ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
I hope Eric Noah weighs in on this thread. He's a librarian at a school. His take on this would be relevant.
Help Me Convice Someone D&D Isn't Evil
- Thread starter Trevalon Moonleirion
- Start date
Silver Moon
Adventurer
AngelTears said:
I have to agree 100% with the above, NEVER do something that you have been forbidden. The A.P. has agreed to let you have a gaming club, and has included a number of excellent games. I think it would be an excellent idea for you to go ahead with that as approved.
You also need to look at this from the perspective of the A.P.. She is responsible for the students of the school, and she takes that responsibility seriously. It is her job, and she has to answer to the Principal, School Board, and Parents. D&D has had a lot of bad press and some of it is justified. If I were in her job, even through I personally have been playing D&D continuously for 22 years now, I would not permit it on school property unless there was responsible adult supervision.
That is not to say that D&D should never be played at a school. I have DM'ed games for several age groups, and make sure that these games are always both entertaining and age appropriate. I am an Assistant Scoutmaster, and sometimes run games D&D for junior high aged scouts, but always make sure that (1) The parents of the children playing approve of the activity; (2) Scouts whose parents do not approve are not present; (3) The emphasis of the game is problem-solving and scouting-related activities rather than violence or sex. I will also be running a game for 8-12 year olds at an upcoming SCA event, and that game will be very much "G" rated, with characters that are the same age as the players.
jdavis
First Post
It's amazing that so many people have basically the same stories. It seems that most gamers have been through some sort of silly bashing of their favorite hobby sometime in their lives.
We had a case here years ago where a boy commited suicide by shooting himself in his car. His Parents had recently got divorced, he had broken up with his girlfriend and he had a history of social problems and issues with depression not to mention alcohol and possible drug abuse. Oh yea and they found a D&D book in his car. Case closed, D&D drove him to suicide, it was presented in the newspaper that way even. They theorized that his character must of died in the game, so he shot himself, now there is some grade A newspaper reporting for you.
By my experience the best thing to do in this situation is to try to get the parents to go after the woman because she ruined Prom, I don't care how well you come off or how much research you show, If you fight that hard for D&D you must be obsessed with it and will end up shooting people at school. If you fight for Prom they you are a upstanding member of your school who is worried that their poor parents are out money due to the fact that she changed the dress code without giving proper notice. Once people are mad then you throw in other stuff, oh yea she also did this.......... or you won't belive what the woman said about.......... Get every little thing she has done wrong ever and start it rolling as a snowball, then throw the D&D thing in as a afterthought. Parents really love to get together for a good fight against the system, makes them feel like they are being good parents. It will be hard to get parents to support you on your little game problem, but when they have to eat a $500 Prom Dress because they were not told it couldn't be strapless, well that's just unconstitutional. It wouldn't hurt to carry a micro cassette recorder just in case you can catch the woman saying something outlandish or off the wall.
We had a case here years ago where a boy commited suicide by shooting himself in his car. His Parents had recently got divorced, he had broken up with his girlfriend and he had a history of social problems and issues with depression not to mention alcohol and possible drug abuse. Oh yea and they found a D&D book in his car. Case closed, D&D drove him to suicide, it was presented in the newspaper that way even. They theorized that his character must of died in the game, so he shot himself, now there is some grade A newspaper reporting for you.
By my experience the best thing to do in this situation is to try to get the parents to go after the woman because she ruined Prom, I don't care how well you come off or how much research you show, If you fight that hard for D&D you must be obsessed with it and will end up shooting people at school. If you fight for Prom they you are a upstanding member of your school who is worried that their poor parents are out money due to the fact that she changed the dress code without giving proper notice. Once people are mad then you throw in other stuff, oh yea she also did this.......... or you won't belive what the woman said about.......... Get every little thing she has done wrong ever and start it rolling as a snowball, then throw the D&D thing in as a afterthought. Parents really love to get together for a good fight against the system, makes them feel like they are being good parents. It will be hard to get parents to support you on your little game problem, but when they have to eat a $500 Prom Dress because they were not told it couldn't be strapless, well that's just unconstitutional. It wouldn't hurt to carry a micro cassette recorder just in case you can catch the woman saying something outlandish or off the wall.
robaustin
First Post
I think other folks have clearly given you good examples so if you're not willing to play in school due to her attitude - try playing after school at a gaming store. If there is one near you that provides tables for gaming, make use of it. Most game stores would love to have folks in their stores at any time.
If transportation is an issue - find out if one of the school bus routes goes by the game store - then ask for permission to ride that bus home on a designated day of the week so you can game at the store. Don't mention that you are gaming - just that you will be attending an out of school extra curricular activity.
You can still have a gaming club - it just will not be school sponsored, and you'll be better off ultimately, because you'll be in an environment that welcomes you, rather than is against you. The object of the club does not seem to be to raise money, participate in school council or any of that. It's simply to play games. Go where you're welcome...
--*Rob
If transportation is an issue - find out if one of the school bus routes goes by the game store - then ask for permission to ride that bus home on a designated day of the week so you can game at the store. Don't mention that you are gaming - just that you will be attending an out of school extra curricular activity.
You can still have a gaming club - it just will not be school sponsored, and you'll be better off ultimately, because you'll be in an environment that welcomes you, rather than is against you. The object of the club does not seem to be to raise money, participate in school council or any of that. It's simply to play games. Go where you're welcome...
--*Rob
Winterthorn
Monster Manager
Turnabout is fair play...
Alas, as a minor, you have little power... I think you need to enlist some adult help... And use "the rules" of the school to your advantage.
Additionally, one way to deal with this, and I know many Christians would agree, is to challenge that AP for her real/apparent un-Christian-like behaviour... For such a challenge, could you get the help of a priest or minister, someone who you trust and to whom you could explain the situation? Such an ally can be quite powerful when dealing with self-righteous adults...
But like others have said: choose your battles wisely, keep your intregrity, know where to find help... Be careful to stay calm--especially when you make your decisions on what you're going to do! Best of luck
Let us know how it turns out, okay? (I'm very curious
)
W.
Alas, as a minor, you have little power... I think you need to enlist some adult help... And use "the rules" of the school to your advantage.
Additionally, one way to deal with this, and I know many Christians would agree, is to challenge that AP for her real/apparent un-Christian-like behaviour... For such a challenge, could you get the help of a priest or minister, someone who you trust and to whom you could explain the situation? Such an ally can be quite powerful when dealing with self-righteous adults...
But like others have said: choose your battles wisely, keep your intregrity, know where to find help... Be careful to stay calm--especially when you make your decisions on what you're going to do! Best of luck
Let us know how it turns out, okay? (I'm very curious
)W.
mythago
Hero
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but is it not true that the federal Equal Access Act is still in force? If your school allows ANY after-school clubs at all, it must allow ALL of them. She cannot refuse to allow you to have a gaming club, under the law, unless she can show it would interfere with normal school operations. (e.g., if you wanted to run a LARP game during lunch hour, that could be prohibited on the grounds that it would disrupt classes going on at that time.) Her personal approval of D&D is irrelevant.
More plain language about this at:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/equ_acce.htm
If she wants to prohibit all after-school clubs, she can do that. But that's obviously not the case--so she can't say "Yes, but only if you do things I like."
Run, do not walk, to your local ACLU chapter. Don't go off on the assistant principal being a bitch; explain that you are trying to start a gaming club, and your asst. principal is trying to prohibit lawful club activities, and you believe this is because of her religious objections to those activities.
Is this drastic? Sure, but so what? She is violating a Federal law, violating YOUR rights under the First Amendment, and you can bet your dice bag that it's not the first or last time she's pulled this queen-of-the-banana-republic crapola.
You don't need to worry about a lawsuit, really. All you need is a lawyerly adult (like somebody at the ACLU) to whap the school district upside the head with a cease-and-desist letter.
More plain language about this at:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/equ_acce.htm
If she wants to prohibit all after-school clubs, she can do that. But that's obviously not the case--so she can't say "Yes, but only if you do things I like."
Run, do not walk, to your local ACLU chapter. Don't go off on the assistant principal being a bitch; explain that you are trying to start a gaming club, and your asst. principal is trying to prohibit lawful club activities, and you believe this is because of her religious objections to those activities.
Is this drastic? Sure, but so what? She is violating a Federal law, violating YOUR rights under the First Amendment, and you can bet your dice bag that it's not the first or last time she's pulled this queen-of-the-banana-republic crapola.
You don't need to worry about a lawsuit, really. All you need is a lawyerly adult (like somebody at the ACLU) to whap the school district upside the head with a cease-and-desist letter.
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