Ariel Expelled From High School for Blogging

Ariel Constantinof.His name is Ariel. Ariel Constantinof. He is 16 and he is a blogger. He lives in Romania and learns at the Lauder Reut Educational Complex. It would be more appropriate to say: he used to learn at this school (high school), before being expelled for… blogging.

I learnt about this distressing reprimand during my usual weekend browsing. Alina ends her note with a bitter comment:

Yes, people, at times Romania sucks big time!

Well, it’s not Romania that sucks. It’s the Lauder Reut School, “Where you and your child will feel fulfilled.” I bet Ariel doesn’t feel fulfilled. Lauder Reut failed.

Distressed, I clicked on the link provided by Alina to see: is this teenager an uneducated brat who deserved his punishment? To my surprise, I read the words of a smart, erudite young man, who uses rhetoric in the most surprising manner to disapprove of some disturbing comings and goings. Then he blogs about his family, about religion and school, he describes funny situations: a colleague sleeps during class, another gives a witty answer to a not so witty question asked by a teacher. Teenage fun. No harm in his words. In short: there was nothing to justify the actions of the teachers.

Now… let me tell you something interesting about this school. The school is sponsored by the Ronald S. Lauder foundation. When you click on this link you’ll land on a site where a suave voice says:

We are building Jewish identity, we are rebuilding a world. Some call that a miracle. We call it the future.

Perfect. The Lauder Reut Educational Complex just managed to repress Ariel’s identity and to destroy his future.

Could it be because Ariel is not a Jew? I doubt that. I believe that the intellectual limitation of a Tova Ben Nun is the cause of the harm. She expels one of the students of the college for blogging, thus impaling his right of free speech. This person violates the Romanian constitution and Ariel’s rights:

Freedom of expression of thoughts, opinions, or beliefs, and freedom of any creation, by words, in writing, in pictures, by sounds or other means of communication in public are inviolable. Any censorship shall be prohibited. - (Chapter 2, Article 30:1-2)

Tova Ben Nun impales Ariel’s international rights as well:

Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. (The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19)

It is still unclear why Tova Ben Nun, the president of the board of directors, decided to expel this young man. Because no matter what presumed offense he brought against the school, permanent expelling is an extreme penalty.

Now Ariel is puzzled, scared for his future, yet strong enough not to apologize for something he didn’t do.

So I have a question for you: are we going to let some intellectually impotent characters destroy the future of a child?

Should he go through life with a hand clamped over his mouth? Do we allow them to yank him to his feet?

So they expelled Ariel because he was telling funny innocent stories about the teachers (never using names though) and his colleagues.

Let’s make some noise, shall we. Let’s see: can they expel us? What do you think about this event?

I know: Maria and Yvonne awarded me the thinking blogger award. Thank you girls! I’m honored and proud.Thinking Blogger Award.

Now I have two such awards and I have to give them to 10 bloggers (5 for each) who make me think. I’ll twist a bit this meme and I’ll ask for help: you are my thinkers and you challenge me. You have some answers or might have some answers. Some of you were teachers, and some of you are teachers now. What do you think about Lauder Reut? Is it fair to deny the right to education to a student just because, in his free time, he is blogging? So, here they go… my “thinking blogger” awards:

  1. The always fresh, wonderful, caring and exceptional Liz Strauss – for being Liz.
  2. Ilker Yoldas – the initiator of the thinking blogger award – it’s back to you, Ilker. You set some rules to it but you didn’t say we couldn’t award you. As it’s my right to give it to the bloggers who make me think… you shouldn’t be surprised. So here is how you go back into the meme circle.
  3. Alina – for bringing my heart home.
  4. Jon Harmon – because he is a force for good.
  5. To Steli – because he is an educator and he does make us think about a new way of learning.
  6. To Beaman – for poetry and life.
  7. Back to Yvonne – because I really wanted to award her when Maria announced me the news. Yvonne enhances education by adding spice to her professional advice.
  8. To Chris Cree – because, he knows about success creations. Chris will also speak at the SOBCon07!
  9. To Jen – for goodness.
  10. Last, but not least, to our very Ariel: don’t stop talking!

To all my readers now: I treasure each and every one of you. I’m sorry I cannot make the weekend recommendations list now, but I am awfully distressed about what happened to Ariel and I’m looking for ways to help him go back to school. If you can help, please do. We need to talk about this. We cannot let such injustice ruin Ariel’s future.

UPDATE: To be or not to be… expelled? This is the question. It seems that the School allowed Ariel to attend the classes Monday (23.04) and Tuesday (24.04). So I don’t get it… is he or is he not expelled? Ariel was special guest at Radio LYNX where he explained his situation in detail. I was not able to listen to the live show – I live in Germany, Ariel lives in Romania. There was a possibility to listen online, but I had to attend a business meeting at that time. Let’s see what happens with the televisions. Prima and Realitatea TV will probably dedicate a few minutes to this issue too.

Prose from the Pros:

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