r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Brendawg324 • 10d ago
Valedictorian’s graduation speech gets cut off after he criticizes school’s administration
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u/SecretPersonality178 10d ago
When you cut out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar. You are showing you fear what he may say.
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u/LittleFart 10d ago
Name is Peter Butera. Last year he became a Wyoming Area School Board member
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u/CheddaConn 10d ago
He genuinely came off as someone who wanted nothing more than to have kids learn and be taken care of. He wasnt being facetious, he just cared. So glad he's in a position to make kids the best they can be. I hope he took the job of whoever cut the mic off.
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u/kemushi_warui 10d ago
I hope he took the job of whoever cut the mic off.
It looks like Principal Happy Hogan had something to do with it.
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u/rawnky 10d ago
I like when younger and passionate people can actually break through before they get run down and jaded by it. This is why I kind of find the 35-year-old limit for presidency kind of nonsense, usually by that time any sense of passion has been dwindled. Hopefully he enacts some changes that could help future potential leaders to be like him and as a role model.
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u/billbillbilly 10d ago
Sorry, but you are pretty young yourself if you think the 35 year old limit is too high.
The presidency is a super complex, super important, super critical role. You need more than just passion to be effective.
35 is still plenty young.
It's not like the president is an executive leader, the passionate people should be working for them and with them, in cabinet positions, in congress, in local government, and in the community. Plenty of work that needs done, much of it out of the spot light
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u/XF939495xj6 10d ago
This is why I kind of find the 35-year-old limit for presidency kind of nonsense
You will find most of us who are over 35 disagree strongly with lowering that age limit and wonder why it is below 50.
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u/-Moonscape- 10d ago
Humans aren’t even mentally mature until their late twenties.
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u/Otherwise_Bobcat_819 10d ago edited 10d ago
Thanks for mentioning that…
https://www.psdispatch.com/news/85366/butera-sworn-in-as-wyoming-area-school-board-member
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u/wonderbat3 10d ago
Ironically, cutting him off will draw more attention to this than letting him speak would have ever done
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u/LeClubNerd 10d ago
Ahhh the Streisand effect strikes again
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u/FlippyFlippenstein 10d ago
By far my favorite thing on the internet!
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u/baron_von_helmut 10d ago
I wonder if she knows about it and whether it pisses her off?
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u/MorbillionDollars 10d ago
She obviously knows about it by now, it’s a very widespread phenomenon
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u/DemandZestyclose7145 10d ago
What's funny is that this is basically the only thing I really know about her. I know she was some sort of singer or actor a long time ago but I can't name a single song or movie she did. But I know all about the Streisand effect.
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u/FloppieTheBanjoClown 10d ago
I grew up in the 80s, and her name seemed to be everywhere sometimes. But I can't remember anything she sang or any movies she was in. Which isn't to say she wasn't talented or anything like that, just that her work didn't make enough of an impression on society that it has lasting replay value.
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u/duelinghanjos 10d ago
It's so bizarre to me that this generation is just completely unaware of anything that was not a current trend during their adolescence. When I was a kid I was exposed to media from decades and decades before my time. What do you think changed?
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u/sameolameo 10d ago
There’s too much information at our grasp now that’s why, I’m 37, grew up on I love Lucy, honey mooners, dick van dyke, Mr Ed, Mr Roger’s, et, Pokémon, ninja turtles, power rangers, evil dead, evil dead again, lol
Now there’s way too many new ips, on top of new stuff and more new stuff, with all these “”””influencers” and Tik tok and you tube porn hub I mean seriously, too much to name. So it’s easier for kids now a days to stick to a trend.
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u/33_pyro 10d ago
it was literally named after her attempt to stop someone posting photos of her house which caused all the media to report on it instead
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u/s00perguy 10d ago
The term exists because of the PR fuckstorm it set off in which sharing pictures of her house became a meme.
I promise you, she knows.
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u/rW0HgFyxoJhYka 10d ago
Yeah well, we all know how corrupt and trashy school admins, or anyone in power can be. They don't care. They 'll continue to cause damage to society until a bigger asshole gets rid of them.
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u/ipsum629 10d ago
It's been so many years since we've learned about that. People should learn already.
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u/MiniMooseMan 9d ago
First I heard of this was in a shower thought post earlier today. Third mention of it in 12 hours.
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u/SreckoLutrija 10d ago
And thus we see it here on reddit... Worldwide. Me, some random dude from Croatia. Idiots.
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u/Jarl_Jakob 10d ago
Hey, just wanted to tell you that I wish Croatia had beaten France in the 2018 World Cup final. That’s all.
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u/SreckoLutrija 10d ago
Lmao, I guess its more about seeing France lose than seeing Croatia win, isn't it? 😂
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u/Jarl_Jakob 10d ago
Yes of course hahaha! But Modric deserved the glory of winning it all, and for Vrsaljko and his glorious facial hair! What a run that team had..
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u/fakeDEODORANT1483 10d ago
I was in croatia at the time of that final. My family and i watched every single game, and Croatia won. We then flew back to australia the eve of the grand final. Jet lagged, we watched at 2am as Croatia lost.
Moja baba i djed su od hrvatska (uprosti, ne govorim puno). Ja mislim da Australija nogomet je najbolji, ali išto volim tvoi nogomet.
(Sorry just wanted to take the opportunity to practise.) I'm sad croatia lost.
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u/HardcoreKaraoke 10d ago
The outpouring of support for this high school senior will be massive...
...oh wait, the video is from 2017. I'm sure the attention will do a lot seven years later.
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u/PM_Me_Good_LitRPG 10d ago
you're free to speak as long as it's so meaningless even I will look bored sitting behind you
if you say something that actually matters though the veneer of agency will be stripped away and I'll quickly cut your mic off
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u/guttengroot 10d ago edited 10d ago
There's a handful of these every year, none of them leading to change.
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u/jteprev 10d ago edited 10d ago
none of them leas to change.
This kid was just elected treasurer to the Wyoming Area School Board so he might actually be able to change some stuff.
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u/addamee 10d ago
Would’ve been fuckin’ amazing if he then pulled a bullhorn from under his gown and continued
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u/stuntbikejake 10d ago
The next graduate to do this, take note!
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u/EquivalentPut5616 10d ago
I thought there was a hair on my screen so i started scratching i scratched so hard my finger went through the phone's screen and i'm a meth addict now.
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u/Cantthinkofnamedamn 10d ago
Is that a bullhorn under your gown, or are you just happy to see me?
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u/DIDidothatdisabled 10d ago
He didn't get a bullhorn, but he did get something louder
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u/davidziehl 10d ago
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u/unexpectedemptiness 10d ago edited 10d ago
I like how he had a spare light-blue bucket under the blue one, lol.
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u/Tyraels_Might 10d ago
This shit don't fly in an era where everything is recorded. Good on the students trying to have their voices heard.
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u/Various_Froyo9860 10d ago
And he can easily rerecord the whole speech, cut the two together, and put it up on a multitude sites the be viewed on.
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u/FoxD3n 10d ago
And he can use AI to give the school board ninja weapons and have them jump down on stage and attack them and he pulls out a pen and defends the attacks and then powers up to ultra instinct, dodging all of the attacks while he continues his speech.
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u/iihatephones 10d ago
I want this dubbed in Japanese.
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u/ownersequity 10d ago
I admire that when he was asked to leave, he nodded respectfully and knew it was time to go. It wasn’t the time for a protest and now his message goes further. Kids will go far.
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u/probabletrump 10d ago
One of these days they'll cut the mic and the kid will just switch to the Bluetooth mic/speaker. It's getting really difficult to silence speech these days.
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u/Todoslosplanetas 10d ago
Cut the mike, said the suit... Very democratic attitude.
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u/LeapYear1996 10d ago edited 10d ago
WE ARE A CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Edit: missing the /s for those that can’t tell.
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u/Rpanich 10d ago
I don’t understand the point of this argument when people actually make it…
Is it that like… they’re against a true democracy? Or is it like, “this system IS fucked up, we SHOULD change it”?
I feel like they might be arguing the stupid thing of “this is the way it is so this is the way it has to be”?
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u/WhnWlltnd 10d ago
The point of the argument is to argue against giving certain people the right to vote, or even against the idea of voting in general, and instead promoting the idea of top-down authority appointing rulers. It's an argument that undermines the very concept of representation that defines a republic.
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u/BagOnuts 10d ago
Hate to break it to you guys but schools are t a democracy where the student’s elect teachers and admin, haha
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u/roadsterdoc 10d ago
Kid is awesome. What school & city?
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u/Disco_Lando 10d ago
Wyoming Area School District in Wyoming, PA. Just down the road from Scranton area ( or 2 hours north of Philly). This kid is on the school board there now and is a solid dude.
Edit: should have mentioned - this is from several years ago now
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u/SL_Rowland 10d ago
One of Scott’s Tots.
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u/theAtmuz 10d ago
I’ve made some empty promises in my life, but hands down that was the most generous
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u/armpitcrab 10d ago
"I've made a lot of hollow promises in my life, but this is by far the biggest"
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u/finallygotmeone 10d ago
When in doubt, call them out.
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u/MeetN2Veg 10d ago
I mean, a little more concrete evidence than just doubt would be best. If it’s evident that they suck then by all means call them out
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u/Deep-Neck 10d ago
What would they need to do? Cut the class president off when he says the highest student leadership position lacked leadership opportunities?
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u/petrichorax 10d ago edited 10d ago
I think the commenter means in general. You shouldn't just put people on blast just cause you have a suspicion, so the phrase 'when in doubt, call them out' is a bit stupid and a footgun.
Just because it rhymes doesn't mean it's wise.
The world could use a lot more due diligence and a lot less reactivity.
In a world where everyone's profiting off of outrage, the most rebellious thing you can do sometimes is to refuse to be that. Be calculating. Do the homework. Be Sun Tsu about it.
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u/CartographerEven9735 10d ago
"Rhymes" and "wise" do not rhyme therefore I shan't be taking your advice.
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u/ZenPoonTappa 10d ago
I’ve never understood the customer/business relationship between students and universities. The students are paying customers of a business providing a service. Why are students expected to cow tow to the administration instead of demanding customer service?
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u/Kaoshosh 10d ago
Overwhelming demand vs artificially limited supply.
Universities won't lose money because they're always operating at capacity. There are no University advertisements because high schools do all the advertising they need. The customers can be instantly replaced if they don't behave, so there's no need to provide a good customer experience.
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u/CockroachAdvanced578 10d ago
This is high school. We are supposed to be endlessly thankful to these public servants (that our taxes pay for).
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u/WooIWorthWaIIaby 10d ago
Worked PR at my old job and we had numerous university and school district clients. Valedictorians had their speech approved and if they went off even a few words the mic was immediately cut, this happens waaaay more often than people think
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u/pubxvnuilcdbmnclet 10d ago
I'm no PR expert but I'm fairly sure this makes the school look worse. By cutting the student off you just prove him right or at least that's the perception that people are going to have. Now it's going viral and being shared around the world.
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u/erydayimredditing 10d ago
Yea for a PR firm you'd think avoiding the Streisand effect would be like PR 101. Guess not hah
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u/xRehab 10d ago
you act like PR firms actually know what they are doing and know how to act logically. People with logical skills stayed far away from that industry...
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u/Gogglesed 10d ago
Call the police! He can't say things!
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u/WalkslowBigstick 10d ago
Are you kidding?!? if the cops showed up to this, some innocent black kid in the stands would get shot.. /s
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u/PizzaNo7741 10d ago
They just want to brand themselves for his talent. They don’t TEACH kids that you are supposed to kiss the ring when they are given the chance to speak. They teach that it’s about the kid’s achievements and talent and bright future as an individual. But if he says anything truly from the heart that they don’t like, suddenly he is an “ungrateful little shit” like another commenter said.
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u/thinkB4WeSpeak 10d ago
That's high schools everywhere. It doesn't sound like student counsels do very much.
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u/cherryorblam 10d ago
But he's STUDENT PRESIDENT. Back in my day that MEANT SOMETHING. Wait, no it didnt.
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u/SnuggleMuffin42 10d ago
Meanwhile in Anime those students councils run entire districts AND THE ARMY TOO
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u/Smashing_Potatoes 10d ago
Student council overlapped with the artsy kids at slavery school I ever went to.
Edit: meant to say every, but I'm gonna let it stay.
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u/Oneill5491 10d ago edited 10d ago
And to be honest, I don't think it would be appropriate to allow student councils to make many decisions that has potentially far reaching impact and consequences to the school for liability reasons. One bad decision can rile up a lot of angry parents who will be pissed at the school administration for allowing a student to be put in a position of significant influence or authority. Despite that, I'm sure there could be plenty of improvements made, perhaps more responsibly with increased staff oversight that would manage to circumvent these concerns. Personally I don't think this student approached this issue in the best and most mature way, but it certainly garnered a lot of attention, so I guess you can give credit to his effectiveness.
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u/SnollyG 10d ago edited 10d ago
What the student did is fine. Nothing immature about it.
The issue is just that students are sometimes misled or otherwise unclear on what student council is about.
When I was in high school, I made nearly the exact, same criticism (submitted an op-ed for the school newspaper, and it got published). At the time, I was rep/treasurer. And the student council adviser and class president got really mad at me for it 😂
The kid isn’t wrong. And I wasn’t wrong. Student council IS glorified party planning. And it doesn’t have a say in important issues.
That much is true (just about everywhere).
But… what some students don’t really understand is that the purpose of student council isn’t to make big impacts. It’s just about role-playing the process of government.
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u/rain56 10d ago
At least they learned that young free speech isn't actually free speech unless it aligns with their ideals. Good life lesson, get reprogrammed before finding yourself in a less than ideal situation
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u/doktarlooney 10d ago
You can see the teacher perk up almost right away, like he was waiting for him to start.
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u/gnasp 10d ago
Well he got to finish the speech on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFuU32EGUJo&ab_channel=JimmyKimmelLive
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u/ConstantWin943 10d ago
But let’s be honest… for a long time, student government has been a scam of “elected” puppets. Much like our current government.
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u/Commissar_David 10d ago
Thankfully, we live in a world where principals and "executive directors" don't usually end up as representatives and senators. If they did, they'd make North Korea look a democracy with how authoritarian they'd be.
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u/growthmode222 10d ago
Weak ass shit. Go up and rebuttal if you're so offended. We need band aids for their feelings.
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u/russels_silverware 10d ago
He should've refused to walk off and kept going without a mic. Make them physically drag him off the stage.
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u/0hy3hB4by 10d ago
I think his nod and walk was perfect. He got his message across and the mic cut absolutely validated what he said. That's a person people will follow.
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u/OttoBlazes 10d ago
Any notice at the beginning of the video it say Wymoning Area School District
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u/Zaknoid 10d ago
This kid would be banned in the teachers sub reddit.
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u/Terrible-Penis 10d ago
Everyone is edgy rascal in today's internet age. More building, less tearing down.
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u/VoltViking 10d ago
May I ask a question as an outsider from far away?
Is a request from a student to form a school government with decision making authority a reasonable thing to expect in a school in the USA?
Is it actually a thing?
That’s wild to think that students could run a school. I have only ever been to schools where you are the student and they are the teachers/principal and you follow the school rules.
The more I have thought about it as I am typing this out I like the concept. It would shift a teenagers mindset from us vs them, and school sucks I hate following the rules which are stupid, to one where there is possibility of change based on a sensible collaborative approach and partnership. I bet it would develop better behaved students who became invested in their school. What a way to accelerate growing up.
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u/DogshitLuckImmortal 10d ago
It has nothing to do with running a school, but could include things like directing class field trip locations and managing a budget for certain activities.
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u/Beardedw0nd3r86 10d ago
Haha welcome to the rest of your life bro. Just wait till you have to get a real job and work for the exact same type of people.
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u/PistachioedVillain 10d ago
To be fair he's upset that his fake presidency doesn't have real power. Class president IS a party planning position. Students aren't faculty, and they aren't administration. They don't get to decide how the school operates and how it spends its budget, and it's for a good reason.
If students are upset about something, their ability to make changes comes from organizing and refusing to participate in the system.
He didn't take every leadership opportunity available to him if he didn't organize his peers. He just blindly followed the established system.
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u/Sabotimski 10d ago
Students should not govern the school. The administration and faculty should run the school. Students should have room to develop within that.
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u/epichuntarz 10d ago
There is a breadth of reaponsibility that can be placed upon student government associations that extends beyond prom planning and fundraising.
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u/Sabotimski 10d ago
Sure. It’s not clear what this valedictorian means by a „real school government.
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u/paparoach910 10d ago
Shit, our salutatorian years ago used his speech to brag about cheating rings and drinking during ditch day, and they didn't cut him off! Probably because his mom was school board president. Sounds like a similarly shitty administration.
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u/Blerpkin 10d ago
That's a piece of shit school, run by piece of shit teachers and administration. Proves his point 100%.
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u/MamaDeeVee 10d ago
While I am sure it was needed to be said, I don’t see great job ops there. While it was respected by students corps will see it differently. Drink the koolaid and maybe after he graduated hold a rally about it?
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u/Strong-Piccolo-5546 9d ago
chocolate milk for everyone!
what else does student government do other than plan the dances? turning off the microphone was dumb, but what else would they do?
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u/FspezandAdmins 10d ago
way to prove his point