First, the good news: For those of you who despair that today`s young people are too apathetic and are reluctant to get involved in protests and demonstrations over important social causes, we have found a young man who has just done precisely that.

Now the bad news: The cause that he has become involved in is the right of high school students to listen to ”Mony Mony.”

You are viewing: Why Was Mony Mony Banned

Yes, yes. . .we`re back to ”Mony Mony.” ”Mony Mony” is the song by Billy Idol-a remake of the original Tommy James and the Shondells hit-that has become sort of a national controversy, a controversy that has been documented in this space. ”Mony Mony” itself is quite innocuous-but during certain breaks in the song, young people scream out a chant that cannot be printed here. The chant is not part of ”Mony Mony”-but it is so well known among young Americans, and so repugnant to their elders, that it has taken on a life of its own.

Which brings us to Grayslake Community High School, where the junior-senior prom recently was held.

While the prom was being organized, some faculty members made the decision that ”Mony Mony” would not be played at the dance. The teachers knew what would happen if ”Mony Mony” were played: The students would scream out the chant.

Enter a 17-year-old senior named Che Kearby.

”That decision just wasn`t fair,” Che Kearby said. ”I felt it was a clearcut example of censorship. Censorship is wrong. Plus, I really like

`Mony Mony.` ”

Read more : Why Does The Pilot Light Go Out

So Che Kearby decided to take his case to the Board of Education.

(By the way, in case you`re wondering-yes, Che Kearby was named in honor of Che Guevara, the late Cuban revolutionary. Che Kearby`s father was a college activist, and decided to give his son that name. Che Kearby, while somewhat of a budding activist himself-if you count this ”Mony Mony” thing- is also a varsity wrestler.)

Che Kearby distributed a pro-”Mony Mony” petition to the students at the high school, in a plea to allow ”Mony Mony” at the prom. ”We got 341 signatures,” he said. ”That`s almost half the school.”

Still, he was told, ”Mony Mony” would be banned. So he went to a meeting of the Board of Education and asked to be heard.

”I wanted to do this right,” he said. ”I wanted to go through channels.”

At the Board of Education meeting, Che Kearby stood his ground. ”I told the school board members that they were going to ban an assumed reaction,” he said. ”They were assuming that the students at the dance were going to yell the chant. I told them that I would do my best to assure that the students didn`t chant.”

He said that the actual words of the chant were not spoken at the Board of Education meeting: ”No one was going to say it out loud. But I looked in the eyes of the school board members. I could tell. All of them knew what the words of the chant were.”

There were six Board of Education members present. One of them was Che Kearby`s stepmother, Jeanne Kearby. She disqualified herself from the voting, on the grounds that she and Che lived under the same roof.

(Mrs. Kearby did tell this column that, although her stepson`s name is unusual, it is not unique. ”We were at a wrestling meet once,” Mrs. Kearby said, ”and one of the other boys was named Che, too. We asked his parents, and they told us that they had named him after Che Guevara.”)

Read more : Why Is Trulance So Expensive

The school board voted 3-2 (Mrs. Kearby abstaining) to uphold the ban.

”Mony Mony” would not be allowed at the prom.

School Superintendent Griff Powell reacted stoically to this.

”Look,” the superintendent said, ”I remember when protests were against the war in Vietnam, and for civil rights. And I`ve been watching the situation in China, and what those students in Beijing were standing up for. Somehow, I just can`t get my heart into being upset about whether `Mony Mony` should be allowed at the prom.”

The superintendent also said: ”It didn`t need to go this far. If I had been in charge of the prom, I wouldn`t have made any announcement that `Mony Mony` was banned. I would have just slipped the disc jockey a 20 and told him not to play it.”

Che Kearby showed up at the prom wearing protest clothes: ”Instead of a tux I wore a sleeveless T-shirt that said `Long Live ”Mony Mony.” ` Plus, instead of a corsage, I wore dead dandelions.” He tried to persuade the disc jockey to dedicate a song in honor of ”Mony Mony.” ”But the disc jockey wouldn`t do it,” Che Kearby said. ”He said if he did, he wouldn`t get paid.”

After prom night, Che Kearby tried to extend the protest, asking students to wear black to school. ”It didn`t go over too well,” he said. ”The day before, I tore a ligament in my knee playing Frisbee football, so I didn`t show up to lead the protest.”

Now Che Kearby will be heading off to college. ”Everyone says that this whole thing is a dead issue now,” he said. ”They say the battle is lost.

”But I`ve got a younger brother who`ll be a freshman at the high school next year. I`d like him to carry on the fight.”

Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY