This is what bothers me about this story:
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Charles Hall, principal of Gavit Middle/High School, said he did not censor Blackwood. The valedictorian needed to prepare a speech about the future and the salutatorian needed to reflect back on the past years of school, Hall said. The speeches should invoke happiness and celebrate the positive day, he said.
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He (Blackwood) said he was told what the theme should be after he turned in his speech.
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Now, if the kid knew the theme before going into it, and decided to write something off of that path, then I would say that the student is pulling a stunt that honestly reeks of self-promotion.
But if the school assumed that he was going to write something positive and is only raising a stink because the paper isn't what they expected, well, that's poor communication on the school's part.
Honestly, the only thing I remember from my HS graduation speeches was the Valedictorian (who was this tiny bookish white girl) stopping in the middle of her speech to say: "And I'd like to give a shout-out to all my homies from my AP Engl-ish class, fo sho'." Thats it. I don't even remember what the Salutatorian said, basically because all she talked about was her group of friends.
This is why I love that Babson only has a "student speaker", whose essay goes through a selection process. For high schools, though, I suggest what the comic strip
Mallard Filmore once proposed: to have the "Mediocratorian", the kid who sits in the absolute center of the rankings, to give the speech...thus giving a view of what the class is
really like.
