The state Senate will soon be debating whether students have the right to call school administrators "douche bags" while not on school property.
State Sen. Gary LeBeau took up the cause after Avery Doninger at Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington was banned from the student government because she posted something on her blog referring to the superintendent and other officials as "douche bags."
The whole thing started when Doninger wrote in her online journal how "pissed off" she was because the school had canceled an annual battle of the school bands that she had helped organize. The blog post was "not my finest moment," Doninger later admitted to MSNBC.
LeBeau's proposal would protect students' free speech rights outside of school, except when the comments are intended to harass, intimidate or threaten other students and school employees.
The Judiciary Committee endorsed the bill Tuesday night and sent it to the Senate for consideration. It would also require House approval.
