The Education Wonks
Sometimes schools carry their policies a little to far.
A day like 9/11 is important to remember because it greatly affected all of us.
Self Expression should not be punished
This problem doesn't happen in private schools. If school was voluntary instead of compulsory, it also would not happen.
The problem began with a stupid rule that can't possibly be followed without getting yourself in trouble. If they let these kids go, they'll probably have the return of the "I (Heart) My Vagina" shirts!
Why didn't they just go with uniforms?
My thinking is that the dress code is too strict. You can limit the type of writing -- such as no shirts advertising illegal activities, alcohol, cursing, or sexual references. But 9/11 shirts? Man... I'm with you Ed. They should have let it go. I hope they will save themselves more headaches and revise their dress code. Looks to me like the kids are going to be more disruptive breaking it until they do.
Shoot. Disruptive sounds negative, and I support those students' rights to wear First Amendment shirts, flag shirts, and 9/11 shirts. What I meant was that the students' educations are being disrupted, not to mention the time teachers and other staff have to devote to enforcing this asinine dress code. THAT's the disruption.
That is one stupid dress code. And that was one stupid school to suspend those kids.
Disgusting.
So, we can't pray in school and now can't show patriotism or support for America. Does someone need to explain to this school what the men and women in our armed forces are fighting for?
Personally the part that I found the most ironic was the Superitendent saying that the school "held a moment of silence Monday to give the students an outlet to show their patriotism." Not sure whether to laugh or cry.
There was probably nothing to stop these students from wearing a patriotic button, dressing in red/white/blue, or even carrying around a copy of the first amendment and reciting it all day. Why didn't they do something like that? I'm sure professional people (like us) found ways to express their patriotism without wearing T-shirts.
Our school started the same "no writing on shirts" rule last year, and it works much better than "no OFFENSIVE writing on shirts". Really, who has time to be reading T-Shirts all day? And "offensive" is in the eye of the beholder. I certainly don't miss those "THE VOICES IN MY HEAD DON'T LIKE YOU", etc shirts. Creepy.
In any case, when a student breaks a rule on purpose, they shouldn't be surprised to receive the corresponding punishment.
ok, YOU dont obviously dont know what happened on 911 because teenagers should wear t-shirts and there should b no ban on AMERICAN flags. this IS America, HELLO!
They should have gone with a uniform policy if they really wanted to control the derogatory T-shirts. Or they could have had a dispensation of the rule for 9/11 if the shirt was patriotic.
Personally I won't wear a t-shirt with the flag because I was taught by Army and Naval Officers that wearing flag pattern for anything other than a badge on the left upper bicept of an officers (Police, Firemen, Marines etcetra) uniform is against the Flag Rules and Regulations. As a Cadet Girl Scout and CAP I was taught that the flag symbolizes all of the hopes, ideals, dreams, and beliefs of America and that it isn't something that should be worn so casually. Of course Americans seem more casual these days so that rule might have been amended by now.
I think that students should be taught to show patriotism and stand up for their beliefs respectfully. These students could have accomplished their goal had they given more thought to the school rules and organized themselves instead of just blatantly disreguarding the rules. Had they gotten support from the Student Body, Some teachers and parents they might have been able to wear the shirts with out problems. As others said earlier they could have still worn red, white, and blue that day being just as patriotic but instead they just chose to rebel. The fact that they have other violations of the same code only shows that these same students were just trying to rebel rather than be patriotic.
A T-shirt with the First Amendment as a protest is pretty clever and creative. I like it.
(Tess, praying goes on all the time in school. And it is allowed. What is NOT allowed is for the school to impose prayer on anyone.
Gee, my school had a balloon release to honor the victims. Police, emergency techs, and firemen from town were invited. Our adm. asked us to wear red, white, and blue. Some of the kids actually thought it was required. I posted pictures of the release on my site. It was so sweet. The school you refer to has their priorities messed up.
Commenting by HaloScan.com
