Emotional and psychological harm are less obvious because scars are unable to be .
Therefore, as a society, we are forced to make value .
judgements as to the severity of the damage that is inflicted. When expressive tactics are .
used to inflict suffering. The danger in making such value judgements lies in their .
application to peripheral situations, because of the close tie that Bok refers to between .
our conferred rights of freedom of expression and our constitutional rights of freedom of .
speech. We must be weary when laying down specific applications of law.
On the other hand, an offensive expression, regardless how repugnant, does not.
necessarily inflict enduring damage to the object of its expression. Moreover, the.
indignation expressed, quite often, does more damage to the issuing party than it does to .
the intended and, while distasteful, the offender may be openly inflicting damage on .
himself.
Depends on the aggressive nature of the form of expression being used at any give .
time. To simply say that we should carte blanch ignore every seeming act of expression .
would unfortunately invite a certain segment of the populace to feel that they may simply .
take advantage of certain cituations once they feel that they have figured out what degree .
they may carry an aggressive expression and not be held accountable for their action. In .
most cases, the best defense is a good offense. However, in the emotionally charged .
situations that seem to be the offshoot of such expressionistic behavior, one cannot .
possibly predict the occurrence of said expressions. There are a variety of occurrences .
and they are too diverse in their degree of intent, so a preemptive strike is not valid or .
advisable.
Each individual incident should be dealt with as an exclusive entity. In the case .
prescribed by Bok, the best course of action would have been to attempt to persuade the .
students to be more community minded and to educate them as to the benefits of more .