Should a school apologize for this?

NORTHPORT, New York (AP) -- Two high school seniors picked quotations from Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" to appear under their high school yearbook pictures, prompting school officials to apologize.
The quotes were picked by Christopher Koulermos and Philip Compton, both 18. Koulermos' read "Strength lies not in defense, but in attack." Compton chose "The great masses of people ... will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one."
"It's our responsibility and we failed miserably," said Northport High School principal Irene McLaughlin. "The fact that the book went out in the form it did was a grave mistake on our part." http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/06/13/hitler.yearbook.ap/index.html

Do you think a school should censor student quotes (if they realized the potential problem earlier) based on who the quote originated from rather than the merits of the quote?

I honestly don't know how I feel. While I support freedom of speech, sometimes I wonder if people are using it as an excuse for things that they could avoid.

Wow, I guess some things never change around there. *sigh* I used to live about 15 minutes from that school.

I don't see what the big deal is. There is no evidence being presented that the two kids that picked the quotes have a devotion to Hitler or are racist or hate Jews. The quotes, if the title of the book is omitted are innocuous. The problem is that the choice of author was bad and people will make assumptions like they always do. If the quotes had come from another source, would anyone have cared?

Is being PC more important than freedom? Certainly seems so these days.

Was there a policy that specifically prohibited it that was violated? Somehow I doubt it. While I have the utmost loathing for who they quoted, I feel they have the right to do so, as long as it doesn't conflict with the yearbook policy.

MaddLlama said:

Is being PC more important than freedom? Certainly seems so these days.

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The sad thing is, I think that being PC is suddenly, in our country, being seen as a less dangerous or risky option than wanting freedom.

Amazing that anyone would want to quote Hitler isn't it?

Because the quotes themselves aren't overtly hate filled or threatening, I don't see how they could do anything but let them be allowed.

Amazing that anyone would want to quote Hitler isn't it?

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Perhaps for the irony of it?

Faint said:

Do you think a school should censor student quotes (if they realized the potential problem earlier) based on who the quote originated from rather than the merits of the quote?

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I don't think the school should have to apologize. It isn't their fault that a particular student believes in a particular idea. If a kid wants to be an idiot and quote Adolf Hitler, so what? That's their choice, not the school's. The only thing I think the school needs to do is claim that they are not responsible for the quotes or their sources. It's all just a way for the school to be PC and save face.

Take the quotes from wence they come.....young students perhaps seeking the shock value, perhaps testing authority, perhaps looking for some sort of recognition.

On the other hand it is freightening, for if they are serious, we must remember that they are our future. God forbid!

Should the school have to apologize? No. Should they pay more attention to the potential quotes that are put in the yearbook? Yes. Should they perhaps speak with students who voice similar opinions in the future and try to councel them or find out what they are really thinking? Yes.

I have a question .

Would there have been any question about apology if they had quoted " The best defense is a strong offence " ???? { or winning offence }

I believe that is the most common quote from Mein Kampf ? It seems to me that both statements could be considered true , to a degree . So what is the problem ? Where they came from ? Not everything the man said was hate . Was it ? Even if that is the case , perhaps more westerners should be reading Mein Kampf today and then having a look around ....

Those quotes don't target any group. In some ways, I even agree with the second one.

It should be allowed, and there is no need for the school to apologize. If those two quotes would be taken out, then a case could be made that we shouldn't have quotes from any religious texts either, since some could claim they are offended by Jesus, or Buddha, or Mohammad, or even LaVeyan.

And that's something I know most of us definately don't want to see.

"The great masses of people ... will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one."

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I dunno... I'm kinda partial to that quote. He proved it to everyone too.

Mein Kampf was a great book and Hitler did also have normal thoughts. He also had twisted thoughts and misused them, but that does not make quotes from his book just as evil.
There is no need for apology here..

Amazing that anyone would want to quote Hitler isn't it?

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Not really. He was a mass-murdering jerk, but some of the things he said are very true.

The School does not own anyone an apology for something a couple students said, and we should not be censoring student free speech.

Just because you quote somebody does not mean that you agree with him. People often quote Hitler in their arguments to demonstrate the wrongness or evilness of a position. (This is a fallacy btw, but that is not the point.)

I can vaguely remember a couple of years ago in Canada a politician quoted Hitler and a lot of people got very upset. I personally didn’t much like this politician or the party he represented, but I thought the quote was brilliant. The quote was something like “what a boon it is to the leaders of the world that men do not think”, or something like that. In quoting Hitler he was using irony to make a point. The point was that people should think, question and challenge their leaders. And using a Hitler quote dramatically illustrated what could happen if people don’t think.

I don’t know what was going on in the minds of the students who made these particular quotes. They could have been a couple of neo-nazis, or they could have been making a very different point. The first quote, "Strength lies not in defense, but in attack." Could have been intended as a condemnation of the current U.S. policy of pre-emptive strike. He might have wanted to criticize George Bush by pointing out a similarity to Hitler (fallacy yes, but a common one). And the second quote, "The great masses of people ... will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.", is much like the one the Canadian politician used, and should be viewed as an attempt to show people that they have fallen for a big lie, and also to show the danger of that.

MaddLlama said:

Wow, I guess some things never change around there. *sigh* I used to live about 15 minutes from that school.

I don't see what the big deal is. There is no evidence being presented that the two kids that picked the quotes have a devotion to Hitler or are racist or hate Jews. The quotes, if the title of the book is omitted are innocuous. The problem is that the choice of author was bad and people will make assumptions like they always do. If the quotes had come from another source, would anyone have cared?

Is being PC more important than freedom? Certainly seems so these days.

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An excellent point; however - If a race of people have been persecuted, and recognise those words (and the person who used them first) does not the using of the quotes infer that the words are worth repeating ?

That brings up an interesting point by how well the quotes are known.............There again, anti-Plagarism should have made the quotes be attributed to Hitler (sorry, Can't remember if the name was quoted); in that case, the original person who said the words is given validity ?

If nobody complains when Bush is quoted, why should they be when Hitler is? Oh wait...they're usualy laughing at Bush when they quote him.

I don't see the problem and I don't think the school owes an apology. While the author of the book (and I disagree that it's a great work) is loathsome, the quotes are not war mongering or anti-semitic or anything that can be claimed as "hate" propoganda.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people in this country have abdicated the use of their brains in favor of the "knee jerk".

An excellent point; however - If a race of people have been persecuted, and recognise those words (and the person who used them first) does not the using of the quotes infer that the words are worth repeating ?

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Surely repeating the words: "The great masses of people ... will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one." is of utmost importance since this is exactly what Hitler then went on to do. If we sweep them under the carpet then we widen the possibility of something similar happening again.

I don't think the kids were going for shock value. If they were, there were plenty of more shocking quotes they could have chosen from.

I see nothing wrong with the students quoting Hiter, and nothing wrong with the school publishing the quotes in the yearbook. It's called freedom of speech, and it is a precious right.

Should they have been censored?

Well that depends. Is the yearbook considered a private publication? If it is then the publishers can censor material as they see fit. If it is a Public endeavor (which I’m assuming at a public school would be) then every student is entitled to their opinion and should not be censored as long as their quotes do not violate any laws, regardless of the original author.

Should the school have apologized?

Not necessarily. Again, it’s a public vs. private issue. If private, they may make any apologetic statements they want. IF public the smart thing to do would be to place a disclaimer at the beginning of the book stating that all expressed opinions are solely those of the author and not of the institution.

Could they have picked a more tasteful quote that expressed the same sentiments?

Probably, but its their choice, so whatever.

If a statement is true it is true no matter who says it. People are associating their personal feelings for the author with the statement rather than examining the validity of the statement from an objective viewpoint. They are letting emotion cloud their judgment, and casting stones at ghosts.