There’s more on the Henry DeGroot in China story today.

The Boston Globe’s editorial page weighed in saying “the feisty, red-blooded American kid[‘s]…punishment was an overreaction on the part of Newton school officials and a bad lesson all around.”

DeGroot may have violated the student conduct code. And he damaged his school’s relationship with a Chinese counterpart in a worthwhile exchange program. But Newton’s decision to resort to formal discipline went too far. For a moment, school officials seemed to forget which country tolerates free speech and protest.

On the other hand, Globe columnist Joanna Weiss sees it differently….

I respect his anger at the repressive Chinese government. But for jeopardizing a longstanding sliver of Sino-Newton relations? I think it’s OK that DeGroot had to miss his prom.

….DeGroot was clearly self-satisfied with his act of disobedience — like an American superhero, swooping in to save the foreigners — and unconcerned that he might have gotten an innocent Chinese kid in trouble, or jeopardized the future of the exchange.

Maybe not quite a superhero Joanna, in fact, Henry DeGroot told the TAB

“I honestly didn’t think anyone would see it.”

And then there was this interview on NECN where the North senior said the Newton/China exchange program ‘wasn’t that great’ anyway.