10-Year Old Disciplined for Visiting 9/11 Website
Courageous youth stands up to accusation of viewing 'terrorist' information
Jones Report | November 8, 2006
Aaron Dykes & Alex Jones
A fifth grader named 'Mark' reported to Alex Jones' Infowars TV show by phone that he had been sent home with a disciplinary report for visiting 9/11 Truth websites such as Infowars.com.
The 10 year-old Steiner Ranch Elementary student (in Leander I.S.D. near Austin, Texas) says that he was browsing such sites during his Computer Lab class period when a fellow student informed on him-- as though he were doing something wrong.
"He just ran up to my teacher in front of the whole class, saying he's searching terrorist stuff about 9/11," Mark told Jones.
Mark reports that his teacher was "shocked" and told him that he "shouldn't have been looking at conspiracy theory websites."
According to his statement to talk show host Jones, the young man certainly did not think he was doing anything objectionable or 'terrorism' related.
"I was just searching the government websites which tell the truth-- which they think is a conspiracy-- and I get in trouble for it," the fifth-grade student told Jones on his live TV show.
The student was sent to the Principal's office to face disciplinary measures. Steiner Ranch Elementary Assistant Principal Amy Moore was reportedly surprised that the school's IP filters hadn't blocked the sites.
He says that his principal checked the web history in his school web account, and was 'surprised.'
"I was going to websites that tell the truth about 9/11. She thought it was all a conspiracy; I confronted her," Mark said. "'No, it's all the truth,' you know. Bush-- and its not just him, a lot of other people-- and they're just trying to cover it up."
The assistant principal then chided the 10 year-old for "talking back" before sending him to sit in the hall and later back to class.
"He came home, and I couldn't really be mad at him," his father, who also spoke to Jones during the television program, admitted. "I just told him he should stay on task."
Though Mark did not violate any school rules, he was treated as though he had committed a fairly serious offense.
According to the Steiner Ranch Elementary Student & Parent Handbook, students are restricted from accessing websites considered to be abusive, obscene, sexually oriented, threatening, harassing, damaging to another's reputation, or illegal. It is also against the rules to 'attempt to circumvent content filtered according to the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA).'
The handbook does not indicate that the school is inclined to restrict access to websites with political content, news sites or public information on government activities-- to do so would violate American rights to free speech.
So, by the schools own standards this student did absolutely nothing wrong, yet was subjected accusations of wrongdoing by his peers and to scolding by teachers and administrators.
Rather than treating Mark's natural curiosity about different ideas as a crime, his teacher should have taken even a brief moment to discuss with him the ideas he was interested in exploring. She turned an opportunity for Mark's personal growth into something he felt shame about.
Schools which ought to seek to enrich children and foster creative exploration of all kinds have become little more than training camps designed to imprison children's minds. We now live in a country that proclaims to value excellence in education but seems satisfied with schools that teach kids little else than how to dutifully accept the supression of their own creative tendencies.
With scores of standardized tests, lower actual standards, product advertising in textbooks, hastily diagnosed "Attention Deficit Disorders," and the forced medication of children, the goal of "education" seems now only to produce generations of adults who are trained to overconsume and live happily with tyranny.
Relevant Transcript:
Mark: Yeah, There was this discipline report I got at my school. I had looked, I had went on to your website and my principal, you know I just went onto Infowars and stuff about 9/11and my principal said, "I can't believe the filter didn't pick that up."
And they said it was inappropriate, and they were saying it was conspiracies. It was crazy.
AJ: Sure, what school was this in Austin, if you don't mind my asking?
Mark: Steiner Ranch.
AJ: A spy saw you do more details
Mark: A friend, well, not even a friend, somebody else in my class--
AJ: A fellow thought criminal, yes.
Mark: He walks up to my teacher, yelling, "He's looking at terrorist stuff."
AJ: Sigh* That's what I thought. And so, he said you were looking at terrorist stuff. As a member of the youth league, he denounced you to big brother. And then your teacher decided that it was serious enough to send you down to the Principal's office?
Mark: Yes.
AJ; And this was a good lesson for the rest of your class. What, were there 22 or so.
Mark: Just about.
AJ: And so they all got a lesson that you were visiting on the school computer-- something that said something about 9/11 and so it must be terrorist.
Mark: Yeah
AJ: And will you describe what happened at Steiner-- middle school did you say?
Mark: Elementary School; 5th grade
AJ: 10 years old? Tell me what happened? Go through it for us.
Mark: I was just searching the government website which tells the truth which they think is a conspiracy and I get in trouble for it.
Mark: He said-- he [the other student] just ran up to my teacher in front of the whole class: "He's searching terrorist stuff about 9/11, and this, that and the other." And the teacher was all shocked and said, "Mark, you shouldn't have been looking at conspiracy theory websites."
AJ: But that wasn't enough, she needed to report you.
Mark : she sent me down to the Principal's Office--Amy Moore-- She said, "I can't believe the filter didn't pick it up. It was supposed to." She was just surprised to see me going there. I confronted her with the truth and she said, "Hey don't talk back to me." cause she was just scared to -- know you-- face the truth.
AJ: So when you just said this was the truth, she said 'don't talk back.'
Mark: Yes
AJ: You talk back like that any time you want to. Weak minded people like that who think you've done something wrong when you talk about 9/11 being an inside job. You said it was a government site-- were you looking up something like Northwoods?
Mark: No, they wrote down a couple of them.
AJ: Oh, she said they were gonna lock those down?
Mark: No, they got these websites from going into my profile.
AJ: so they blocked some of them?
Mark: They got into my profile
AJ: They were looking at what you had visited. You have to be watched and-- I understand, it's part of the new freedom. What did you say to her when she said you were talking back?
Mark: I said I was going to websites that tell the truth about 9/11. She thought it was all a conspiracy; I confronted her: I said, 'No, it's all the truth,' you know. Bush-- and its not just him, a lot of other people-- and they're just trying to cover it up. She said, 'Don't talk back to me.'
AJ: Well, I'm very proud of you. You say your name's Mark?
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Originally Posted by radiokill
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