FREE SPEECH BARRED IN WAWOTA

SASKATOON -- Just when you thought Saskatchewan was becoming part of
the modern world, along comes a story that turns the clock back 40 years.

If it were the '60s, a story like Kieran King's would not be
considered unusual. Today, it just sounds like reefer madness has
struck the school system in Wawota, a leafy town of 600 in the
southeast part of the province.

King is the 15-year-old who was suspended from school for three days
and lost the chance to write his Grade 10 final exams because he had
the temerity to question what he had been told in school.

Following a presentation on the dangers of drug use, King did some
research on his own into the relative dangers of alcohol, tobacco and
marijuana.

He concluded that cannabis might be the least hazardous of the three,
and shared his opinion with some of his fellow students.

One of them complained to principal Susan Wilson, who called King's
mother to complain. His mother, Joanne Euler, explained that
A-student Kieran is a bit of a computer freak who compulsively
researches everything. However, he doesn't smoke or drink, and he
certainly doesn't push drugs to other kids, she said.

In spite of this, the principal warned that "if he talks about it
again, I will be calling the police."

When his mother relayed this to Kieran, he felt his right to free
speech was being trampled on. He responded by calling the
Saskatchewan Marijuana Party, who helped him organize a mini-demonstration.

They planned a school walkout for free speech for June 12, but just
before it was about to happen, the principal declared no one could
leave. Students who tried found the doors barred and teachers there
ordering kids back to class.

King and his younger brother, Lucas, escaped the dragnet and joined a
group of about five protesters with placards and a megaphone across
from the school. The principal called the RCMP and ordered a
lockdown, ostensibly to ensure the safety of the students.

The boys' mother was called to the school and told they were
suspended for three days. The RCMP then conducted a "threat
assessment" on Kieran in the company of school counsellors.

School officials justified this by claiming that he had promoted
marijuana as an alternative to alcohol about a half dozen times over
the previous year. How this qualifies as a security threat remains to
be revealed but, in any event, no one had ever told his mother about it.

Unfortunately, this story confirms many of the worst stereotypes
about Saskatchewan. So far, no one at Wawota School has been able to
produce any evidence that Kieran King was actually promoting drug use.

Secondly, you have to wonder if anyone would have complained had he
been arguing that beer is actually a pretty good health food, or that
smoking bans are an infringement on civil liberties.

In cases like those, it's easy to imagine that the authorities would
merely smile, nod and look the other way.

Any mention of the Demon Weed, however, is met with a good deal more
skepticism. In Wawota, it would appear that freedom of speech extends
only so far as the school principal's value set will allow.

The school's response can only be described as hysterical. Locking
down the facility and calling in the RCMP is something that is
normally reserved for occasions when there is a real and present
danger to students.

No one is going to take it seriously if the principal uses it every
time some kid starts spouting a cause.

As for the Marijuana Party protesters, they looked about as
threatening as the cast from a Muppets movie. I know this because
they posted portions of their demo on YouTube, an event that featured
a disjointed conversation with a school official and a screaming
match with a profane nurse about the meaning of free speech.

The whole event would have made for a very interesting social studies
class, had the school not simply decided to declare the entire topic
unfit for discussion.

Of course, the national news media doesn't see it that way. Toronto's
Globe and Mail covered the story for three days running last week,
and the issue has sparked unflattering editorials across the country.

So once again, the Land of Living Skies makes a name for itself as
the Home of the Knee Jerk Reaction.

We really do need to get a grip.