High school graduate encounters trouble when his graduation speech *accurately* reflects high school
By jarespond - Posted on May 25th, 2006
Tagged: News and politics
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<Source: Herald Tribune>
Charlotte High School held a contest designed to choose a winner from among the senior class who would deliver the graduation speech that year. One student, Kyle Stublen, submitted a glowing tale of the school's triumph and was chosen to deliver the speech on graduation day. What he delivered, however, was a scathing account of the school's climate as he progressed through high school. "Stublen described a school where students stole tests, sports were more important than academics, and guidance counselors encouraged some students not to apply to college."
Naturally, there was controversy regarding whether the A-student would receive his diploma (he eventually did, and administrators denied that his diploma was ever withheld). Given the fact that Stublen used deception in order to be able to deliver the speech (even though he would not have been allowed to air it had he been honest), I can understand that he encountered some administrative problems.
However, I am disturbed by this quote: "George Sansone, senior class adviser and 38-year veteran teacher, said he felt betrayed. 'It was like airing your dirty laundry. This was a celebration for all the seniors, not about the issues he himself encountered.'"
I question the extent to which seniors who do drugs in the bathrooms, abuse the intellectual elite for their inability to play sports, etc... deserve an untainted celebration. The word deserve is the only word with which I take issue. Did the seniors want an untainted celebration? Surely. Would the teachers have preferred it? Certainly. Would it have been terrible if they had had a normal celebration? Not at all. But they don't inherently deserve such a thing, assuming that Stublen was honest in his criticism.
Thats what happens when you speak the truth to schools. I had 4 newspaper articles cut because they were not correct enough for my high school. Public Schools however have a long history of censorship, everything from religon to opinion.
A thread happened in my high school with our senior song. We officially voted in "Run" by Collective Soul for the way it describes the continual journey still to be had. We took the song as saying, yes we have come this far, but in comparison to where we want to be, "I have a long way to run."
Here are the lyrics, tell me if this doesn't explain high school...
"Run"
Are these times contagious
I've never been this bored before
Is this the prize I've waited for
Now as the hours passing
There's nothing left here to mature
I long to find a messenger
Have I got a long way to run [x2]
Yeah, I run [x2]
Is there a cure among us
From this processed sanity
I weaken with each voice that sings
In this world of purchase
I'm going to buy back memories
To awaken some old qualities
Have I got a long way to run [x2]
Have I got a long way to run [x2]
Yeah, I run [x2]
Have I got a long way to run [x2]
Yeah, I run [x4]
[background:]
Have I got a long way to run [x4]
---
It really spoke to us as a class of individuals (almost 600 individuals). We protested the original vote, voted in "Run" twice more and ended up with what the administration felt was a better song, Green Day's "Time of Our Lives" -- not exactly what we wanted to say with our senior song :(
It's a shame that you ended up with the Green Day song...especially because the actual title of the song is "Good Riddance." Collective Soul is a great group. I'm not sure you would want a Christian song as your senior song either...but I could be wrong.
--Mike
last month in my school it was publised a special edition of the school newspaper, where students were actually saying everything they wanted to. All i can say is that after reading it, almost every teacher got...offended...
Hey, free speech. The truth hurts
Last year I was one of Kyle's teachers. While I don't approve of the fact that he lied in order to be able to present the speech (he initially submitted a typically bland grad speech), believe me when I tell you that every single word he said is truthful. Academics at Charlotte High School take a deep backseat to sports, and drug use, cheating, and stealing is overlooked, particularly when it involves the children of the community 'elite'. Kudos to Kyle for having the stones to take such a stand.
The point is not freedom of speech, is not whether the student was correct, and is not whether he is entitled to his own opinion. The point is that he acted in a selfish, manipulative and, yes, deceitful way. By choosing to present a speech other than the one which won the contest, he not only violated the trust of the committee who awarded him the honor of speaking at graduation, he also managed to put a damper on the graduation ceremony of almost 500 other graduates and their families. There is a time and place for everything, and this graduation ceremony was not the appropriate place for him to express those opinions. If he wanted to express his opinions publicly, he could have written a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, or chosen some other forum. It was just as unacceptable for him to present that particular speech at the graduation as it would be to present an anti-war speech. Just as unacceptable as it would be to propose a wedding toast in which the bride and groom's past (no matter how embarassing) is enumerated. Just as unacceptable as yelling "fire" in a crowded theater, to use the standard example of the limits of free speech.
So I guess it will take a rape, drug overdose, or a murder for you to take notice? For once look at the context of the speech instead of the venue. You and others are so afraid that it will hurt your image. If you are a resident then you will remember that three years ago the county was number one in drug use in the entire state and is still in the top five. But God forbid someone rock the boat.
As I said, he is entitled to his opinion, and is entitled to express his opinion - just not at that particular time and place. I did not attend Charlotte High, so the image thing isn't a problem for me, and I have no personal knowledge about the statements he made. But, as I said, that's not the point. The point is simply that he lied to the committee, cheated another student out of the right to present a speech...oh, I guess that proves his point that stuff like that DOES happen there.
For anyone to say it put a damper on the graduation is selfish in itself. I was there and everyone sure looked happy afterward. I was at project graduation and no one was crying about 7 minutes of a 2.5 hour graduation. Did the boy deceive? Yes. However you better read both speeches. He actually gave the speech that was approved plus he added four paragraphs.
Furthermore, read the county student coed of conduct. It doe not say anywhere that you can not add to a speech. Therefore, he was well within his rights to do so. But it does say how stealing, tests, committing felonies, cheating, and drugs will be dealt with and it sure isn't giving them scholarships and NHS stoles.
you need to think before you speek
It's "speak." Go CHS.
yeah they do have censorship everywhere regardless of free speech; which to say is sad to say the least. you encourage free speech, but then you contradict yourself by hating on the ones who actually have the courage to speak out.
Some girl in one of my classes at my highschool had a digital camera with which she took a picture of a security guard strong arming a student who was in a fight. They made her delete the picture.
Yeah, schools are like that. My old school was one of those sports schools. Drama and other fine arts programs weren't as valued. Our drama department didn't have much of a budget, but the sports teams got a big cut.
I like that the boy from that school did that. I like people who tell it like it is. Sugarcoating the matter doesn't help anyone to do anything about anything.
Schools never give you free speach
i think it was wrong for the guy to have a speech that would bring everyone's mood down and controversy b/c it's everyone's big day, not just his..
anyways, of coarse schools are going to limit free speech if people like the speech boy violate the school's trust.
Pretending and glossing over issues is not going to fix anything. Our newspapers, despite what you think, do this quite a bit while giving the illusion that they are not. I support this courageous student. He exercised his free speech, got a message, an important message communicated that otherwise would have been censored. The truth is important because it is the truth. And the truth does not compromise to be acceptable and pleasant and unthreatening to all.
Citizen Press Revolution
That dude had some nerve, at least give him that. Regardless of his tactics, I can't imagine going up against the school system like that -- and winning, no less. All else aside, it was a ballsy thing to do.
Naah, it wasn't ballsy if you consider that the timing was figured out so there could be no repercussions. Too late for suspension, too late even to disallow him from walking with his class in the ceremony. He just had to wait a couple of days to get his diploma. I see nothing courageous about it at all.
Well consider this. The student had not walked across the stage for the diploma prior to his speech. They actually threatened him after he was finished. But could not see his parents to inform them he was not going to walk. So they let him walk.
Now the a$$hole principal is lobbying a local organization to revoke a $1,000 scholarship for aceademic merit. Has said he is going to send all comments and articles about this issue to the admissions department at the University of FLorida (all negative I bet).
No repercussions? You have got to be kidding. Glad to see you were there and know the system so well. They even tried to withhold his final trascriptions saying he "had and outstanding obligation" to settle.
How do I know this? I am friends with one of his parents. The truth is that he and others have tried for years to get the school and school board to address these issues and most have been one big cover up after another.
Thats crap, hes a hero and should be honored not punished for his actions, the courage he must have mustered to do what he did is beyond many.
I go to a catholic private colledge and there free speech is as un heard of as purple skin. We go there either because our families are religiouse or because the uniform looks nice. I go there for the latter reason I dont believe in god but if i ever said that i would probably be kicked out. I believe all students catholic, muslem or anything else should be able to say what they feel with out being punished for having a defferent opinion.
Yes this was probably the worst written speach of all time.
i have to support this student and as a future educator i hope my students do the same.
Props to him for having the guts to do that. Shame on the school for considering to hold his diploma for it.
Perhaps you're saying it's wrong to take away the luster of a trasition into a new level of life, the graduation ceremony. Or perhaps you feel that he betrayed the trust of the administration of the school by giving a speech incongruous with his submission for the contest. I ask you, what does the cermony mean? Take this into account; every individual who graduates is presented to a crowd of both complete strangers, and good friends, in a way that is memorable, and for the graduees, the goal is that they remember the experience for the rest of their lives. It is a time of leaving an impression before moving on. Now, you say that the experience is meant to be a positive one, and that the ceremony should move flawlessly. I say you mean it, whether you know it or not, to move mechanically, dully, without any excitement whatsoever, but still imprinting a memory, that when tied to the word, "flawless," triggers a positive feeling, so that everyone is happy, and nobody complains. This is because you fear confronting the issues at hand, so run from them, hiding behind your facade of perfection, because you know that complaints would stir people to change the system you are so needlessly dependent upon. As for the trust of the administration... Did they not betray Kyle's trust when they cut his educational potential short by spending more money on sports equipment and coaches than they did on books and teacher's salaries? Did they not betray the trust of every parent in that room when they overlooked issues that created an unsafe environment, no doubt without any notification beyond what a child who cared would say to their parents idly? You say he had no right to betray their trust, and I agree completely without contradicting myself. He had no right, but he did have the responsibilty to show how they had betrayed the trust of all, and you might even think of it as a personal sacrifice to his character in order to help better his community before he left it, perhaps forever.
There is no doubt that there was a majority of other students that fully agreed with the truthful words of this student's graduation speech. My high school has many of the same issues (higher regard for sports, cheating, etc.) As a matter of fact, many high schools across the nation have these same issues, but I have never heard of a student speaker actually addressing them in front of a crowd composed of family, community members, and school officials---people that probably need to hear it the most. I personally applaud what this student did; it took courage to voice what many of his classmates felt, but were never given the opportunity to express.
the kid had the guts to tell the truth, which is rare among most of society today. definitely i know how he must feel. my dad's in the army and spent 9 months overseas in afghanistan. because i have the military connection, most people don't believe me when i tell them what's really going on over there.....they tend to believe the lies that the media portray.
Blackthornerose
Tell your dad thanks from my family and me. You should be very proud. He is the hero for what he does. It is a good thing. God Bless You ALL
Tell the truth so that other can fix the problems next year, even when you grow up you still have people
within school setting who do not want the truth to come out period. So they go into cover-up mode for the whole year before they know it the closet is full. And the parents are upset because low levels of learning took place once again. Speak up and do great in college.