Student Wearing Pro-War T-Shirts Told to Take off While Anti-War Shirts are OK, Edison, NJ

The Newark Star Ledger ^ | 10.24.03

[Coleus]

Shaun Chichester says he was just expressing his outrage when he wore a "Whaq Iraq" T-shirt to J.P. Stevens High School in Edison last spring.

But when school officials asked him to remove the shirt, he really got mad.

Chichester, then a sophomore, removed the shirt without incident but vowed to change the school district's dress code, saying it violated his First Amendment rights to free speech. He petitioned school authorities shortly after the March 21 incident, asking them to adopt rules "reflecting students' free speech rights."

[Coleus]

Looks like the boy didn't follow his lawyer's advise since I saw him and his parents on TV this evening.  What the article didn't state was that MANY students, last spring, wore many ANTI-WAR and ANTI-BUSH T-SHIRTS and buttons with impunity.  That was ok for the Marxist teachers and administrators until Shaun came along with a PRO-WAR T-Shirt; that was different and NOT ok. No double standard in Edison, NJ, nah.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/102403-dresscode.html

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--njbriefs1024oct24,0,2846968.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

http://www.edison.k12.nj.us/

http://www.edison.k12.nj.us/jpswelcome.htm

John P. Stevens High School
Fred Riccio, Principal
855 Grove Avenue
Edison, NJ 08820
732-452-2800

E-Mail the Administrators here

[Coleus]

Freep Edison Ping

[Williams]

when are republicans and others going to take these people on for what they are? Intolerant anti-freedom of speech marxist oppressors. I'm tired of being discriminated against because I support my president and my country.

[GeronL]

well, you didn't expect that it would go both ways did you??

You can wear a Bush:Terrorist t-shirt but not a Hillary:terrorist shirt. got it?

[Freemeorkillme]

Yes, and, perhaps not surpirsingly on 770WABC this morning, self-admitted communist lieyer Ronald Kuby felt this a protected right(he's representing a child wearing a "Barbie is a Lesbian" tee shirt)agreed ..... Self interest at work here for him. There are certain rights here which I also support(however, see the caveat below in the next paragraph). The Angel Sliwa, his morning counterpart, disagreed with him and freedom for conservatives between picking his nose with the 1 knuckle not dirtied by dragging.

Uniforms all around for public schools! Let's concentrate on REAL education, not the liberal socialist agenda. Down with Sex Ed and all the feely, touchy, subjectively perceptive-based "educationally"-motivated brain wash. When will this state(no, country!) finally wake up and realize that English, History, Science and Math(oh, do I dare say Religious courses...bs pc term that this is) are the roots of a quality education in the public schools and, in addition, parents MUST rip back control. Parents and church, the rest is in your corner. Quite a large responsibility? YES! Quite a large area to cover? YES! All the more important, folks.

NJ and, indeed, the nation have been in dispair for far too long.

Leaning through immovable Truth.

How do you propose we redeem the public school systems? How does this sound? Drive them out of business. Give us vouchers NOW!

/rant off(though I may have hit the wrong key)

[ktw]

Just do what Japan does. Make uniforms the standard in all Public schools. That way, this T-shirt and other crap will not be an issue anymore. There is NO harm, in making the students wear a STANDARD uniform. It might them, better students, and it could not hurt.
But the ACLU and other organizations, would sue, for one reason or another. Or just think up something.

[Coleus]

Give us vouchers NOW! >>

Yep, competition is what made America Great. Uniforms are needed as well as single-gender schools. There are plenty of things to do but first we have to overpower the NJEA and NEA.

Teach phonics, rote method in Math, Civics, Science, geography and history, etc. like they did in the old days. And start the day with a prayer.

[At _War_With_Liberals]

Edison has a huge Indian population. Are they grouped under Asians?

[goodnesswins]

Problem is EASILY solved.....NO LOGO's, Words, Pictures, on any piece of clothing worn to school....case closed. (That's what they do here, at least in the lower grades.)

[modhom]

"Edison, a town of more than 98,000 residents, is 60 percent white, 7 percent black, 29 percent Asian and both 2 percent multiracial and other."

What does this have to do with anything?

[TontoKowalski]

I stand as a spiritual brother to those who are working so diligently to transform the public school system.

As a practical matter, however, we've given up on the whole scheme and homeschool. As you say: phonics, rote math, history, etc. etc. And yep, we start with a prayer.

[TontoKowalski]

"The school board recognizes that, although the wearing of the T-shirts that include statements, such as 'Whaq Iraq' may cause controversy in the schools, especially in a school district with the diverse population like the Edison Township School District...

Pro-war T-shirts are more acceptable in segregated settings. Why the hell that would be, I haven't a clue.

Perhaps there is some mathmatical formula that measures First Amendment erosion in relation to racial mixture, and I'm just not aware of it.

[cubreporter]

Well, as a parent I guess I would tell the school that the pro t-shirts would be removed when the anti t-shirts were removed. Period!!!

[Doe Eyes]

You modified the headline to indicate that Anti-War shirts are allowed. Where did that come from? Its not in the article.

[AM2000]

Yes.

[smoothsailing]

Why are kids wearing teeshirts in school?

Can't Kennedy get an education bill passed that gives these kids decent clothes?

[Clinging Bitterly]

I spent some time publicly rallying during Gulf War 1, and I called some folks to task (media, city government officials, and so on) for labeling us "pro war". That's not exactly right. Saddam started the war by invading Kuwait. What we advocated, or myself at least, was not the war itself, but finishing it (and it's too bad that we didn't).

Since the government has taken the money from me which I could otherwise use to educate my girls, they go to publik skool. They are seniors this year and are eduring quite an onslaught of propaganda.

One of them takes a "world studies" course and it included a section on current events. The entire lesson on the Iraq war consisted of hand picked snippets of major media stories that the teacher cut and pasted from the internet. The text focused on Bush & Cheney's oil industry connections and seemed to imply that the President himself started this war in order to steal the oil in Iraq for his friends in the industry, and further implied that he had no authority to do so. My girl was believing this stuff.

I had her tell me all she was being taught about the war, the whys and hows, whos and whens. Most of what she repeated didn't resemble the actual events that took place, so I spent some time and set her straight, and she's beginning to understand why I keep telling her that this teacher, and a couple others who teach other classes, are idiots.

Mid term conferences are coming up, so this world studies teacher and I are going to spend some quality time together.

Now I'm wondering if I should shop for a special tee shirt for the occasion. Any suggestions?

[Calpernia]

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