STUDENTS CONFRONT PRINCIPAL OVER DRUG SUSPENSIONS

"Wake Up Moriah, There's More Than 11!"

Over 100 Moriah College students chanted slogans and confronted their
principal yesterday in a protest against the suspension of 11 classmates for
allegedly handling marijuana.

The students spent their recess break behind the Jewish school's front gate
waving placards reading "Don't hide behind semantics", "Kids first,
reputation second" and "Support don't export".

A rally organiser, Year 10 student Judd Weinberg, said the drugs problem in
schools was too wide to be solved by suspensions.

He said students were angry that a petition calling for the decision to be
reversed had been ignored.

"We know that reputation is the name of the game and they have to show
parents and others in the community that Moriah is drug-free," he said.

"But we preach to be the Moriah family, to care about each other. How can we
walk into school with respect for our authority when they do not practise
what they preach? They have turned their back on our brothers.

"No-one is disputing the fact that what the students did was wrong but you
do not expel them and put the problem onto others."

Judd said students had been threatened with suspension if they rallied
outside the school gates, as had been planned.

The school, however, allowed the protest to take place inside its grounds.

Competing against the noisy chants yesterday, the principal, Mr Roy
Steinman, denied the protesters had been threatened with suspension, saying
he applauded the right of students to put their case.

"I know and appreciate the hurt that they are feeling," he said. "But what
they do not see is that we have to take into account the 1,500 other
students who come into our school ... We have to send a clear signal to the
suspended students that their action cannot be defended or tolerated."

Mr Steinman said he "can't imagine" the school reversing its decision, which
had been made with the unanimous support of its board of management.

He also dismissed the suggestion that the school's inquiry into the matter
had been conducted inappropriately or unfairly.

A Year 11 student, Alexis Fishman, who defended the school's action, said
the protest rally was "unreasonable" given the school had been "very
lenient" in not expelling the students.

Mr Steinman said the suspended children needed a fresh start at another school.

"Part of the remediation is that they undertake a rehabilitation program
away from the environment which caused their temptation," he said.

"There are other good schools and ultimately it is a community issue."