Boy Punished for T-Shirt With Gun Image

LANCASTER, Pa. - The family of a middle school student who was given detention for wearing a T-shirt bearing the image of a gun has filed a federal freedom of speech lawsuit against the school district.

[non]

"There's a much higher level of sensitivity these days," Penn Manor attorney Kevin French said. "But it's based on reality."

Uh-huh....yeh....tee-shirt...m urder...reality...lawyers...

[Not Quite Right]

There's something{s}'not quite right' about suppressing the 1st Amendment in a school. There's NO WAY that the boys' T-shirt could harm anyone. It isn't a weapon, other than - perhaps, for the principals of free speach under which this counrty was founded.
With the PC-police so uptight, what are we teaching our children? Don't say anything, don't do anything, don't wear anything, don't think anything...that might offend anyone? The gnerations that are being repressed by such absurd nonsense are not going to be thinkers and leaders, they're going to be sheep.
Shame on the school officials. Shame on them!

[Lessons Learned]

What kind of future citizens are our schools making? Kids who will be scraded of their own shadows - fearing to make any statement {verbal or otherwise}, for fear of offending anyone and of the punitive consequences of represssion.
Shame on these 'educators.'

[coexist]

Many publicc schools have rules about what can and cannot be worn on t-shirts. My kid's school has a no gun image rule.(Also, no gang sign images, no anti-gay images, no "I hate _____" images...) The kids have to turn their shirts around or cover the image with duct tape (or whatever) if they're caught with taboo images on their shirts. It is NOT an infringement of rights if the school rules state that gun images are not allowed.

[woody hayes]

Ummmmm, what were people saying about uniforms?

[JohnT]

The kids are being trained for a socialist state and they will think they are free!
This is our future! And we are in deep trouble!

[Jim]

This is FAR from the only example of First Amendment rights being stifled in schools, and unfortunately, given the complete disregard most Americans have for their own rights, much less those of others, I don't see them having a leg to stand on.

Land of the free? Yep, so free that you're told what you can and can't wear (and in some places, how you can wear it). Home of the brave? Yep, where people are afraid of t-shirts and the children who wear them.

I think it's time we adopted a national anthem that actually describes the United States, and not what we would like to believe it is.

[Jim]

Lessons Learned wrote:

What kind of future citizens are our schools making?

We're not making citizens. We're making subjects. This goes hand-in-hand with the fact that we don't elect *leaders,* we elect *RULERS.*

Free thinking citizens don't make good wage slaves for their corporate masters.

[jjrg7]

In this day and age the kids parents should know better. Promote peace

[LIer]

Hey Mr AOL, why are you changing names? Just make your point and be done with it.
As for me, I'm a staunch believer in our right of free speech, but I don't think ALL rights automatically apply to school children. While I might agree with the sentiment of the shirt (I do), I don't think it serves any purpose in a school. I agree with the school.

[cosmo kramer]

jjrg7 wrote:

In this day and age the kids parents should know better. Promote peace

Amen. Most kids at my kid's high school wear peace Ts, global issues Ts, save the seals, etc. A lot of it is for humor, but for the most part, these kids believe in what they wear on their Ts. There are those who wear enormous white t-shirts, which I hear is gang garb, but by and large, the Ts at my kid's school promote peace. I wonder what the kid in PA is learning at home... that the first and second amendments are more important than, say, treating others as you would wnat them to treat you?

[Carolina Native]

woody hayes wrote:

Ummmmm, what were people saying about uniforms?

Uniforms would COMPLETELY solve this issue...no need in screaming "i cant express myself..." school isnt the place for that anyways...put 'em in khakis and a polo

[Masada]

Are there pictures of guns in any books in the school or the schools library?

If you follow the logic of zero-tolerance, shouln't they be be banned or the offending pictures/pages be removed or coverd over too?

Don't you love such Orwellian logic.....

[Helio]

jjrg7 wrote:

In this day and age the kids parents should know better. Promote peace

Go hug a tree and grow up...

[John]

Our t-shirts with a pot leaf on them (the ones everyone wore in the 70's) wouldn't be a big hit in this school, I guess

[non]

The shirt sounds like it is in poor taste and the kid was suspended for insubordination--that said this mentality is problematic. It's funny, even in rural areas (such as the one I live in) some teachers really go overboard about trivial things.

On the other side, the parents should exercise some control over their kids' wardrobe and, the student should have complied with the teacher's instructions and made an appeal to the school board in proper fashion.

[A Laughing Liberal]

jjrg7 wrote:

In this day and age the kids parents should know better. Promote peace

In this day and age everyone should know better. Promote a piece - like a nice 9, 45, or 357.

[coexist]

non wrote:

The shirt sounds like it is in poor taste and the kid was suspended for insubordination--that said this mentality is problematic. It's funny, even in rural areas (such as the one I live in) some teachers really go overboard about trivial things.
On the other side, the parents should exercise some control over their kids' wardrobe and, the student should have complied with the teacher's instructions and made an appeal to the school board in proper fashion.

You're right.

If only everyone exercised a little common sense.

[coexist is cosmo kramer]

give me a break. this is not about people against guns. this is about dressing appropriately for school and following school rules and respecting the teacher and administration.

bond with the constitution? give me a break! get over it already, tory. no one is taking away your precious right to own God only knows how many guns on this forum.

i honestly think you need mental health care. you are the most paranoid poster on these forums.

[John]

You never wore a t-shirt to get at authority when you were a kid. Wow! Never wore a pot leaf or a funny(but probably inappropriate) phrase. Conformity continues to grow. The only reason anyone notices these things is because people overreact to them. It is the job of youth to learn and to rub the establishment the wrong way. Most people I know did all they could as kids to aggrivate adult authority figures. Most of them turned out to be responsible adults.
I hope my kids are non-conformists. There is a degree of creativity required to be a true non-conformist. A creativity that cannot exist if we all fit into the same square peg.