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"When the debate is over, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”
- Socrates
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The Progress
Editorial
July 8,2021
From the Staff
The case of the
cussing cheerleader
A case recently ruled upon by the U.S.
Supreme Court sounds like something that
could have come straight out of Pickens
County. Perhaps we have a particularly
contentious relationship between our
school board, administrators and parents -
interestingly the students themselves
rarely are involved the ongoing squabbles.
For some reason Pickens has made a name
for itself with school system controversy
and this Supreme Court case might offer
some insight into school criticism.
It’s also an interesting First Amendment
study to see how the Supreme Court ruled
in the case of a Pennsylvania cheerleader
who took to social media to express her
disagreement with not making her school’s
varsity squad.
While acknowledging students clearly
have the right to voice dissent abut their
schools, the Supreme Court recognized the
importance of some limits.
In this case, the cheerleader after not
making the varsity squad used her
Snapchat to disagree with the decision by
showing a picture of her and friend giving
the middle finger while dropping the f-
bomb repeatedly about “school,” “cheer”
and “everything.” She was suspended from
the junior squad for the post which some
one screenshotted and sent to school offi
cials.
Certainly not the soaring rhetoric of our
Founding Fathers decrying tyranny but at
a juvenile level it was someone expressing
an opinion.
A key to the case is that the cheerleader
posted from outside of school and over a
weekend not during school hours - impor
tant points to the justices in their 8 to 1 rul
ing that she was within her First
Amendment rights.
They didn’t extend this protection from
punishment to all off-campus speech but
ruled that school administrators need to
show a dam good reason to question a kid
about a post.
The decision stated, “When it comes to
political or religious speech that occurs
outside school or a school program or ac
tivity, the school will have a heavy burden
to justify intervention,” according to Jus
tice Stephen Breyer’s decision from the
New York Times.
In this case and in several local inci
dents, it is worth pointing out that snarky
comments only intended for a few eyes
reach a wider audiences and result in unin
tended consequences. It’s doubtful this
teenager planned on becoming a First
Amendment crusader. As we all see way
too often, private messages have a bad
way of popping up in court exhibits or pro
jected on a wall at a town hall recall meet
ing. “Be careful little fingers what you
text” would be a great new verse to an old
song.
Another key point is that the Supreme
Court didn’t throw the door wide open pro
tecting all students speech outside of
school.
Parents and students need to heed this,
the decision made clear that the free speech
protection does not extend to a wide range
of exceptions including threats or “substan
tial disruption of learning-related activi
ties.”
Our local school resource officers and
administrators deal with threats made on
social media way too often, according to
recent comments by the superintendent.
In this day and age, threats against the
safety of any students or staff members
have a zero tolerance policy - meaning any
misguided joke involving guns, bombs, vi
olence or attacks is going to stir up trouble
for whoever made it and this case does not
offer any protection.
The ruling also excluded any protection
for speech that targets individuals. The
most recent conflict between school board
and public saw several posts on adults’
Facebooks that skirted dangerously close
to threatening. It’s a fine line, as the court
made clear, but one that bears some con
sideration even when tempers are raised.
Ideally our school system has all its
ducks back in their row and we’ll enjoy a
calm period down at the central office.
But acknowledging the reality, when the
next tumult, begins we encourage every
one, especially the board members who
rarely offer any comment or explanations,
to voice their opinions — but within the
bounds of decent debate.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
Ponderings of a Simple Man
Py Caleb Smith
What’s
the
Word?
I love words. The fact that
splotches of ink on a piece of
paper can transport you to far
off, imaginary lands, evoke
an emotional response, or
simply to convey informa
tion, is a constant source of
wonder to me.
To make it even more im
pressive, it accomplishes all
that simply by rearranging 26
different letters. Amazing.
It’s not hard to see why I
love them, especially when I
make such a good living at
using them. I am able to live
a life of luxury and excess
off the income I make from
writing for a small town
newspaper. And the fame and
acclaim that comes with it?
Well that’s just icing on the
cake.
Despite all that, I have to
admit I’m becoming increas
ingly lost in today’s world.
They keep making up new
words and I’m finding it
harder and harder to follow
conversations, especially
around my Gen Z sister. Per
sonally I feel like all the
words we had when I was a
kid were good enough for
me, but some people looked
at a dictionary and thought
‘nah, lets make something
else up.’
It was a few years back
that I first heard the word
‘yeet’ (a new slang term
meaning ‘to throw’). I was
quite proud of myself when I
slipped it into a conversation
with my sister one day. She
just rolled her eyes and mut
tered something about me
being a ‘boomer. ’ Yet another
word I had to look up.
Some of the new words
today don’t even sound like
English to me. Words like;
cap, finsta, sus, and fleet
Honestly, what does that
even mean? It’s like someone
grabbed a handful of scrabble
tiles at random and just used
whatever they had to start a
conversation.
Needless to say, this
causes a problem in a profes
sion like mine. How can I
connect with my audience
when an ever growing por
tion of them no longer even
speak the same language I
do? It’s caused quite a few
sleepless nights and has even
begun to invade of my
midaftemoon naps.
The only solution is to re
search the new dialect and try
to incorporate this new di
alect in my writings. So if
you see me writing about my
‘fam’ or telling how some
thing was ’lit,’ don’t worry. I
didn’t set my family on fire
(close calls don’t count as
I’ve had to remind my wife
everytime that topic comes
up in conversation).
No, when I use those
words it simply means I had
a good time with some close
friends.
I’ll keep studying and
hopefully can learn some
more hip phrases to fit in
with all you cool kids. In the
mean time, stay frosty, no
cap, and keep it 5 by 5.
[Caleb Smith is a long
time, award-winning, colum
nist for the Progress.]
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia. 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PICKENS COUNTY
PROGRESS, 94 N. Main St., Jasper, GA 30143.
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counties; $59.92 out of state.
#Ii)e H>d)Ool
THE PARTY'S OVER /
GET BACK TO WORK!
EFFECT^
■JULY 4
GEORGIA PASSES UNEMPLOYMENT BILL
OTHER VOICES
Squirrels do not fear me and
By Mary Migliaro
It’s official.. .The squirrels
are winning the war here and
I am losing my mind. For
years now my husband and I
have battled these varmints.
Some people think they are
cute, but I think they are just
rats with fuzzy tails. They
breed like rabbits and trying
to control them is nearly im
possible.
Females give birth in late
winter but will raise a second
brood in late summer if there
is an adequate supply of
food. Gestation lasts three to
six weeks with females giv
ing birth to several young.
Most young do not survive
their first year due to preda
tion and extremes in weather
conditions. However, if a
squirrel reaches adulthood,
they can live up to 10 years
in the wild, and up to 20
years in captivity.
At any given time, I can
spot 6-8 squirrels either on or
near my deck. They are con
stantly trying to get at our
bird feeder and usually are
quite successful in overcom
ing the “squirrel-proof’ fea
tures of those we have had in
the past.
They chewed completely
through the heavy-duty plas
tic trash can with the birdseed
in it so we got a galvanized
metal can with a lid. Luckily,
they have not tried to chew
into that. However, they will
also chew metal bird feeders
in an attempt to get at the
seed.
I give the squirrels credit
because they are very smart.
A grey squirrel can bury up to
25 nuts in a half-hour, main
tain about 1,000 caches at a
time, store about 10,000
seeds and nuts a year, and
still remember where the
seeds are buried when
needed.
Because they are so smart,
they leam how to overcome
most “squirrel-proof’ bird-
feeders and believe me, we
have had many of them. We
finally invested in one that
has a spinning perch. When
the birds are on it, they can
feed but if a squirrel lands on
it, the perch will spin wildly,
causing the squirrel to fly off
into the sunset! It was a
happy day when I noticed a
squirrel getting ready to
pounce on the perch. He did,
and I gleefully watched as the
carousel slung him across the
yard.
Eastern grey squirrels
have learned to tolerate hu
mans and can be found in
residential neighborhoods
where they consistently raid
bird feeders and gardens.
They also quickly leam
about true threats, and this is
where I have my problem...
They are not afraid of me.
When I try to shoo them
off the deck, they stand there
and look at me (probably
mocking me as well). I can’t
get rid of them.
According to the Georgia
Department of Natural Re
sources, a squirrel is consid
ered a nuisance animal in
Georgia, and it is legal for
civilians to kill one. Squirrels
are also considered game an
imals with a defined hunting
season from August 15 -
February 28, and with a daily
bag limit of 12 per day.
Squirrels are the number
two small game species in
it’s a problem
Georgia behind doves. A va
riety of traps are allowable
for this purpose, including
leg-hold traps, box and cage
traps, rat snap traps and box
choker traps, as are shotguns
with No. 6 shot.
The DNR suggests that
the best way to rid a property
of squirrels is habitat modifi
cation, such as trimming tree
limbs away from houses and
squirrel proofing bird feeders
and entries into homes which
will prevent squirrel nuisance
situations.
However, I have come up
with my own solution. Hunt
ing season is almost here, and
my backyard is a hunter’s
paradise. Come August 15,
I’m planning “Squirrel Day”
at my house.
[Mary Migliaro is a regu
lar contributor to the
Progress.
She can be contacted at
maiymigliaro@aol.com.]
WEATHER
By
William
Dilbeck
HI
LOW
RAIN
June
29
79
66
.08
June
30
84
65
.00
July
01
80
66
.73
July
02
80
60
.00
July
03
77
57
.00
July
04
79
59
.00
July
05
83
62
.00
If you spot a
mistake,
Contact our editor
dpool@
pickensprogress.com
706-253-2457
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