
An Ajax student wants his record cleared after he was suspended for handing out a letter that praised women’s inner beauty and said they shouldn’t dress in revealing clothes..and, keep in mind, this is the same school that raised eyebrows a few months ago because their kilts were too short!…
Paul Gomille, a Grade 12 student at Archbishop Denis O’Connor Catholic High School, gave the letter to classmates in the school’s cafeteria on Valentine’s Day.
“Real attractiveness doesn’t come from wearing the latest fashion, and it doesn’t come from being scantily clad in public, or putting on make-up, or having a pretty face, or a nice body,” the 17-year-old wrote. “Real attractiveness comes from having a certain dignity. It comes from having class. It comes from being true to yourself, being yourself, and being comfortable in your own skin.”
He had meant to deliver it as a speech and at first had principal Donna Modeste’s approval. But when other staff reportedly suggested he take out some of the parts they saw as judgmental, he kept them in and handed it out anyway.
“In particular, [this message] concerns the silent ones, the intelligent ones, the ones that don’t talk about people behind their backs, the ones that guys don’t flock to in droves, the ones that don’t dress in revealing clothing,” was one passage Gomille said the administration deemed contentious.
Reports say within hours, Modeste called Gomille to her office and suspended him for two days for “opposition to authority.”
Gomille stayed home on Feb. 15 and 16.
Following Gomille’s suspension, students launched an online protest and more than 200 signed a “Free Paul” petition.
The school got international attention last November after a trustee said girls there were wearing their kilts too short.
Do you think the school overreacted? Or Did the punishment fit the crime?






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5 Comments User Comments
Add a commentWalter
March 3, 2012
12:32 am
I vote the school staff get a week suspention without pay.
RainbowRay
March 3, 2012
12:07 pm
I thought “Valentine’s Day” was about “LOVE” and “expressing that love” (even in a school environment) and NOT POLITICS. This sounds like a “politically correct story” to me. Kudos for that young man for saying his mind. Based on what he wrote, he seems to have the “right idea” although it seems that the staff are more interested in the “politics” then the “substance” of what he wrote and his “good intentions”. In my opinion, the school DID overreact.
LOVE
RainbowRay
Maintaining attitude attitude and gratitude
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305 days and counting!
Anita
March 3, 2012
12:24 pm
Absolutely nothing wrong with what this student did, infact i totally agree with what he wrote in his message.
ST
March 4, 2012
11:40 am
I agree that the punishment does not fit the crime – perhaps that principal should take a walk down the hallways of the school and notice what is really going on with the ‘uniform’ !!! If girls do not respect themselves – and it appears that they don’t at times – maybe a peer reminder would help!
Jackie Nielsen
January 15, 2013
8:12 am
That is the most ridiculous over reaction I have heard of so far.