School: Kids Need Permission Slip for Santorum Talk

Listening to Rick Santorum is the kind of activity that requires parental permission. That's the conclusion a Michigan high school has come to, after a planned speech by the former presidential candidate inspired massive backlash. On Monday, Grosse Pointe High School decided to just cancel the event, but that generated outcry from the other side. So now the speech is back on, but students will need a signed permission slip to watch, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Langston Bowens, the socially conservative senior who invited Santorum, has accused the school of cancelling the speech for political reasons, saying the superintendent voiced opinions about Santorum's views on gay marriage and education during a conference call between district officials and the national conservative group organizing the event. "I didn't expect such a negative response," Bowens says. "He was banned because of personal issues." But the school denies that, saying its main problem was that the group refuses to provide an advance copy of the speech. (More Rick Santorum stories.)