The Gilford, NH school board had an interesting way of demonstrating the state motto “Live Free or Die”
On May 5 when William Baer, a parent, spoke to the board objecting to the graphic content in a book that was required reading for his 14-year-old daughter, the board had him arrested for disorderly conduct for exceeding the two-minute rule. It is worthwhile to watch the entire 10 minute video by a private journalism source rather than just the various 2-minute videos edited and published by the local TV station.
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I looked up the law in New Hampshire, and one could consider what he did disorderly conduct. the pertinent section says:
III. He purposely causes a breach of the peace, public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creates a risk thereof, by:
(b) Disrupting the orderly conduct of business in any public or governmental facility; or
If you consider what he did disrupting the orderly conduct of business, then it might be disorderly conduct.
The school board defended itself to the press afterwards. They stated that the meeting was a public comment section, and that once the board receives comment, they put topics on the agenda later after they have time to look into the matter. But notice, they made this defense to the press, not to the public. They continually presented a stone wall of you are allowed no questions, comments only, but they didn’t say why.
Presenting that explanation at the beginning, and responding in an open, conciliatory way, acknowledging that the people were heard and would have a response in due time, would have been a way to defuse the situation. But the board presented a front that said “We aren’t listening to you, you don’t count.” “We are the teachers and you are the students.”
The board demonstrates arrogance. It gave a poor example of public discourse and a poor civics in action lesson for the students in the district. It is worth watching this video comment by the daughter to see the real impression they made:
It is worth repeating this quote from Baer’s daughter, Marina:
“I just watched my father get arrested because he broke the two minute rule, at a board of education meeting. This just shows that you resort to force at the first turn of conflict and I am appalled. So I don’t trust you, I haven’t, and I honestly don’t feel safe around you people.”
It is interesting that schools consistently work against the use of force and violence among students, yet the first response of the board members is the use of force. It leads to the thought that maybe the reason they want other people to not use force is that they want the power monopoly?
At The Rainbow 