Improv joke reaction: What about free speech? – Mount Airy News

To the Editor,

As a graduate of North Surry, I was appalled to read the recent news about a sheriffs office investigation being prompted by a joke in an improv skit. There is no crime here. A threat to the president would be handled by the FBI. So, obviously, this is just a matter of someone being offended. This is a waste of law enforcement time and resources.

Our Constitution guarantees freedom of speech. Be that as it may, schools have chosen to ban certain clothing items that incited conflict and I suppose, if there were a rule in place, a joke about Trump, obviously, could incite a riot in a highly Republican county. I was happy that the students were interested in politics and world news rather than just the minutiae of teenage socialization.

I ran into a similar problem in Alamance County when my daughter wrote a political editorial for the school newspaper and, after it was printed, it was pulled and destroyed.

Our children have brains. We are supposed to be preparing them to be contributing adults. Stifling their creativity, political thought, and speech (as long as it is not hateful) seems to work counter to this goal.

Of course, this matter has now landed us in the national news media again for a less than flattering reason. I would ask that all of us step back and remember when we were kids. What did we say among our friends? What was amusing to us? Would it have been acceptable at school? Maybe not. But just like this, it wouldnt warrant a law enforcement investigation.

Angelia Lawrence

Elon

Read more here:
Improv joke reaction: What about free speech? - Mount Airy News