P-A-R-E-N-T-I-N-G. Here's the latest:
The family of a middle school student who was given detention for wearing a T-shirt bearing the image of a gun has filed suit in federal court, accusing the school district of violating their son's freedom of speech.Donald Miller 3d, 14, went to Penn Manor High School in December wearing a T-shirt he said was intended to honor his uncle, an Army soldier fighting in Iraq.
The shirt bears the image of a military sidearm and on the front pocket says "Volunteer Homeland Security." On the back, over another image of the weapon, are the words "Special Issue Resident Lifetime License - United States Terrorist Hunting Permit - Permit No. 91101 - Gun Owner - No Bag Limit."
Officials at the Millersville school told him to turn his shirt inside out. When Miller refused, he got two days of detention.
His parents, Donald and Tina Miller of Holtwood, have accused the Penn Manor School District in a lawsuit of violating their son's First Amendment rights with a "vague Orwellian policy" that stifles patriotism and free speech.
I don't know of any school district that would allow a shirt to worn that prominently (or even didn't prominently) display[ed] a gun. Even in the pre-Columbine era this didn't happen. I am very curious why this kid's parents think this OK to wear among other 13-14 year olds in an educational setting. Aren't there [many] other ways in which to show one's patriotism? There sure are. Why not a shirt with an American flag on it with the kid's uncle's unit designation?
I hope the school district wins. It's been quite established (by the Supreme Court, among others) that schools can limit students' free speech expression if such expression is deemed a disruption to the educational environment of the school. But my issue in the post isn't so much the legal aspects of the coming case. My issue is the parents. What the hell are they thinking? I'm sorry, but for me this is yet another case of people overly focusing on their "rights," and not enough on their responsibilities.
From last year: Other parents who believe rights don't come with responsibilities.
Heh! I was in 5th and 6th grade during the whole U.S. Marines in Lebanon/Beirut thing. I often wore this one t-shirt to school that had a Marine firing an M-16 on the front, and underneath, it said "Visit Lebanon: Help a Syrian meet Allah. On the back of the shirt, it said, "Hey! We just stepped in some Shiite!"
That shirt was courtesy of my uncle, who was in the Marine Corps at the time. No way on God's green earth a kid could get away with wearing that shirt in school today, both for the images of guns and violence, and especially for the - Horror! - insensitivity toward Shia Islam.
Posted by: Chanman at March 11, 2008 09:01 PMWhen I was in High School, the only shirts explicitly forbidden either exposed too much flesh or were sexually explicit or innuendo laden. Most of the cases were overblown because nobody noticed the "big johnson tees" after a few weeks. I don't remember anything about guns.
As for causing a disturbance or disrupting the "educational environment", you can't forbid something because it might. You have to show that it does. The burden of proof is on the person abridges who the rights of another not on the person who merely wishes to exercise them. As long as you can document this causing a problem, then educators should have issues.
Posted by: Jeff the Baptist at March 12, 2008 11:25 AMChanman, I had that "Stepped in some Shi'ite" t-shirt too! At my school we couldn't have shirts with alcohol or tobacco ads.
Posted by: G Rex at March 12, 2008 12:39 PM