Michael Moore's Highschool Newspaper - Is It A Real Democracy?

     Last year, one of the freshmen in KMLA posted an article expressing his opinion about conflicts between two prevailing Korean school teachers' union(http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/opinion/because/418809.html)
It was rather radical, for the article condemned the fundamental structure of Korean education which had the possibility of conveying the false idea that KMLA itself was supporting these radical views. What was interesting was that the school did not make it an issue that its name came up in the article- when even the students gave full vent to their defiant feelings! At the moment, I was excited by the 'freedom of speech' we students have in school; we are free to share our opinions even if that is a radical political claim!
     Having retained confidence in our assured liberty in KMLA, I could not feel empathy for the problem Michael Moore pointed out; it was a distant issue for me (I assume that you know Michael Moore and his arguments^^). Students in KMLA are free to speak or write their own thoughts about school; they are even encouraged to make suggestions under the idea of student autonomy. For instance, current EOP helper system was contrived and settled by students of EOP department; Chicken Day was originally settled by proposals made by students.
     Putting aside all the gratifications of freedom I feel, I cannot join Moore's movements. Michael Moore's arguments have critical fallacies.
     Moore and his "Highschool Newspaper" is biased. Though he claims to advocate unrestrained share of diverse opinions from students, he puts too much emphasis on 'reforms'- all his articles commend student 'uprisings'. The topics he posts up on his website (http://mikeshighschoolnews.com/) are clearly urging for criticism. How would students stand in a stance in support of government or school when the topic is 'Live from Madison: What's happening now?' and Moore himself is covering his webpage with writings that lauds student protests?- Madison is the place where recent student protests occurred. When the topic fails to embrace all kinds of ideas-both for and against the school policies, it is not an authentic democracy that Moore's movement aims for.
     The credibility of information used in his webpage rouses suspicion. Anonymity is an equivocal concept. Its meaning reaches further than just its explicit denotation that your name and identity wouldnot be revealed. It can be used to humiliate certain people and disseminate false information. Founding of restaurants in America experienced sharp decline when one of the web users revealed a false statistic that 90 percent of new-born restaurants go bankrupt in their first years. Words undoubtedly exercise huge power on people. Anonymity often incapacitates people's conscience, and thus, produces great amount of forged information.
     As a student attending KMLA, I am very much complacent about the status quo where freedom of speech is guaranteed. However, even if I were a highschool student in America, I would not have joined Moore's movement since it is not truly aiming for genuine democracy, and because the validity of information posted in the website is questionable.

[Possible Debate Motions]

1. THBT students have right to use school's privilege (without school's permission)
2. THW allow student protests
3. THBT people can use anonymous IDs in newspaper websites

My ideas on "The Story of Stuff"

     Last year, I was preparing for a group presentation at school and found out an interesting report about the relationship between TV advertisements on junk food and childhood obesity published by the Institute Of Medicine (IOM). The research team discovered that television advertising strongly influences what children under 12 eat. J. McGinnis, a senior scholar at IOM, said “The foods advertised are predominantly high in calories and low in nutrition — the sort of diet that puts children’s long-term health at risk”. I could not forget this alarming truth and from then, my whole diet changed; I stopped eating junk food.     
     While I was watching "The Story of Stuff", I had in my mind that this video will strongly influence minds of most of children who watch it, as the report by IOM affected my mine. Such an astonishing, yet fearful claim that we are buying toxic products and that every product comes along with toxins must have huge impact upon the fragile minds of children. It would not be a really big problem, however, if all the statistics and descriptions in this video were true; yet, they are not. Such exaggerations as pillows being soaked into toxic chemicals are very likely to give false recognition to people, especially children.
     Thus, 'The Story of Stuff' should not be used as an educational material. It contains exaggerated and forged pieces of information that is certainly not educational, for a proper education must derive its contents from facts. In addition, the video is too much obsessed with condemning the current production and consumption cycle that it does not show the whole part of the nation's industry. For instance, there are numerous eco-friendly corporations in United States and the U.S. government is trying to regulate the pollution from corporations by enacting legislations and implementing CER (Certified Emissino Reduction) policy.
     I donot deny that there are problems in the production and consumption cycle. However, if the problem is to be taught to children, it must be more truth-based and properly stated. Visual materials have huge influence on children's thoughts. An educational video would be more rational that to be radical.

The debate motions that I suggest are:

1. THBT government can restrict freedom of speech when the criticism against government is not truthful
2. THBT government should mandate companies to produce nutritious food when it comes to children-targeted products.
3. THBT United States' helping development of under-developed countries should be stopped