On Demand
Can I Get a Witness?
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Paul LaClair, lawyer and father of Matthew LaClair, a student at Kearny High School who taped his history teacher proselytizing in class, return to discuss the settlement they reached with their school district.
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Comments
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I was just thinking about this case. Could anyone link me to a legal primer on secretly recording people or give me an overview in 150 words or fewer?
Thanks,
Chris
1. The outrage is not the student recording the preaching; it is presenting a fire-and-brimstone sermon in a science class.
2. Sensitivity training for teachers from the Anti-Defamation League? Bad idea. Makes it look like a Jewish anti-Christian thing. Perhaps ACLU might be better at it in light of their defense of church-state separation and their ostensibly secular stance.
3. The "science teacher" should be fired for not knowing what science is and being unprofessional in dealing with a captive audience.
Remind me not to move to Kearny.
Matthew,
You are near the end of the only period in your life where you are grouped with others solely based on your age - you are obviously more mature than the majority of your "peers", and are more than ready to move on. Once you leave high school, you will associate with people based on your mutual interests, experiences, and viewpoints.
My suggestion to you is to skip your senior year of high school and proceed on to college - there you will surrounded by people who are actually your intellectual equals, rather than just people who happen to be the same age as you.
For what it's worth, the only regret I have about leaving high school at the end of my junior year is that I was never informed that I could have left at the end of my sophomore year. Many colleges and universities have programs specifically for early admissions students - Johns Hopkins and (of course) Simon's Rock come to mind.
Do yourself a favor and get those applications in ASAP!
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