Posted on 09/13/2006 5:00:54 PM PDT by FreedomCalls
LINCOLN PARK, Mich., Sept. 13 (UPI) -- At least seven high-school students in suburban Detroit were sent home for wearing patriotic T-shirts on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The T-shirts violated the school's dress code, school officials said.
"I think it's a little ridiculous under the circumstances," said Kaye Belcuore, whose 14-year-old granddaughter was sent home from Lincoln Park High School for wearing a T-shirt with a patriotic message on it.
The school superintendent said the school held a moment of silence Monday to give students an outlet for their patriotism, The Detroit Free Press reports.
Students are allowed to wear school-sanctioned clothing, such as T-shirts bearing the school's mascot, but not clothing with other images or messages.
This caught the attention of the local American Civil Liberties Union because the code lets students wear clothing that encourages school spirit but bans other forms of expression.
ACLU officials may look into the dress code's constitutionality.
I don't see anything wrong with this as long as they ban ALL messages on clothing. When I was in high school we were not allowed to wear anything like the t-shirts now either. We were allowed to wear school t-shirts also.
I'm inclined to agree with you, having seen some of the things kids wear on TShirts these days.
Bet ya they have a "Day of Silence" that SUPPORTS GAY people and Gay and lesbian meetings.
ACLU Slaps Law Suit on Lincoln High!
ACLU Defends Honor Student Witch's Right to Wear a Pentacle!
-UPI News Wire
LINCOLN PARK, Mich., Feb. 9, 1999 (UPI) The American Civil Liberties Union is representing a 17-year-old witch in a lawsuit against a Michigan school district for allegedly trampling her right to worship and free speech.
Crystal Seifferly filed the suit challenging the Lincoln Park School District's 4-month-old rule against certain student uses of the pentacle, a five-pointed star that's a symbol of her Wicca faith and common in jewelry. Seifferly claims she's been a witch since age 13, and that the school district rules discriminate against her by lumping Wicca together with the Ku Klux Klan and hate groups.
At an ACLU-sponsored news conference today with her mother, Seifferly said she "will not be forced into shame" by opponents of her religion. Seifferly's mother says she and her husband are Christian but support their daughter's lawsuit as well as her freedom to choose a religion.
In October, school officials announced a policy change that prohibited students from wearing pentacles. Crystal Seifferly, 17, is an honor student at Lincoln Park High School and a witch - a member of the Wicca religion.
I am with you on this one. They can only wear T-shirts with the school mascot and nothing more.
As long as someone wearing a "Bush is Hitler" shirt is not allowed.
"Students are allowed to wear school-sanctioned clothing, such as T-shirts bearing the school's mascot, but not clothing with other images or messages.
"
As long as the school has a set policy on message t-shirts, there is no problem. The school mascot is allowed, but nothing else. If they allow anything else, like the 9/11 shirts, they open the door for almost anything.
Here's the other case I referred to:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1692922/posts
Student can wear Bush-mocking T-shirt: court
A US student who sued school officials after he was made to censor his T-shirt that labelled President George W Bush "Chicken-Hawk-In-Chief" and a former alcohol and cocaine abuser won an appeal yesterday to wear the shirt to school.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favour of Zachery Guiles, who through his parents claimed his free speech rights had been violated.
When I went to school (lo, some years ago), we were not allowed to wear anything that had writing or drawings on it--no exception--public school too. Back then there was a level playing field with everyone behaving. No controversy. No messages. Just students.
See post 10.
God forbid we should have expressions of patriotism in the schools.
fortunately this has nothing to do with the patriotic message and everything to do with any message on the kid's T-shirt.....
You can't allow some messages and not allow others....
Most kid's T-shirts today have many very offensive messages.....
Gee....what was left for you to do? Oh....right....you actually learned stuff!
Different school. That school did not have a dress code prohibiting all message-bearing clothing. The school in this article did have such a dress code.
If there is no code, then any message that is not obscene is acceptable. That is what the courts have ruled.
If there is a code prohibiting all messages on clothing, then no messages are allowed. It is that simple.
If this school allowed, say, the 9/11 t-shirts, then it would have to allow shirts with a message that said that Bush planned 9/11. It would have no choice but to allow both.
So, this school, very intelligently, disallows all messages on clothing other than the school mascot. By so doing, it eliminates the problem altogether and will not lose lawsuits.
Very clever of them. School is for education. Personally, I am in favor of uniforms in public schools.
Schools should have uniforms and end the arguments right off the bat. If you let some kids wear "patriotic" T-shirts on 9/11, you'll have to let other kids wear T-shirts expressing their much less wholesome opinions (often shared by their parents) -- "we deserved it because of what we do to the Palestinians", "the Jews did it", "Thank God for 9/11", "Sucker! There were no planes! US military missiles brought the towers down!", and all the rest.
We can, however, have kids speak out against the government and wear tshirts with anti-American sentiments. That's protected by their 'right' to free speech and shows independent thinking. And, curiously, the school boards that face these 2 issues and rule that way see no conflict in their reasoning.
How generous of them. It is not really yours until the state gives it to you.
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