Many writing professors would tell you that the art of fictionwriting is, in part, determined by the conflict between charactersand the tension they feel as the complications of the plot buildtoward a climax. That's standard stuff. Readers relate to, andsympathize with, common mistakes and everyday problems. That's thebeauty of fiction: Authors create stories about the troubledsociety they live in, and they can reveal some deeper significanceor subtlety.
And, by definition, fiction writing is make-believe, so it'srelatively harmless — unless the author is a 14-year-oldgirl.
Rachel Boim, a student at Roswell High School, in a suburb northof Atlanta, was expelled for writing a questionable story in herpersonal journal about a student who falls asleep in class anddreams of killing a teacher. The plot is grisly, sure, but so itwas in "The Virgin Suicides" by Jeffrey Eugenides, "The Stranger"by Albert Camus and … oh, pretty much any interesting bookin the history of literature.
Of course, it's ridiculous to compare Boim with professional,established authors, but the art each dabbled in is the same. AndBoim's subject matter is kind of old news: School shootings happen,have happened and (unfortunately) will happen again. Though it'simportant for school administrators to do what they can to curbpotentially dangerous students and questionable behavior, if a girlwith a journal, a pen and an eye for realistic story-telling is thebiggest threat at Roswell, the school has few worries.
Boim said, according to a CNN.com report, that she wrote thestory as a work of fiction and said it was not meant to bethreatening. But when Boim showed the story to her friend, her artteacher interfered and confiscated the journal, then alerted schoolofficials the next day.
Not surprisingly, the Fulton County School District, in whichRoswell High is a school, has a zero-tolerance policy concerningthis behavior. So, Boim was expelled. But in this case, theschool's policy wasn't employed correctly.
Because Roswell, according to its procedural StudentDiscipline/Code of Conduct, gives its employees the right to(reasonably) do what they can to maintain order and control, Boim'sbiology teacher felt it necessary to have her escorted out of classby the school's armed guard. Her administrators must have also feltexpulsion was "reasonable," since her creative expression soseverely disrupted the learning environment — but only forher friend and her nosy teacher.
Though Boim did not use, as deemed unacceptable by the Roswellconduct code, "violence, force, noise, coercion, threat,intimidation, fear, passive resistance, false statements, or anyother disorderly conduct" in writing her story, the administrationstill believed she posed a substantial threat to her classmates.That has to be why she was expelled. But an unthreatening,fictional story read by one student and one teacher doesn't pose athreat at all.
Schools must protect their faculty, students and staff fromdanger. But Roswell's administration should have dealt with Boimdifferently. The school overreacted; speculation is the answer towhy the school's administrators didn't choose meeting with herparents, suspending her or even talking with her about her reasonsfor writing the story.
So, burgeoning writers beware: Write about unrealistic fluff andkeep your social commentary to a minimum. Substance only worksoutside the walls of high schools, which are continually proved tobe nothing like the real world.
Write to Allyn at aswest@bsu.edu
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