ReviewJournal.com: "Some parents who object to the plays' 'mature content' had sought a preliminary injunction to stop both productions.
But lawyers for the Clark County School District said the parents' lawyer failed to prove one of the basic criteria for a preliminary injunction, that it would cause 'irreparable harm' to the plaintiffs."
9 comments:
I think that it's crazy that parents would try to legally stop a school's production from happening, although I can believe it. I think that by the time students are in high school they know about the themes in Rent and The Laramie Project, and I don't see why it would be a problem performing these plays. I think that it's important for high school students to be exposed to the themes and issues in both of these plays, and I think that theatre is one of the best ways to expose people.
These parents are just trying to protect their children. The problem is, parents do not understand what their teenagers know. They also don't understand how much smarter today's teenagers are. They understand people are dealing with these problems. I think sheltering their children rather than talking to them about it is the "irreparable harm" that is being caused. I really don't think this is a theater story. It just so happens the content is in the theater.
I guess a theater issue here is, parents can protect their children from seeing movies, but it is harder to protect them from school musicals and plays.
The parents need to get over it... and help expand their children's minds and understanding.
Parents try to hard to censor what children are exposed to, yet seeing a show like The Laramie Project exposes children to positive messages. Showing children mindless entertainment instills no positive morals, and doesn't make them grow into considerate human beings. I understand that there can be difficult concepts and harsh scenes for children to watch sometimes, but parents need to know what exactly to shield their children from.
I think it's absolutely ridiculous that legal action would be taken to try to stop a high school production. I went to a conservative Catholic high school, and we wanted to do a production of Grease one year, but the idea got dismissed because of the themes. I just really feel that even at the high school level, it's a chance for people to expand and try new things with productions. Everyone is going to be exposed to these things at some point.
This is a tricky issue. While high school theater does play a part in fostering young aspiring theater artists, a lot of its main role is to provide kids with an opportunity to work with others and be part of a team that doesn't require athletic ability. Because of this role, high schools should select plays that will allow a large number of participants. If the school is in a community with more conservative values, it does not make a lot of sense to select a play that is so controversial.
It's easy to say, "If parents don't like it they can just get over it," but we all know that is VERY unlikely to happen. Life is not "Footloose." If parents object strongly to the show selection, they're not going to let their kids participate, and then those kids miss out on a great opportunity; the school play has not served its purpose.
This is one facet of a larger problem of censurship in schools but that's not what this blog is for. Ultimately I can see both sides of this.
Although not my personal opinion, I do think it is valid to be worried about students work/resumes for college admissions. If you want to go to college to pursue Musical Theatre and your parents deny you the right to participate in the only one your school is doing senior year that doesn't look so great and you lose out on the learning experience it would have provided.
However on the other side of this is the works themselves. Both of these pieces have strong messages about really important facets of our society. If a show had been picked only for it's "R" rated content then that would be a separate issue entirely but I think that's not the case. Its great that this school wants to expose their students to theatre that has ,whether you like the pieces or not, made an impact on our society. Both of these pieces give voices to issues that people don't like to address.
I can't say that I have a solution to this problem but I do think that the court ruled correctly in this instance. I have a feeling there will be a lot more of these types of cases in the future.
I also think that it is pretty ridiculous to take legal action like this against the school. I definitely agree with the judge's ruling. If some of the parents are so opposed to a certain show, then just don't see it. Or don't let your child see it, although I think that is a real shame within itself. I understand what Hannah is saying that if the parents strongly object than it is the kids that are missing out and the play has not served its purpose, but at the same time, I think by pushing the limits a bit and pursuing something like this that does face some opposition is the only way to change the "norm". By conceding and giving in to the parents that oppose it, nothing will ever change and the schools will be forever performing the same old conservative shows with no progression into the extensive collection of art that is available. If they push a little bit now, then just maybe in the future the parents and audience members will be a little more open-minded.
This walks an interesting line between academic freedom for young adults and their parents' wishes to control what their children are exposed to. We've seen it in the past when communities would insist that certain books be removed from the libraries to prevent the youth from reading them, but in the days of the internet removing a book from the library no longer has the same effect, and if parents don't want their children to see Rent then they need to do a lot more than just prevent a play from being produced.
I'm glad that the court ruled that the school can continue with the shows, but it's also ridiculous that they were trying to stop the performances. Although the parents that were trying to get the shows stopped were arguing that the shows' "mature content" would cause "irreparable harm," I think it's apparent that they really had personal objections to the themes and wanted to try to hide their children from reality.
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