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thedailywhat:

(Warning: Video above may trigger seizures and contains NSFW language.)

This Is All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: A senior at Donald A. Wilson Secondary School in Whitby, Ontario, was suspended for the remainder of the school year for uploading a series of humorous videos to YouTube.

Jack Christie made several crudely drawn animated shorts featuring a stick-figure avatar of himself explaining various topics to kids. The shorts were produced as part of class presentations, and Christie says no teacher had previously complained about the animations. However, once he uploaded the videos to YouTube, Christie was promptly suspended, and even had the cops called on him by the school.

“They’ve unfairly judged me and judged my character based on something I made for entertainment,” Christie told The Globe and Mail. “I have the right to post videos on the Internet on my own time.”

Asked to comment on why a student was suspended for off-campus activity, Durham District School Board spokeswoman Andrea Pidwerbecki offered a vague statement: “If something is considered detrimental to the positive moral tone of the school, it doesn’t necessarily have to happen inside the school [for us to get involved].”

Christie’s classmates were similarly perplexed by the suspension. “I know that lots of students are talking about it and they’re kind of annoyed,” fellow Grade 12 student Matt Primeau said. “It seems there’s no real reason why Jack’s missed so much school.”

“I don’t think they did the right thing in giving him an indefinite suspension based on videos he made at home that weren’t under their jurisdiction,” said student government prime minister Gavin Russell, who launched a petition campaign in support of Christie, but quit after being warned by staff members that he could face punishment.

Christie was allowed to attend the school prom last Friday, and will be able to take his final exams, but the school says its investigation is ongoing.

[globe&mail: 1, 2 / video: capnjack222.]