January 30, 2008
Judge Tom
2

Kissing on School Bus Results in Expulsion

In October, 2007, a security camera caught two Blythewood High School students kissing on the school bus in South Carolina. Junior Dominique Goyner and his girlfriend were expelled for the remainder of the school year.

Reportedly the buss on the bus lasted for about two minutes. The discipline was based on violating the school’s rule prohibiting sexual behavior.  The school district stands by its decision stating that “a simple kiss does not constitute sexual misconduct. . . . he knows he was doing more than kissing.”

Photo by Svadilfari (Flickr)

Dominique had no history of infractions at school and several awards for his performance in ROTC. He hopes to have the expulsion set aside and is concerned about it stopping him from attending a military academy when he graduates. He is now being home-schooled and is challenging the expulsion. There is no information available about his girlfriend except that she also has a lawyer representing her. Dominique’s lawyer was quoted saying that “What we have here, in my opinion, is an overzealous enforcement of a rule.”

How do you feel about displays of affection on campus or at school events? Where do you draw the line to decide what’s appropriate and what’s acceptable? Should schools be concerned about this displays of intimacy on campus?

For a similar incident take a look at: http://askthejudge.info/detention-for-hugging/161/

Judge Tom

The Author Judge Tom

Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing) and 'Every Vote Matters: the Power of Your Voice, from Student Elections to the Supreme Court' (Free Spirit Publishing). In 2020, the American Bar Association published "Cyberbullying Law," the nation's first case-law book written for lawyers, judges and law students. When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom volunteers with the American Red Cross and can be found hiking, traveling and reading.

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2 Comments

  • glyne
    May 12, 2011 10:41 am count( 0 )

    this is a special way to learn from your mistakes.

  • Anthony
    January 31, 2008 8:19 am count( 1 )

    I actually wrote a column about this. It is too extreme to expel two teens for doing what they normally do. It wasn’t as if they did anything more then just kissing. And what’s really bad is that the boy is concerned that he won’t be able to attend military school because of this.

    You can read my column at: timesobserver.blogspot.com

    Judge Tom’s response:
    Anthony, thanks for your comment. Reportedly the kissing lasted around two minutes, so we don’t know for sure the extent of the embrace. We trust that the school board viewed the tape before taking action. If a lawsuit is filed the court will decide the legality of the expulsion.