Careful What You Teach

She’s suspended, missing her graduation, and she’s getting a lot of flak. Personally, I see her as someone willing to put herself on the line for her convictions. If only we had more people like her in this world.

I’m talking about Savannah Larson, a 13-year-old 8th grader at Monticello Middle School in Longview, Washington. After she sang at an end-of-year concert (the audience of which included students, teachers, and parents) she ended by thanking her choir teacher Connie Noakes for everything she had taught her. She then went into a rant of obscenities and profane language -- shocking and offending just about everyone in the audience, and resulting in her suspension, her inability to attend her graduation, and the above mentioned flak.

If you are unfamiliar with this case you may wonder why I’m painting a foul-mouth teenager who publicly offended people as a hero of sorts, so some background information is required. According to Ms. Larson, her choir teacher, Ms. Noakes, routinely uses abusive language in her classroom. Every word Ms. Larson spewed at the concert was a repeat of the words Ms. Noakes spewed at the students. Ms. Larson had tried other routes. She and her mother had complained “several times” to the school administration, but nothing was ever done. Now Ms. Larson was graduating. She could have just let it go, and allowed the next group of 8th graders to put up with the choir teacher’s unique communication style. Or she could do something about it. She could demonstrate in public what the students experience in private -- risking suspension, missing her own graduation, and public ridicule in the process. She, in my opinion bravely and honorably, chose the latter.

One wonders why behavior that is apparently OK in the classroom is not OK at a public concert. Never-the-less, something is being done now. An investigation is finally underway -- an investigation that would not be underway if it wasn’t for Savannah Larson.