During this morning's drive into work, Mark Howard brought up
this story about the 17-year old kid in a Pennsylvania high school who wore his John Elway Denver Broncos jersey to school Friday.
The teacher, John Kelly, forced Joshua Vannoy to sit on the floor and take the test Friday -- two days before the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Broncos 34-17 in the AFC championship game. Kelly also made other students throw crumpled up paper at Vannoy, whom he called a "stinking Denver fan," Vannoy told The Associated Press on Monday.
Kelly said Vannoy, a junior at Beaver Area Senior High School, just didn't get the joke."If he felt uncomfortable, then that's a lesson; that's what [the class] is designed to do," Kelly told The Denver Post. "It was silly fun. I can't believe he was upset."
Howard brought the story up in a humorous vein, but it wasn't long before callers were on the line, taking him to task for the humorous intent. Of course, Howard doesn't really take criticism well on the air, but I can't say I blame him. It's difficult to keep your composure and professional demeanor when callers are ringing up and chastizing you on the airwaves. As the host, you have rules you have to follow and the callers don't necessarily have to abide by the same set of rules.
I can see both sides of this story. I can see the lesson the ethics teacher was trying to make, though I'm not sure his methods are exactly kosher. I can also say that having gone to high school in northern Virginia when UT beat UVA in the Sugar Bowl and wearing my orange proudly to the school the next day, that I can understand how the kid would feel singled out and abused. Shoot, my AP English teacher my senior year was a Kentucky fan and every time I'd wear orange, I'd get some kind of sarcastic comment sent my way about how it might affect my overall grade in the class.
So, I can see both sides in this the situation. I'm not sure it was fair to the kid in question to make him take an entire test under such circumstances. I think the kid should be offered a chance to make-up the test under less stressful circumstances.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 1/24/2006 09:47:00 AM |
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