Zack Hill by John Deering and John Newcombe for November 23, 2011

Well, at least his mother is sensible – so far :)

Reality check: the only instance I can find of a public school student being punished for using the word gay is a student who was explaining why he has two mommies.

Reality check part two: I can find a lot of references to bullied gay students killing themselves in despair.

Seriously, don’t let reality get in the way of a good ideology. The Johns don’t.

Hopefully Zack won’t get kissed by a girl on the playground – the principal will call the cops on them.

I hate taking the exceptions (such as some kid getting suspended for saying a bad word) and pretending it’s the norm. I applaud schools for stopping abuse of others (whether physical or verbal), but teachers give warnings for using bad language. Then there’s the “go to the principal” stage usually followed by detention. Suspension is rare – and when used, these days it’s usually in-school suspension – they still have to go to school and study, but separated from the rest of the class.

Considering that this is the only example given of excessive “political correctness”, it is an unfortunate choice. Children are continually being harassed, bullied, and tormented for being – or being perceived of as – gay. This is a very serious problem in schools across the country. Maybe some discussion of WHY this word is so charged?

I was heavily bullied in junior high (in the ‘70s). I was quiet, shy and just “different”, and did not have many friends. The bullies came after kids like me. I was called “gay”, “fag” and everything else, even though I wasn’t and didn’t act in any way to deserve it. What bothers me is, today’s zero-tolerance and PC policies in schools seem to have done NOTHING to stem the bullying problem; from what I read, bullying is still a bad problem today, resulting in suicides in extreme cases (and yes, I thought of it back then). These school PC policies aren’t meant to stop bullying, they’re meant to protect the faculty from lawsuits, and have gotten crazy in some cases. Again, look at the Florida school that just called the cops on two kids kissing. Excellent example, which I think is seen as poor timing to some folks on here.

This is going to be harder than she thought!

I have never felt compelled to comment on any of the comic strips I read, but this time I just feel compelled to appeal to common sense. So, I must suggest here that comic strips, by their very nature, that have a story line have to unfold their story in 4 short panels a day. Therefore, it’s premature to get all preachy over this story before it’s even half-told. In addition, comic strips use exaggeration to make their point, as in Zach being suspended in this case from school for using the word “gay” instead of receiving some lesser punishment. Comic strip writers aren’t bound by reality; they also use irony and facetious humor in their social commentary. I, for one, commend the “The Johns” for tackling a sensitive subject and I trust that while making light of “PC” policies they are also educating the kids who may read this comic strip about the negative effects of certain terms, even when they are not using the terms to bully others. I acknowledge that the subject matter is a very sensitive issue for some people, but I really don’t think the writers’ intention is to aggravate or alienate people who have been the victims of bullying. Just my 2 cents.

The issue isn’t anthropomorphic animal characters, it’s a strip that makes political commentary on a non-existent issue (student’s being suspended for using the word gay), and goes on about it for two weeks now. And the choice of the word gay betrays the real agenda her – mocking supposed “PC-ism” run amuck.

Kids do use the word gay as a put down and pejorative – to bully other kids. They do not use it to mean “happy” – ever, and haven’t in generations. Even 35 years ago when I was in elementary school I knew that – long before I understood the behaviour the word has come to be synonymous with. I knew it was something “bad”, and I didn’t want to called gay at all costs – even though I didn’t know what it really meant, I knew it was especially nasty to be branded “gay”. Teachers didn’t let kids use it back then either – they knew, as the Johns no doubt do, that the only way kids were and are using it is as a negative, whether to bully or put down other kids, or in the casual negative way Zack does here, which also reinforces the negative labelling association of the word. The fact, however, is as a teacher now, I don’t really hear a lot of this among high schoolers at least – students already know using gay as a casual pejorative or as a label for a person is not really acceptable, just as using the word nigger isn’t either. Which is not of course to say that both aren’t still being used that way in the hallways or school yard, but they know not to in class – but the words can be discussed as part of literature or why people use them.

The cartoonists also no doubt know kids aren’t really being sent home for saying “gay” as a casual pejorative or to bully other kids (maybe if it was persistent bullying) – their teachers will just ask them not to, just like they’d be asked or thanked not to use nigger as a label, or use cuss words. If it was part of persistent bullying, the parents might be called in, or the student sent to the office – probably to be spoken to about bullying, not just the particular word choices. Making up false stories of PC taken to ridiculous extremes (or focusing on a rare instance where something like this did happen) is a strawman technique – set up a ridiculous example so you can stir up indignation against the supposed problem. Which masks the real issue.

Gee Man, that was eloquently put. And cdward, cynks—I’m really grateful to see that a lot of readers of this strip see the problems with this arc.