WICE causes needless student outrage

“Without Wice, we are nothing,” wrote junior Matthew Brzycki on the petition to ‘Bring Back Wice.’ “There is nothing left within this forsaken existence… taking away such a beloved hallmark of the announcements is akin to ripping our first-born child straight out of our hands... leaving us to only weep and despair at its fate. We damn ourselves to eternal boredom every Friday; unless we can return Wice, that will unfortunately be the fate of all that roam these halls.” His surprisingly poetic and dramatic comment is an exaggeration of how the student body feels about the perceived censorship of Wice. The petition is now closed with a message from the owner, ‘Dan E-S’: “This petition has been shut down by a higher authority--it wasn't my choice. Of course, this ‘has nothing to do with censorship.’”

Ms. Jean Biebel, the Media Communicators teacher, does not see it as censorship: “Administration asked to meet with me about concerns they had about the video announcements… I think some of their concerns were legitimate and they were concerns that I already had, and that were already addressed to the students.” She makes it clear that “at no point in time was Wice singled out.” The students “agreed that [the concerns] were legitimate, but also the production of these video announcements are so personal and we’re so emotionally invested in the work that it’s hard not to get defensive… myself included.”

“While Wice has become this lightning rod,” Biebel says, the segment “is not in jeopardy.” Many students seem to be under the impression that Wice is being shut down, but according to Wice itself, it is “going to take a break so we can better learn from our audience how not to offend.” Biebel said that “Wice gave voice to some of the learning for all of us with their statement at the end.” She chose her words carefully as she continued.“What has fueled the aftermath of that last episode showing, I think, was the administrators coming into class. Their visit I don’t think went very well, in terms of communicating the learning that was displayed and the concerns that were present.”

Despite this, she says, “we have to be aware of the fact that we are asking teachers to show this in a class, and the last thing we want to do, nor should we do, is disturb the learning. That is a very real line that we have to maintain, and it’s a line that’s legally protected, right? If something disrupts the learning culture, they have a right to ‘squash’ it.” Ms. Biebel was referring to the Supreme Court case Bethel School District v. Fraser, which ruled that “[E]ducators do not offend the First Amendment by exercising editorial control over the style and content of student speech in school-sponsored expressive activities so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.” While Wice did not use any graphic language or innuendo, and the use of satire is not illegal, the school does have the right to “exercise editorial control,” which it certainly has done.

Even so, the district does not have a clear policy for this situation. On the school board website, under policy 5722, Student Publications and Productions, there is no policy concerning the topic; instead, the text is identical to policy number 5772, which outlines policy on weapons. According to the policy on the website, student publications should make sure to avoid having “firearms, BB guns, look-alike weapons, knuckles, razors, switchblade[s]... etc.” While good advice, this hardly seems pertinent to the situation at hand, and Ms. Biebel’s room does not appear to be an armory for a militia of Media Comm students. I sincerely hope this was a clerical error, but according to the website it has been active since July 13, 2009.

I love Wice: I think it is smart, relatable and objectively hilarious. I definitely would have signed the “Bring Back Wice” petition if it had not been shut down before I got the chance. However, I think the entire uproar over the hiatus was unnecessary. Wice never said they were gone for good, but when the rumors spread everyone was sure that their First Amendment rights were being violated. We are all waiting eagerly for Wice’s return, but until then, Ms. Biebel wants you to know that “Friday video announcements are not going away, and they will continue to be an outlet for authentic student voice and a positive force for shaping student and school culture.”