The link above will take you to a news article about a high school football game between a catholic private school and a public school. (If you would like to watch the video, you can hear the chants at the 2:40 and 9:15 mark and the coach’s reaction is at the 8:00 mark).
Why is it more acceptable for public schools to have more freedoms, such as their chants, than private schools? Do you think the coach of the public school overreacted or was his response justified? How are each of the schools portrayed in this article? How does this story relate to our class theme of public vs. private?
The reason I think public schools have “more freedoms” is because the image that public schools have. When we all think public schools, we think average Americans. But when we think about private schools, we think innocent, upper class and religion. Private school has an image of being “better” students, and displace. Therefore it comes as surprising when students from a private school do anything bad. When public schools have some sorts of scandals like pregnancies, people usually aren’t surprised. I don’t think the coach overreacted but also overreacted at the same time. First of all, just because those students go to a private school doesn’t give them the right to use religion in that type of manner. Religion is a serious matter and should not be yelled out during a football game, it is very disrespectful. I believe that if those students went to a public school, the coach would not have overreacted. I guess this is because people expect the worst from public schools and not private. This relates to our class theme, because it deals with how different kinds of schools are portrayed. The school might be portrayed in one way, but how students act in private is a different subject matter.
ReplyDeleteIt is not a question of acceptability of freedoms through out these two types of schools, but the rules that are set by the schools. When you enroll in a private school you can expect more rules and regulations, its common knowledge. Those kids are paying more money to have a "better" atmosphere for learning. Some believe that is the truth some do not. Its your own personal opinion on which type school will give a better education. I believe the coach did not overreact at all. The only sense where you might say that he did is because he just lost a very meaningful game (a rivalry much like Ohio State vs Michigan), and may have been a little more "heated" than if he would have won the game. But, he was expressing himself perfectly fine and the kids chanting that were in the wrong. By Colerain saying "we have girls," is a true statement, not offensive in any way, just a tease. But for St.X to say they have Jesus is wrong because public schools do/can have Jesus in their lives just as much by going to church actively, praying, etc. This relates to our theme in that its private schools vs public schools and what is "acceptable" to say by each school.
ReplyDeletePublic schools have more freedom because of who controls and makes the rules. The rules for public schools are more laid back but for private schools and more specifically stereotypical Catholic private school it is very disciplined and strict. With the article, the big point is the chant, "We Got Jesus." The big issue is religion in schools which is the big different between public and private schools. Public schools are more laid back but there is big defined line between religion and school (the State). A religion affiliated school has religion classes that are required just like a math or an English course and since they are affiliated with a religion they can incorporate that religion. According to my roommate, who when to a Cincinnati all girls catholic high school, most of the class was affiliated with the Catholic Church. But on the other hand in a non-affiliated religious school (public school), you have a mixture of all religions and people who don’t believe in a God. The coach's overreaction was the mix of emotions from losing a game but also the fact that religion was thrown in the equation. The chant St. X way of celebrating a victory and the Colerain chant was to throw their anger of the loss at the winning team. Each side was caught up in the moment of the outcome of the game. It relates to public vs. private because of the public and private schools but also about religion and the separation of church and state. Where religion and faith is more a private inner personal relationship and the school being a public place of learning.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I'm sorry that I do not really understand how sensitive the religion appears to be in America. So I can't really measure how serious it is when something like this happened. But I do insist that people should take religion seriously. About the public and private school, I think people normally have higher expectation to private school students than public school student because they are thought to be more intelligent, more polite and have good manners. And when something like this happens, it appears to be more unacceptable. I think the coach of the public school didn't overreact. Maybe he also expect too high about private school. The article does relate to our course theme.
ReplyDeleteIn the context of freedom, I have to kind of disagree with the idea that public schools have more freedom. I went to public school and my brother goes to a private school and honestly he gets away with much more than I would have at my public school. Since private school are under far less regulations by the government, they can make their own decisions when saying what goes, and what does not. And in the context of theses chants, I grew up about 20 minutes from Colerain and St. X and my school played both of these teams several times in football, basketball etc., and to be honest the "We have girls" ..."We have Jesus" chants are par for the course when public schools(like mine) are playing private schools like St. X. It's just ways for the schools to get hyped up during the games. As offensive as it may be to people who have never heard this kind of chanting, it's kind of standard. I am in no way saying that it's okay to take religion so lightly as to scream it at a football game, but I do think the coach overreacted because I'm sure he had heard that type of heckling before. This article relates to our class theme because it deals with private and public schools, and the regulations and restrictions each institution has imposed upon it.
ReplyDeleteIn this article St. X is being portrayed as thinking they are better than everyone else. They were trying to come up with a chant to respond to the chant by Colerain. This is an intense rivalry and the St. X students probably took it too far with the chant. However, St. X did not chant profanity or anything like that. I've heard much worse chants that didn't make the news. In this instance the only reason the chant was considered news worthy was most likely because this was a game between two of the nation's top high school football teams.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the fact that these two teams are very well known making this newsworthy. These teams, because of their talent and fame, are held to a higher standard. However I also believe that bringing religion into the equation also adds to this because this factor often makes people much more reactive.
DeleteNatalie, I found your post to be very interesting, I agree with the part about the government. Private schools are less regulated by the government than public but on the other hand private schools have strict rules and public schools are a different kind of strict. Public schools have more freedoms when it comes to certain like a dress code. For other things, private schools have more freedom. The way people view each of them determines which has more freedom in the viewer’s eyes.
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ReplyDeleteI think that the coach of the public school has a right to be angry because the chant can be offensive to people who go to public school. Just because someone attends a public school doesn't mean that they are any less religious than someone who attends a private school. I think that the public school coach over reacted a little bit because it could be St. X being proud of being a Catholic school. I think that private schools have more freedom because they are not run by the government and can be pickier about certain rules. Both schools are portrayed in this article as bad guys. This article doesn't say that one school was right and the other was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI Agree with Chen. Typically, private schools carry the stigma that they are classier than public schools, and that they are more socially up right. Thus, people expect the students to act this way. As for freedoms, the above statement explains it. Public schools are kind of set to be the golden standard for schooling. They can have the freedom to do things like no uniforms and being allowed to dye your hair.
ReplyDeleteThe coach definitely overreacted. Since he was a coach, I would have expected him to have played sports when he was younger. He should have been used to people yelling hurtful chants or people talking trash to him. He should have been more mature about it. He's paid to set an example for the kids, so that's what he better do.
St. X was portrayed as being more innocent in the article in my opinion. They got to justify their side of the argument more. On the other hand, the other school looked worse because they had the other school say other bad chants they said.
The article relates to private vs. public because it literally is a private vs. public conflict. A private school and a non-private school. It also relates because the private rules of the school dictates how they act in public.