We, the undersigned, are filing this petition to counter the petiton circulating which claims that the second period Study Hall run by Miss Chryst is un-American, in violation of the consitution and the school code, and also “COMUNISTIC.” (This petition will henceforth be referred to as Petition One.) The undersigned first wish to press upon the vaules and definition of communism to the undersigned of Petiton One, and to counter their loosely based, irrational, and unsupported arguments.

Since we have all heard of communism as a great evil, we notice that the writers of Petiton One wish to cause nationalistic feelings by claiming that the Study Hall is “COMUNISTIC.” As stated by the Modern World History textbook written by McDougal Littell, communism is “an economic system in which all means of production--land, mines, railroads, and business--are owned by the people, private property does not exist, and all goods and services are shared equally.” Translated into a classroom policy, communism would be a study hall without a teacher, where everone would share supplies such as pencils and lead and paper, and everyone would work to be quiet for the good of the collective soceity. Therefore, the argument of a teacher being a communist by simply asking the class to be quiet is completely invalid and without support. Perhaps the undersigned of Petition One wish to call their teacher a dictator, or perhaps they are calling for laissez faire (French for “let the people do as they please;” see the writings of Adam Smith for more information). Petition’s One undersigned would do well to read the works of Ayn Rand, George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” and their history or government textbook.

Another ludicrous claim by Petiton One is that the class is unconstitutional. This is simply not so. The Dublin School District of Franklin County has not broken the consitution by allowing a study hall program to exist, and then asking it to maintain silence. The writers of Petiton One again attempt to play on human feelings and incite baseless anger by making a smilie to the silence of study hall to the silence of prayer. As we all know, the Consitution of the United States of America requires a divison of church and state. Requiring silence during a Study Hall is not illegal in any way--how could calling for silence so that students can work in peace be illegal? If, however, the leaders of the Study Halls asked their students to pray, that would be breaking the divison of church and state, but that is an issue that is not relative to this petition. (If you feel your consitutionial rights are being trampled, please contact the American Civil Liberties Union, commonly called the ACLU.) Requiring silence during a Study Hall is not illegal in any way, and we the undersigned are quite baffled as to how the undersigned of Petiton One managed to find that so.

When writing a paper on any topic, it is always important to have all the facts before making claims. Petition One apparently does not, for they claim that Study Hall is in violation of the policies of the Dublin School District because Study Hall "does not meet the critera" for an academic course. Indeed, it does not, as there is no material presented on any subject. Perhaps that is why the Dublin School District does not award any credit for this course, and why on one's schedule, study hall's course number is entered in as a string of zeros. More importantly, the Dublin School District is doing us a favour by allowing a study hall--it is a free period during which we can work quietly on homework, get information for teachers, if necessary, make up tests or prepare at the last minute for them, and read. If the undersigned of Petiton One were to abolish study hall, which seems to be their wont, then tests would have to be made up after school, help from teachers would also have to be sought after school, homework would always have to be completed at home, and any reading or last minute studying would cease to be. Because there is no credit awarded for these activities, Dublin School District does not call Study Hall an academic course, and therefore, they are not breaking any policy.

Finally, while Petition One seems valid, its context must be considered. We all understand that if we break the rules, we will be punished accordingly. Incidents have been occuring in Study Hall, and several students have been given detention. The undersigned of this petition wish to give a bit of friendly advice: if you scream at a teacher that you will not serve their detention, they will be all the more determined to make you serve it. If the teacher offers to take it up with your guidance consuler and still you refuse, you are only making a bad situation worse. And, above all, do not tear up the detention slip! If you wait, approach the teacher in a calm, rational, mature way, the teacher will be more likely to your version of events, and perhaps, if you are convincing enough, lessen your sentence. Screaming a teacher, saying you won't serve a dentention, and being deliberately provocative to try to incite talk and commotion are all things that you can only blame on yourself.

We, the undersigned of this petition, agree with the above and protest the claims made by the undersigned of Petition One as loosely based, irrational, and invalid.