Student Kicked Out of College After Watching 'Glee': Fair or Foul?
SodaHead News
2012/04/30 23:00:00
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Chris Peterman, a 23-year-old senior at Bob Jones University in South Carolina, was reportedly kicked out of school for watching an episode of "Glee." And he wasn't watching it in class, in his dorm, or anywhere on campus. He was watching it on his laptop at Starbucks. According to Jezebel, he had accumulated a handful of write-ups for 1) trying to start a group "aimed at ending sexual abuse," 2) showing up late to his dorm and 3) not shaving. The school says "Glee" was not the reason they expelled him, but Peterson says it was the last straw.
Bob Jones students are not permitted to watch television on campus, and while off campus there are still guidelines they must abide by. The handbook reads, "Students are to avoid any types of entertainment that could be considered immodest or that contain profanity, scatological realism, sexual perversion, erotic realism, lurid violence, occultism and false philosophical or religious assumptions." Do you think it was fair for the school to kick Peterson out?
Bob Jones students are not permitted to watch television on campus, and while off campus there are still guidelines they must abide by. The handbook reads, "Students are to avoid any types of entertainment that could be considered immodest or that contain profanity, scatological realism, sexual perversion, erotic realism, lurid violence, occultism and false philosophical or religious assumptions." Do you think it was fair for the school to kick Peterson out?
Let's look over the rules and reasons again, shall we?
[1) trying to start a group "aimed at ending sexual abuse"]
... This is a bad thing? Where I come from, this guy would get a medal and an honorable mention in the news paper.
[2) showing up late to his dorm]
Big deal. So he got home late. He's 23, I'm pretty sure he's allowed. As long as his GPA doesn't suffer and he doesn't make the school look bad, he is not harming anyone by staying out late.
[3) not shaving]
Big deal! So he wanted a beard? Who was this hurting? Were the other students getting distracted by his new found manliness? Were the GPAs of the female students dropping due to the beastly nature of his face? here the male students forming a beard cult out of jealousy for his chin stubble?
Somehow, I doubt it. And unless such extremes where occurring, there should be no penalty for not shaving, in any school.
[4) watching Glee]
I'm not a fan of the show, but I also don't see the harm in it. A bunch of teens in glee club having fun and playing songs, sometimes making really good remixes or mash ups that they can actually sell, what's the big deal? If the school was smart, they'd use this to their advantage and try to make their own Glee...
Let's look over the rules and reasons again, shall we?
[1) trying to start a group "aimed at ending sexual abuse"]
... This is a bad thing? Where I come from, this guy would get a medal and an honorable mention in the news paper.
[2) showing up late to his dorm]
Big deal. So he got home late. He's 23, I'm pretty sure he's allowed. As long as his GPA doesn't suffer and he doesn't make the school look bad, he is not harming anyone by staying out late.
[3) not shaving]
Big deal! So he wanted a beard? Who was this hurting? Were the other students getting distracted by his new found manliness? Were the GPAs of the female students dropping due to the beastly nature of his face? here the male students forming a beard cult out of jealousy for his chin stubble?
Somehow, I doubt it. And unless such extremes where occurring, there should be no penalty for not shaving, in any school.
[4) watching Glee]
I'm not a fan of the show, but I also don't see the harm in it. A bunch of teens in glee club having fun and playing songs, sometimes making really good remixes or mash ups that they can actually sell, what's the big deal? If the school was smart, they'd use this to their advantage and try to make their own Glee club, perhaps based around the show in order to encourage more people to express themselves. It certainly is not a reason to expel someone, last straw or otherwise.
So, now that we know the reasons are bogus, let's look at that final part.
[Bob Jones students are not permitted to watch television on campus, and while off campus there are still guidelines they must abide by.]
No, there aren't. I don't care what school you are, when the students are off campus, they are living their own lives and you cannot control them. They are human beings and they have the right to do whatever they want within the local law.
[The handbook reads, "Students are to avoid any types of entertainment that could be considered immodest]
Hmm... immodest. Let's look up that one.
Immodest
Lacking humility or decency.
Well, Glee covers that one. There is a great deal of humility and decency. In fact, pretty much the entire show is about that, from what I gather. The Glee members are always trying to earn respect to be treated with decency and pretty much everyone on the show learns humility from time to time when their ambitions outweigh their abilities.
Next.
[or that contain profanity]
Congratulations, you just removed everything but Barney the Dinosaur and other such kids shows. Profanity is a part of the language. I don't swear for my own reasons, but I don't prevent others from doing so if that is a part of their vocabulary. They are just words, they can't harm you.
[scatological realism]
... What?
Scatological
Dealing pruriently with excrement and excretory functions; "scatological literature".
... So, bodily functions are out? There goes pretty much every show again. It's called reality. We all have to deal with it sometime. Heaven forbid we try to add some humor to our natural functions or actually show them occurring by the mere suggestion of them happening.
[sexual perversion]
Ah, and we come to the real reason, I'll wager. What exactly is the definition of sexual perversion, hmm?
Sexual Perversion
Sexual behavior or desire that is considered abnormal or unacceptable.
Homophobic, much? There's a gay kid. Whoop-dee-doo. It's not like his homosexuality is going to cause your entire student body to become gay. And what if it did? Who cares! It harms no one. They would simply be happy with a different partner. It's not up to any school to decide what is normal or natural.
Bottom line, is the student gay? Probably not, as the odds are against it. Does it matter? Definitely not. So who cares? Get off your moral high horse and realize that there are many kinds of people in the world, not just the Arian race.
[erotic realism]
You're all adults there, right? This is a college. The few underage people that might be there are all mature enough to be considered adults. Otherwise, they wouldn't be there. And if that is your concern, then don't allow minors into your university. Your students are human. "Erotic Realism" occurs in their day to day lives. You can accept it, you can regulate it in the spirit of furthering the GPA, but you cannot ban it. You can try, but it simply won't happen.
[lurid violence]
Again, what's the big deal? Some people can take extreme violence, others can't. Let those who don't mind watch things that contain it.
Are you aware of how much "lurid violence" is in educational material? Why aren't you prohibiting that? it's okay to learn about it as long as you're not entertained as well?
[occultism]
So magic is out too, eh? There goes the witch burnings from the curriculum. Oh, right, we can learn, we just can't have fun. Heaven forbid we allow Harry Potter to warp the student's minds.
[false philosophical or religious assumptions."]
Which would be... what? This can be worded in two different ways, neither of which are good.
False philosophical assumptions or religious assumptions.
And.
False philosophical assumptions or false religious assumptions.
The first is banning philosophical debate as well as anything religious. The second is banning philosophical debate and anything religious except what they deem to be true, and I'm pretty sure that's the one they are going for.
Bob Jones University is a Christian university. As such, they have banned anything that might even remotely suggest that their religion is wrong. Thus, nothing that would upset them is allowed, nothing that might accidentally take their lord's name in vein is allowed, and certainly no homosexuality is EVER allowed.
Build Faith.
Challenge Potential.
Follow Christ.
That's their mission statement. Only one out of the three has anything to do with actual education. The other two, 2/3s of the statement, is simply furthering their own religious agendas.
Chris Peterman, be grateful you were expelled. Now you have a chance to apply to a REAL university, one that will actually teach you about reality, not make believe. One that sees no difference between the magic of the "occult" and the magic of christianity. One that is aware of Glee being a positive influence on students, not a negative one. One that doesn't think you are trying to summon Satan's horde every time you play Magic the Gathering.
This is your chance to see the world for what it really is. Don't waste it.
Frankly, I think this school is a bit much. I mean, they're entitled to have their rules but people need to be allowed to think for themselves. In the long run, seems like they did him a favor. IMO.
Why did HE choose to go to BJU ? I certainly would not have gone there, nor will I send my children there since I want them to get a real university education. I'm sure any normal university would love to have his tuition dollars and encourage him do 1, 2 & 3.
In fact, he demonstrated that ability by watching something he agreed not to.
The college acknowledges that ability in not allowing it.
He enrolled in a college that had rules and he agreed to them.
He broke that contract with the university.
And despite the erroneous popular concept to the contrary, we are responsible for "whatever" we do.
I have the 'ability' to piss in public. But most places don't allow that.
It's no wonder that a student is kicked out for watching 'Glee.' The series has homosexual characters.
http://www.thehistorybluff.co...
http://www.troyandjessica.com...
You might want to submit your own 'urban legend' about BJU being guarded with 'automatic weapons'.
If this was a normal university, I'd say "fair", but this is a private religious institution... they're entitled to rules as strange as they please... even if I think they're complete nut-jobs.