A storm of blowback from the Brendan Jones affair has apparently caught Heart Lake school officials by surprise. Indignant letters to the Toronto Globe and Mail made the obvious points:
“Will the next recommendation be to install metal detectors inside our kids’ heads to make sure there are no images of guns in there?”
“I would have thought that the distinction between fiction and non-fiction would be in the English curriculum somewhere. By this reckoning, Stephen King would be a mass murderer and Agatha Christie would have rotted in jail.”
It appears the district school board has stepped in to perform damage control. Statements are being made by a “spokesperson.” It was never “expulsion,” it’s only “exclusion.” Brendan Jones’ parents are being “asked” to keep him home while his fate is pondered. Phrases like “everyone is committed to helping him” signal school officials are backtracking.
Stay tuned.
