The writing assignment given to some Cranston eighth graders didn't come to light until the letters were published in a weekly newspaper.

01:00 AM EST on Friday, December 30, 2005

BY BARBARA POLICHETTI
Journal Staff Writer

CRANSTON -- The School Department is not happy that some middle school students were asked to write their views on same-sex marriage and that their work was published in a local newspaper as letters to the editor.

M. Richard Scherza, assistant superintendent of schools, said yesterday that the topic -- on which Park View Middle School eighth graders expressed their views in this week's edition of the Cranston Herald -- was not appropriate for that age group and he will take up the matter with administrators and teachers.

"I don't know exactly how this came about, but it is a matter of concern," Scherza said. "From my perspective, it's not about the issue of gay marriage, but a question of what are age-appropriate issues for our students, and in this case I think the [subject] was not appropriate."

Mayor Stephen P. Laffey also weighed in, appearing on TV and talk radio to say that he did not think that it was appropriate for youngsters at the middle-school level to be discussing gay marriage. Scherza said that he agrees.

"We really have to look closely at the judgment of people dealing with our children," Scherza said. Noting that school is out this week for holiday vacation, he added, "I'll be holding some meetings on Monday."

Elizabeth Seal, editor of The Cranston Herald, said that about three months ago, the weekly paper began running letters to the editor from Cranston school students under the heading of "Shout Out." She said the page appears once a month and that the project was developed in conjunction with the School Department. It was intended to create educational opportunities for students -- including a chance to practice the persuasive writing skills that are now a part of SAT testing. It was also intended as incentive for students to stay versed on current events, Seal said.

Seal said it benefits the paper by giving readers a chance to see letters written on complex topics and to learn what younger people think about national and international issues.

Seal said she meets with different teachers each month to discuss possible topics and then she visits selected classes to talk to students about how to write a letter to the editor. The project is geared toward the city's two high schools, she said, but for December, she decided to offer the letter-writing exercise to eighth-graders at Park View.

But there was no time for the full process, she said, because she had to be out of town for a couple of weeks due to a death in the family.

As a result, she said she didn't expect letters from Park View. Seal said she was surprised last week to get a small batch via the school's social studies department. She did not know exactly what or how the questions were put to the students, she said, but the letters were on either same-sex marriage or whether there should be interscholastic sports at the district's three middle schools. There was also one letter opposing drug and tobacco use.

Seal said that the letters were more essays than letters to the editor and not what she envisioned when the project was launched. She said that she talked to Scherza yesterday and that he is still supportive of the letter-writing project, as long as if it is run according to the original process and only if the questions are appropriate for the students.

Seal said she was not happy with the Park View letters either, but for different reasons. "I wouldn't have picked either sports or gay marriage as a topic," Seal said yesterday. "The sports question has been overdone and [regarding] gay marriage, what are eighth graders really going to say about that?"

Yesterday's Cranston Herald features nine student letters on its editorial pages. Four of the letters are in support of gay marriage, four are in favor of interscholastic sports at the middle-school level and one opposes drugs and tobacco.

"Regardless if there is a difference of opinion as to why this was a bad idea, I think we all agree that it was not good one," Seal said.