Kicked out of Class for this. Is this right?

Question

well, i was in class, and i was explaining my theory on time travel to a friend
" Basically I believe that Jesus was a time traveler from the future. Basically i believe that hitler could also be jesus, and hitler killed all the jews because he didnt believe in jesus"

well, yea it's a theory, and the teacher yelled across the room
"HEY SHUT UP AND DONT TALK ANYMORE"
"WHat you SAY IS VERY OFFENSIVE"

I said "It's a theory!
and he kept saying "SHUT UP" in a voice of murder. Then he sent me down to the office. Now i'm going to have to talk to the principle, and he's probably going to give me sautrday school for inapropriate behavior.

THe thing that i dont understand is it's an opinon. It's in our constitution, freedome of speach.
Is there anything else i can nail him on?

Answer 1

yeah, you have freedom of speech...unless you are in a private institution. If you are attending a privately owned institution, they have every right by the constitution to make whatever rules they want and you have to obey them.

However, if the teacher actually behaved like that I think it is highly inappropriate. If it is a public school, the teacher will almost certainly get fired.

I think your best approach would be to speak reasonably and calmly to the principal and ask him to lighten the punishment because of the teacher's publicly humiliating treatment of you.

Then looking at it from the other perspective, you need to understand that if the teacher holds certain belief systems you could be offending him in such a way as to make it seem like a personal attack.

But overall, I suspect they cannot punish you too much because of the teacher's behavior.

Answer 2

Well, you're right in saying that you have freedom of speech and therefore, the right to speak your opinions.

Unfortunately, what you stated is very inflammatory to some people. Still, yes you have the right to state your opinion.

Here's where you're in a bind: You're in a high school class where the teacher really is the authority figure. If you are speaking out of turn and it is disruptive to the class and learning, then he or she has the right to ask you to be quiet. If you refuse, you face consequences for insubordination. A classroom has rules of its own.

When you state your opinions, you need to do so in an appropriate manner, at an appropriate time and in an appropriate place. Unless the class was discussing time travel and historical figures, you were not adding to class learning.

Sadly, the teacher got all emotional about this and blew his cool. He should have told you to air your opinions about Jesus, Hitler and time travel at another time and place.

Although he was wrong to tell you to shut up, you still needed to "shut up" and discuss your ideas later.

If the class was discussing time travel, etc. then your opinion, however offensive, should have been tolerated. Schools should teach tolerance of ideas. That is what our country is founded upon anyway. Religious and ideological tolerance.

I'm a teacher and I know that many teachers are nuts. Poor kids. :(

Answer 3

In High School a teacher can't yell at you to "shut up" however dependant upon the atmosphere of the class/school private school or public behaviour of a teacher is acceptable in different situations.

As far as your "theroy" that is offensive to some. I know it would offend me and I"m sure it did offend some perhaps even your teacher. But there is a better way to have handled that than what he/she did by yelling at you in such a manner.

When you talk to your principal I would (calmly and collectively) explain the situation to him/her. Explain that you were discussing your "theory" with a classmate and you tried to explain that to your teacher. However if you got abusive toward your teacher with your words in retaliation to his/her comments to you then you could get in trouble for that alone.

Remember when you are in public some topics are not acceptable for open discussion unless you are sure of your audience. Yes you have freedom of speach and to your opinion, however it is just common sense and the use of good manners to be respectable of others in your discussion.

Answer 4

You were in class, were you disrupting the teacher while he was talking.
This is offensive. Maybe your teacher should not have shouted at you, but it appears the rudeness went both ways.

And if you have to do school on Saturday, oh well.

Freedom of speech in our country maybe true, but in the classroom, the teacher is usually a benevolent dictator, freedom of speech may not hold up, especially when you consider that we are supposed to live in a politically correct world.

BTW: This teacher is going to be the one grading your exams and tests for the rest of the year. You may want to apologize and be on your good behavior because your antics could lead to a bad or failing grade if you are not a A student.

Answer 5

Even from your own description, what you said could be viewed as offensive. Your teacher probably told you to shut up out of fear that a fellow student would be offended by what you were saying and complain or sue the school. Freedom of speech doesn't apply here because you are on your school's/teacher's time, not your own while you are in his or her class. What you said was ignorant, sacreligious and blasphemous, and I see exactly where the teacher was coming from. Be glad you only got kicked out of class. These days, things are so crazy that saying that could get you kicked out of school.

Answer 6

It could be that your teacher felt what you were saying was similar to hate speech, which is certainly NOT allowed by the constitution. Also, students are not entitled to all the same freedoms as adults are - they can't vote, for example.

I think your teacher was a little harsh with you, he probably shouldn't have yelled at you. But at the same time, you shouldn't have talked back to him. Your defiance of his "request" is what got you sent to the Principal.

Answer 7

Something like that is very liberal. It depends on the atmosphere of your school. If it's more liberal, then yes it is acceptable. But if you said that down south in Louisiana or Mississippi, you'd be running for your life. Yes we have freedom of speech but you also have to think before you speak.

On the other side, your teacher was a bit too forceful about the whole thing.... telling him to shut up and sending him to the principal's office. The purpose of education is to broaden your horizons and not only accept what the masses present.

Answer 8

You're leaving out a lot of context here. Were you supposed to be talking at the time? After the teacher asked you to be quiet, did you comply, or did you just keep talking? Etc.

This teacher wouldn't keep saying "shut up," if you weren't pushing his buttons, so tell us everything please.

Also, was this teacher Jewish, and did you know that before you developed your "theory"?

Answer 9

Yes, we have the freedom of speech- but there is a time and place to say things.

You may have been in the right place, but explaining your theory while class is goin on, and while your teacher is talking, is not the right time.

Der!

Answer 10

Let's inject a bit of common sense here.

You know full well that was no "theory" of yours. All you did was intentionally simultaneously insult christians & jews while defying your teacher's rightfull authority in class. As Judge Judy says: "Don't p*ss on my leg and tell me it's raining."