Culture

A Nevada Teen Was Suspended For Cursing In A Phone Call To His Congressman About Gun Control

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Last Wednesday, students across the country left their classrooms and marched outside of their school campuses for 17 minutes as part of a national walkout organized in the wake of the Parkland shooting. Despite the inspiring display, however, many school districts threatened to punish students who participated in the walkout — including one in rural Arkansas that administered corporal punishment to three such offenders. Noah Christiansen of Reno, Nevada was also suspended for his actions on that day, though not necessarily the ones that invariably took him outside of the classroom.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Christiansen was instead suspended for two days by the Washoe County School District for cursing during a phone call he made at the time. During the walkout he called the office of his congressman, Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nevada), during which the 17-year-old student exclaimed Congress needed to “get off their f*cking asses” and do something about rampant gun violence in schools. The Amodei staffer informed the principal about the cursing, resulting in a two-day suspension for “for being disrespectful and insubordinate.”

Speaking to the Times, Amodei stressed he “[wasn’t] going to be the language proctor for the U.S. House of Representatives,” but ultimately defended his staffer’s actions. “I’m responsible for what I’m saying right now. Welcome to the world where words have impact.” Meanwhile, Christiansen told a CNN affiliate that he “[understood] that’s not maybe the wording I should have used,” but insisted he still has the right “to use that word.” The ACLU addressed a letter to Christiansen’s school district, asking that his suspension be overturned to further avoid the “chilling effect” it may have on “students… engaging in the political process.”

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if the actions of Amodei’s staffer, Christiansen’s subsequent suspension, and the congressman’s response to it all will have an effect on his “Congressional Art Competition,” for which submissions are still being accepted.

(Via Los Angeles Times and CNN)