraining order from U.S District Judge Sandoval before Behymer-Smith was allowed to recite the poem in the competition. [...]
Comments
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Hello, I am the boy that was told not to recite the poem. i was bored one morning and typed me up in google. I was astounded at how many websites took an interist in my case. I would like to thank this and any other website for taking the time to notice my story.
Thanks
Jacob Behymer-Smith
Absolutely–its too bad it had to become such a big deal. Thanks for taking on the school.
You are more than welcome.