Fifth-grader suspended from public school for wearing anti-Obama t-shirt

Fox Colorado ^

[WaveMan]

An elementary student suspended for wearing an Anti-Obama t-shirt he made:

[CatOwner]

Good, so long as anyone wearing an anti-McCain t-shirt gets the same penalty. I think that politics should be prohibited in elementary schools, especially with the teachers.

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Freedom of Whatever Speech We Put in Your Mouth...

[yldstrk]

First Amendment.........

[Always Right]

First Amendment.........

Nope. The first amendment only applies to the showing of butt crack.

[GWMcClintock]

I wonder how many pro-Obama t-shirts and bumperstickers in the parking lot were virtually ignored!

[ThomasMore]

A Freeper needs to drive to that school and do a Photo op with the teachers bumper stickers. Any pro Obama stuff should immediately be brought to the attention of Rush/Hannity/O’Reilly

[yldstrk]

“Nope. The first amendment only applies to the showing of butt crack<” LOL

[BallyBill]

5th Grade? Uh, No, I don't think most 5th Graders come up with shirts like this.

"Obama is a Doddy Heady" sounds OK.

[downtownconservative]

Hannitty or O’Rielly need to get this youngster on for an interview right away.

[presently no screen name]

Perfect!

[redpoll]

I hate to rain on the first amendment parade, but elementary and secondary students in school have limited constitutional rights. That’s right - limited rights . Student speech and action can be banned as long as administration considers the speech and action to disrupt the normal operations of the school. Kids already can’t come to school with a marijuana leaf on a shirt, a beer can on a shirt, a swear word on a shirt, gang insignia on a shirt, or literally anything else that the administration considers disruptive, and that could easily include political partisanship on a shirt.

All of this comes to us courtesy of Tinker vs. Des Moines (1968), in which students taking part in Vietnam Moratorium Day were allowed to wear black armbands as long as they didn’t “disrupt” the operation of the school. Justice Black, in his dissent, noted that this opened the door for an army of lawyers to come into the schools and replace the discretion of the teacher and principal.

Looking at the situation now, as a high school teacher myself, Justice Black’s dissent is prophecy. I can’t even talk loudly to a student without violating their due process rights; every meeting is a flood of documentation; and teachers sit in fear of a lawsuit from an unruly student.

Back in the day, a student would walk into school violating the dress code, and you’d send him or her home. Frankly, kids should wear uniforms. The current situation - even including the Obama shirt wearer and his “rights” - is not an improvement.