Kiss and Expel

While browsing CNN.com, I came across a very interesting video news clip entitled "expelled for kissing". The story, it turns out, is not hyped up a bit by that catchy headline. An 11th grader, Dominique Goyner, and his girlfriend were expelled from their Columbia, SC high school after a video tape caught them kissing on the school bus. Goyner, a respectable student and ROTC member, is currently being homeschooled and hopes that this event will not deter his chances of getting into military academy.

Now, when I hear the phrase "expelled for kissing", I'm picturing something scandalous at least--a full on makeout session, inappropriate groping, etc. However, Goyner's mother insists that she has seen the tape and it only contains "two minutes of kissing". If this is indeed true, then I can't help but feel that this is either a ridiculously conservative high school or a blatant misuse of authority or some combination of that duo. I realize that the school bus is an improper place for any type of sexual behavior and that other students must have been subject to witnessing such behavior, but worse stuff can be seen on the CW network at 8:00. I mean, two minutes of kissing hardly makes you some kind of pervert. Goyner seems to be a pretty respectable kid, so I don't understand why he is being treated like a deviant. Follow-up articles that I read, such as this one, confirm that a school board meeting in October was what decided Goyner's fate, expelling him for the rest of the school year.

Let me get nostalgic for a minute and recall a moment out of my private Catholic high school education. During spirit week, one of my fellow seniors took a fake head and placed it on a stick. When the seniors placed first in one of the spirit games, he brandished the stick and led our entire class in a rousing chant of "We Got ****", referring to the object that was stuck on the stick. Granted, our whole class was pulled out of the auditorium by our vice principle and lectured, but we returned to spirit games 10 minutes later unscathed and with a renewed sense of rebellion.

So, I can't help but question, why are two teens being so severely punished for a short act of affection when many others get away with so much more? Adolescents are always going to be breaking the rules and as long as its not doing any damage to themselves or others, why not just say "kids will be kids" and move past? And what if homeschooling wasn't an option for these teenagers--I'm a little confused as to how a school board could deem deprivation of an education as a suitable punishment.

I'll definitely be staying tuned as this one develops..