Dr. Chris Fiedler confirmed that an article titled “Alien Immigration Attracts Attention” appeared in the Prairie View High School student newspaper. The article was published May 1 and discussed the impact that “Alien Immigrants from the planet Zarcon” are having on the high school.
The edition was clearly marked “April Fools 2009” and included many satirical articles such as “Sesame Street Icon Leads Police on Puppet Chase,” “Twilight Wannabes Cancel Prairie View’s Prom,” “Prairie View’s Own Mascot Arrested Over Spring Break,” “Gator-in-Toilet Prank Swamps PVHS,” “The Yeti Migration,” “Teachers Found Guilty of Addiction” (to glazed donuts), and “Water Contamination Causes Mutations.”
It featured photos such as Nessie the Lochness Monster in the pond behind the school.
Despite that, Dr. Fiedler said “The article is NOT OK. While it was clearly an April Fools edition, the article would not have been appropriate even if the published on April 1.”
Dr. Fiedler has addressed the issue with the teacher and is confident this sort of activity will not occur again.
After students went to the principal with concerns yesterday regarding the article, Dr. Fiedler and about 85 concerned students met for a lengthy discussion with the teacher. The teacher apologized to the students and the students were given the opportunity to share why they were offended by the article.
The students were invited to write articles / letters to the editor and each one will be published in the next PVHS student newspaper.
“What really hurts the most in all this,” Dr. Fiedler said, “is that on May 15 we’re going to be designated a ‘No Place for Hate’ school. We’ve done so much this year to unify our students … this will set us back.”
27 comments:
Dear Editor,
I am writing this comment about your recent article about the No place for hate program at Prairie View High school. Recently a student published an article that made me sick to my stomach. I was appalled that this student was allowed to publish this article full of hate for immigrants to be published in the school news paper. Students of all colors were deeply offended by its hateful bashing of immigrants. A near riot broke out in protest of the article and the staff member in charge of allowing the student to publish the article was more concerned for his students and their physical and emotional safety. What about the physical and emotional safety of our immigrant students? Did he not think of the many immigrant students and staff at Prairie View? I think Prairie View has a lot more training to do for staff and students if they are in deed to become a No place for hate school.
Victoria Aguilar
Article titled "Alien Immigration Attracts Attention" from PVHS is shocking!
I hope the teacher gets FIRED ASAP!
Cheo Larcombe
I feel so sorry for the students who were hurt by this.
You are right on Victoria Aguilar!
Gina
Rumor is teacher is already fired from PVHS.
Where is the parents of this student?
disgusted 27J Parent
Melanie Ginas
nowhere can i find a copy of said article, id like to read it so i can judge for myself whether it is racist or hateful.
what upsets me most is that people are calling others racist and hateful for being critical of illegal immigration. they are using it specifically to squash dissent and free speech.
it upsets me further that our public schools have seemingly failed to teach our children the difference between race and nationality. to further clarify this, mexico is a nation not a race. illegal immigrants are people of any race or nationality who immigrate to this country illegally.
to even further illustrate this point while listening to the news i heard one of the highschool kids say that he was offended by the idea of a magenta card because a green card is for mexicans, a green card is for everyone...not just mexicans.
it seems like most people who are upset and angry about this article are guilty of bigotry themselves and playing the race card to limit any critical discussion of illegal immigration.
you want to stop the hate? teach critical thinking in the schools, and allow children to have open and honest debate. you seem to be fostering the racism more than you are trying to end it.
CALM DOWN! This is being blown way up. Not that big of a deal!
Mike Cameron
Our children our reflections of us. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
Rhonda Simmons, Brighton Colorado
How can ANYONE, especially a educator read this and think is okay? Teacher should be fired, if not already.
James K.
Great, another black eye for 27J.
You all have to remember that this article needs to be in the context it was originally in. If you take it out, of course it sounds bad.
Two Words: BAD TIMING
Paul Hines
I saw a bad print out of this, anyway Gateway News can get the entire paper here as PDF for everyone to see?
We are working on this.
Gateway News
Major undertones of racism here, so sad. Also made me sick to my stomach.
SO SAD
What was teacher thinking, unreal!!!!!!!
Gld they got fired or resigned or whatever, as long as they are not teaching in my childs school district anymore!
Karen, 27J Parent and Supporter
Where are the childs parents in all of this! Agree with Rhonda, “Our Children our Reflections of us.”
AKA
These behaviors and actions need to be corrected before they get out of high school. If not, we are going to be dealing with this one way or another later in life.
Freedom Of The Press?
In the last school article, a Prairie Veiw High School student wrote a spoof on Illegal Alien Immigrants that had some factual information that described illegal immigrantion in America. This article offended the thousands of illegal immigrants living and working in our area. The teacher responsible for editing that article immediately resigned and 51% of that school population cried "discrimination" against their citizen rights. However, it would be very useful for the public to know just how many of these students are actual citizen's of the United States or are here illegally before we rush to judgement on this student writer or teacher or the school. Then, I would like to see this teacher and student get a lawyer and find out what freedom of the press is all about in America, today, or do we actually have any freedom of the press? Maybe the answer is that we have already lost all our rights to another country.
What these thousands of illegal immigrants fail to recognize is that American's still have legal rights as American's. Something, they would like to see taken away from us and Americans are getting tired and angry about all of their jobs, homes and future life style that these illegal immigrants have taken away from us over these past ten years. If, American's continue to allow incidents like the one at Prairie View to define our future than we have given up without a fight for our way of life. Recently, our Colorado legislature tried to pass in-state-tuition for illegals but our own returning soldiers could not get in-state-tuition to their home college and my understanding is that they are still trying to get this Bill passed contrary to thousands of people across Colorado against this Bill. Last week, we lost $27,000 on our home tax value and it is the same house that we built just a few years ago at $230,000. At what point are we as Americans going to say enough is enough?
Estelle Remington
Thanks for the PDF. I was getting lost until I was able to read the student article.
Teacher had to be crazy to let this be printed.
Stephanie, Northern Range, 27J
There has to be more to this story then just this one article, Teacher should have been punished, not fired or made to resign.
27J Parent
Claire L.
ps, thank you for allowing us to view the PDF article, I had some trouble getting it, thanks to you guys, we all can see.
This kid is only reporting what he sees in the community. Whole area has a racism issue, just no one wants to talk about it.
Mayor at McDonalds is great story. I wish Gateway would do more stories like that one, instead of council fighting all of the time.
Jasmine B., Commerce City
When all said and done, illegal is illegal. Bottom line.
Jay Fredricks
Kid needs to go get a internship with lou dobbs!
27J Parent
After reading the Gateway, I would like to withdraw the letter I sent on Freedom of the Press. Not that I have changed my opinion but that the numbers of people that are against supporting that teacher and student writer are far against any support of the freedom to write satire.
As a former English teacher, I would like to see some support for that PVHS English Teacher who had previously done a good job and the student writer. We can not forget these students are teen-agers who are writing out of the life experience around them like movies (Wolverine, mutants and drugs.) Also, what other adult family members and programs on T.V. are discussing and we can not rule out the millions of games children pla y on T.V. plus all those discussion pages on the Internet. This is the reality of their world. Some of the articles were very creative which is what a writer does and we call that fiction. But, all of these subjects are current in today's teen world and therefore discussable and defendable. If parents want to know what is going on in the mind of their children then they should read these articles with an open mind so that they know what to discuss with their children. This is an excellent place to begin to teach the values of the home. What did you think of those articles? Most will respond in the spirit they were written in and this is and was a very teachable moment.
As for the writer that was "sick in the stomach," American's are beyond "sick in the stomach" our small family unit of sister, brother and aged mother has lost upwards of $400,000 dollars this year in Retirement, Health Care costs, home values and job downsizing. None of us can reitre as planned because our life savings are gone just vanished over a period of months.
CNN had a story about a Hispanic family that worked here illegally for 17 years, he was an armed Bank guard and she was a hair dresser. Together over that 17 year period they earned $1,190,000,000. Over that 17 years they had four children and never thought of applying for citizenship to a nation that handed them over one million dollars in wages. Now, they are back in Mexico and earning $400 dollars a month.
Our neighbor has put up a 30ft. flag pole and is displaying the Mexican flag 24/7. I don't mind someone flying the flag of their country, but, the American flag should be displayed first on that flag pole and then the Mexican flag since this is American soil and it is an American paycheck paying for their families support not Mexico.
Estelle Remington
Middle Ground
Prairie View High School has been working very hard towards a "No Hate" Award for the high school. But, the school missed an opportunity to practice what they said they had achieved a non-judgemental unconditional acceptance of their entire school population. A "No Hate" standard of interaction between the students and the administration.
An April Fool's Edition of PVHS paper poked fun at teachers, aliens and immigration on current topics of interest to both the student body and the general public (Parents). Any written spoof will contain some truths and the rest will just be made up from the student's experience at the time they are writing and the age they are at the time of that writing. A teenager does not write with the maturity of an adult. That does not mean this it is meant as mean spirited.
PVHS missed an opportunity to mediate the differences between how students view each other and find that middle ground that each can agree on. The administration took a completely one-sided approach which misses the meaning of mediation and tolerance towards all parties or a "No Hate" attitude. The English Teacher should not have been made to resign; The student writers should not have been made to feel ashamed of their creative writing; A professional mediator should have been brought in to help students to understand each other's viewpoint and the reality of the world we live in today. That is what a "No Hate" atmosphere is all about.
Estelle Remington
Estelle Remington I wish we had more people like you. I stand by you in everything you said as I totally agree with you. Wish others would wake up and realize these things.
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