Safe sex
When a Missouri student ran for class president on a “safe sex” platform, he never anticipated that passing out condoms would land him in court.
Adam Henerey beat out two other candidates last spring for junior-class president at St. Charles High School, using the slogan: “Adam Henerey. The Safe Choice.” But when school officials found that the 16-year-old had doled out condoms to student voters, they booted him from office and granted the presidency to the second-place finisher.
Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union recently filed suit against the school district, alleging that the student’s right to free speech under the First Amendment had been violated. Last month in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, a judge turned down a request to reinstate the student.
The district superintendent said the student was disqualified because he violated a rule that requires students to have any campaign materials approved.
Deborah Jacobs, the executive director of the ACLU of eastern Missouri, said other candidates had passed out candy without approval, but were not punished because “their bribes were more traditional than condoms.”
No raunchy radio
A radio segment heard by students on a school bus ride to Belvedere Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, Md., proved to be too educational for one parent. Now, she wants to do something about it.
Diane Brown was concerned when her 10-year-old daughter heard a conversation about sexual threesomes on a school bus radio last spring, school officials said.
Ms. Brown would like to have the district establish a policy about the use of radios on school buses.
The district currently has no such policy. The school board plans to hear a proposal next month to endorse an existing procedure to handle problems on a case-by-case basis.
--JESSICA L. SANDHAM & ADRIENNE D. COLES
