Tu stultus es. (and relax I’m only kidding)

I read an article this week that I wanted to share with readers but it’s paywall protected so I’ll give you a brief overview but still link you to the real material you need to access.  And as full disclosure, I’m an agnostic storyteller and not interested in random debate on most days.  The article I was reading in the Washington Post was “The Onion files Supreme Court amicus brief defending the right to parody.”  You likely will not be able to access unless you have a subscription but the over abbreviated version is an Ohio wannabe comic created a fake social media page that spoofed his town’s police department’s FB page.  He did a good enough spoof he ended up getting arrested by the police department he poked fun of.

Insert First Amendment

The Onion for those not familiar is a parody powerhouse, likely the leader in this genre.  While humor is a driving force in the publication it likely is more of a tactic to ease people into more complicated ideas to maybe think a bit longer about or discuss further.  In response to the amateur comic’s case, they have now actually filed a serious response to the Supreme Court but did so in pure Onion fashion as they introduced themselves in the brief:

The Onion is the world’s leading news publication, offering highly acclaimed, universally revered coverage of breaking national, international, and local news events. Rising from its humble beginnings as a print newspaper in 1756, The Onion now enjoys a daily readership of 4.3 trillion and has grown into the single most powerful and influential organization in human history.

As a fairly firm rule I do not allow mobile phones at the dinner table but my youngest son is an exceptionally gifted writer, so we all read a bit on the Onion brief one night this week while eating.  He understands that being funny doesn’t mean you’re just silly; sometimes wit and humor make all the difference in negotiations.  Sometimes, laughter coupled with levity produces remarkable outcomes.

I’ve been meeting with our campus principals and they’re feeling like an onion – not the Onion – but an onion.  We used to think we were cute in describing peeling back those tough walls kids put up like peeling back an onion.  What’s cute about creating unprotected vulnerability or maximum exposure?  For the record, those are my words and no one else’s.  Our campus administrators are top talent, and yes some are better than others and that’s how a good organization grows its pipeline.  Our experienced principals will run circles around newbies, as it should be, but they also have a commitment to growing the profession.  New principals call and text 911 my way for those areas I support on Day 1; experienced principals send me an email after a marking period and say, “it’s your turn now.”  And that’s the great thing about this work although we somehow have allowed small nitpicks to define the service we provide here lately.  Campus administrators are not a dime a dozen and they indeed are a special breed; they have to navigate and negotiate for their campus needs while tiptoeing on top of an often shaky landscape.    

And back to the title of this entry – it’s Latin for you are dumb (or stupid or a fool) depending on which Google translate search you land on!  My oldest kid took Spanish; my youngest chose German.  Can you imagine a teacher telling a child you are dumb in any language?  My guess, if we’re all being honest, that answer is no.  Can we imagine a principal permitting a teacher to say as much about one of our children?  I’m tired of not having checks and balances on false accusations – teachers deserve more compassion and less criticism.  But what do I know, I’m just trying to be one and the same, and I’m sure there are plenty saying I am dumb.  I welcome the debate on any day and every day on the work I get to see firsthand. Bring it to me first so I can let our teachers keep doing great things each and every day.