Here's the article: http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Midwest/02/19/antibush.tshirt.ap/index.html
The student wore a shirt that had a picture of Bush and it said International Terrorist. The school asked him to turn it inside out or go home. He went home. Made CNN though.
What do you all think?

By Melanie on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 03:17 pm:

I think that was appropriate. I remember when I was in high school the rule was that we were not allowed to wear clothes that brought unneccessary attention to ourselves or could somehow be disruptive to the school. This shirt certainly falls in that criteria.

I am not against young people voicing their opinions. However, like anything else, there is a time and a place to do so.

By Feona on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 04:40 pm:

That seems like a good rule Melanie....

By Trina on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 07:03 pm:

I also think it was appropriate. We had the same policy at my high school, and that was 20+ years ago!

By Annie2 on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 11:22 pm:

I also agree that the appropriate actions were taken. Done. It should be done.
However, since the mass media has wind of this, I am waiting to read in my daily paper that he and his family are going to sue the school, the school board, the teacher, the principal, the city and the state for loss of his First Amendment Rights.

By Familyman on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 09:26 am:

They'll loose. This sort of thing has great precedent. I mostly wondered how you all felt about this because it's being discussed on another board that I visit (a car one) and the membership of that board is heavily biased toward the highschool or just out of high school aged kids. They have a pretty different view that you do. They're very much agreeing that his first ammendment rights were stomped upon. Very interesting.

By Ginnyk on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 01:55 pm:

There is indeed great precedent. The kid's t-shirt was "political speech", which has the highest degree of First Amendment protection. But, they probably won't be able to successfully sue all of those people - if the parents decide to, they'll probably call in the ACLU, the school system's legal counsel will talk with the ACLU, and there will most likely be a "consent order", wherein the school/school system agrees to not interfere with political speech again pays "attorney fees" to the ACLU. The harm done (damages) to the student is so minimal, that would be the most the parents/kid could hope for, or maybe a "token" payment to the student (which, in most states, goes into a restricted savings account until s/he is 18 - so s/he won't be buying a Jaguar). I doubt very much any private attorney in the area would handle it, because the amount of damages/money involved is so small and it wouldn't be worth the effort, nor the publicity such an attorney would get in that community.

By Familyman on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 07:05 pm:

The precedent is that a public school has the right to censor any 'speech' that believe to be harmful to other students or the learning environment at large. Outside the school they can do nothing but inside those hallowed walls what they say goes. This has been used to successfully deny students the right to wear certain colors to school as well as shirts that contain advertising relating to cigarettes, beer or illegal drugs. Political messages have also been banned (example, white sepremecist shirts) and every decision has been upheld. There is currently a student in a Houston area school that was suspended for dying her hair red. That decision has been upheld by the school board and it's been noted several times in print news and broadcast news that lagally the school has the right to do this to students.
The student will loose.

By Annie2 on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 08:10 pm:

Seth, Where do you stand on the issue? Should the child be able to wear the shirt to school or not?

By Familyman on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 10:07 pm:

As a parent I'd let him wear it. But if the school wanted him to turn it inside out then I'd suggest he comply. If he didn't and got in trouble then it's his butt floating in the wind. If you're old enough to make a political statement then you're old enough to take the punishment if you do it in a way that's inappropriate.
He's a young man that at 16 may be forced to fight in another two years. A draft is a long shot but it's something that he has to face, he has the right, maybe more than me, to speak his mind about the situation. But there's a time and a place and that's something that he also needs to learn.
I also wore inappropriate shirts when I was in highschool. My mom just looked at me and said not to call her when I got in trouble. I could either fix the problem to their satisfaction or walk home. I spent a few days with shirts on inside out. My mom was also a school board member at the time.