Bombardier
03-10-2005, 10:22 AM
What do you expect from a private Catholic school, I guess? For those that don't know, the Toronto Sun is an rather tame tabloid paper...a (very) toned-down version of a British tabloid (the pin-ups wear clothes, for example).
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2005/03/10/956360-sun.html
Fan of Sun penalized by teacher
22% slashed off teen's grade
By BRODIE FENLON, TORONTO SUN
Sun 100% behind girl
Jessica Bolzillo. (Photo by Dave Thomas, Toronto Sun)
The Sun won't shine at a private Catholic school in King City, Ontario, where a Grade 10 student was docked 22% off her history assignment for using clippings from this newspaper -- deemed "non-reputable" by her teacher. Jessica Bolzicco, 16, an honour roll student with an 87% grade average at St. Thomas of Villanova College, said her teacher cut the grade on her current affairs assignment from an 87% to a 65% because she used the Toronto Sun as her source. Students were asked to bring in three clippings from "newspapers of repute."
When Jessica challenged her mark, she says the teacher "told me I should have got a zero because I used the Sun, and she said that I was lucky to get what I got," she said.
When her parents complained, the teacher told them the Sun was banned because it's "non-reputable," they said.
The three Sun articles Jessica submitted were a story on the Pope's health by Associated Press and Reuters news agencies, an article on the debate over the legal voting age by the Sun's Ottawa Bureau, and a news story on tainted chocolate milk.
"It's censorship," Jessica said. "First they tell us that they want us to have knowledge about what's going on and they want us to read a variety of papers, and then they tell us what we can or can't read."
The teacher did not return repeated Sun calls and e-mail.
Principal Paul Paradiso admitted the Sun has a good reputation for news coverage but fails from a "moral point of view" due to its SUNshine Girl and Boy. (The SUNshine Boy has not appeared in the paper since last September.)
"If a kid came in with an article from Playboy or something like that, we would be questioning that as well," he said, noting teachers have a right to limit students' sources.
The Toronto Catholic District School Board has no similar policy, a spokesman said.
"It's shocking because it's censorship of the most blatant form," said Jessica's father, Luciano Bolzicco, president of Target Vacations and a frequent Sun advertiser.
Luciano said the teacher told him the University of Toronto forbids its students from using Sun as a source. A university spokesman denied this.
Sun Editor-in-Chief Jim Jennings said he was appalled by Jessica's story. "It's ridiculous that a history teacher would censor a student who brings in clippings," he said. "I thought education was about the exchange of ideas, but what do I know -- I only have a PhD."
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2005/03/10/956360-sun.html
Fan of Sun penalized by teacher
22% slashed off teen's grade
By BRODIE FENLON, TORONTO SUN
Sun 100% behind girl
Jessica Bolzillo. (Photo by Dave Thomas, Toronto Sun)
The Sun won't shine at a private Catholic school in King City, Ontario, where a Grade 10 student was docked 22% off her history assignment for using clippings from this newspaper -- deemed "non-reputable" by her teacher. Jessica Bolzicco, 16, an honour roll student with an 87% grade average at St. Thomas of Villanova College, said her teacher cut the grade on her current affairs assignment from an 87% to a 65% because she used the Toronto Sun as her source. Students were asked to bring in three clippings from "newspapers of repute."
When Jessica challenged her mark, she says the teacher "told me I should have got a zero because I used the Sun, and she said that I was lucky to get what I got," she said.
When her parents complained, the teacher told them the Sun was banned because it's "non-reputable," they said.
The three Sun articles Jessica submitted were a story on the Pope's health by Associated Press and Reuters news agencies, an article on the debate over the legal voting age by the Sun's Ottawa Bureau, and a news story on tainted chocolate milk.
"It's censorship," Jessica said. "First they tell us that they want us to have knowledge about what's going on and they want us to read a variety of papers, and then they tell us what we can or can't read."
The teacher did not return repeated Sun calls and e-mail.
Principal Paul Paradiso admitted the Sun has a good reputation for news coverage but fails from a "moral point of view" due to its SUNshine Girl and Boy. (The SUNshine Boy has not appeared in the paper since last September.)
"If a kid came in with an article from Playboy or something like that, we would be questioning that as well," he said, noting teachers have a right to limit students' sources.
The Toronto Catholic District School Board has no similar policy, a spokesman said.
"It's shocking because it's censorship of the most blatant form," said Jessica's father, Luciano Bolzicco, president of Target Vacations and a frequent Sun advertiser.
Luciano said the teacher told him the University of Toronto forbids its students from using Sun as a source. A university spokesman denied this.
Sun Editor-in-Chief Jim Jennings said he was appalled by Jessica's story. "It's ridiculous that a history teacher would censor a student who brings in clippings," he said. "I thought education was about the exchange of ideas, but what do I know -- I only have a PhD."