OAKLAND (KRON) -- Some
teachers in Oakland are rallying behind two students
who were interrogated by the Secret Service. That followed
remarks the teenagers made about the President during
a class discussion. The incident has many people angry.
For years the classroom
has been the setting for the free expression of ideas,
but two weeks ago certain ideas led to two students
being taken out of class and grilled by the United States
Secret Service.
It happened at Oakland
High. The discussion was about the war in Iraq. That's
when two students made comments about the President
of the United States. While the exact wording is up
for debate, the teacher didn't consider it mere criticism,
but a direct threat and she called the Secret Service.
Teacher Cassie Lopez says,
"They were so shaken up and afraid."
Now, other teachers are
coming to the aid of the two students and crying foul.
"I would start with the
teacher, she made a poor judgement," Lopez says.
Teacher Larry Felson says,
"What we're concerned about is academic freedom and
that students have the right to free expression in the
classroom."
Even worse, they say, is
the fact that the students were grilled by federal agents
without legal counsel or their parents present, just
the principal.
"When one of the students
asked, 'do we have to talk now? Can we be silent? Can
we get legal council?' they were told, 'we own you,
you don't have any legal rights,'" Felson says.
"We don't want federal
agents or police coming in our schools and interrogating
our children at the whim of someone who has a hunch
something might be wrong," Lopez says.
The union representing
Oakland teachers requires that students be afforded
legal counsel and parental guidance before they're interrogated
by authorities. It's too late for the two involved in
this incident, and teachers say it's something they'll
carry with them for years.
"I tell you the looks on
those childrens faces. I don't know if they'll say anything
about anything ever again. Is that what we want? I don't
think we want that," says Lopez.
(Copyright 2003, KRON 4.
All rights reserved.)