Posted on 01/27/2003 1:28:48 PM PST by That Subliminal Kid
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NEWS UPDATE
January 27, 2003
Student?s Pro-Life T-shirt Is Equivalent to the Swastika Says School Principal; Thomas More Law Center Enters Fray
ANN ARBOR, MI ? The mother of an honor student at Abington Junior High School in Pennsylvania was told by the principal that her son?s pro-life t-shirt was unacceptable school clothing because its message was the equivalent of the swastika. The t-shirt displayed the messages, ?Abortion is Homicide. You will not silence my message. You will not mock my God. You will stop killing my generation. Rock for Life.?
This past November, the principal told the student to either cover the shirt or turn the shirt inside out. After the student turned the shirt inside out, his mother contacted the principal and was told that the message was inappropriate to be displayed in school. He said the shirt and message were the equivalent of a swastika being displayed on a shirt, which the principal would not allow in school. The mother and son then contacted the Thomas More Law Center.
The Thomas More Law Center?s Associate Counsel Edward White sent a four-page demand letter to school officials explaining the student?s clearly established constitutional right to wear his pro-life clothing and demanding that the school take immediate action to provide written assurance that he will be permitted to wear his pro-life shirt to school. The Law Center explained that the student?s speech did not cause any substantial and material disruptions to the workings of the school and that there was no legal basis on which to restrict his speech. The Law Center also noted that the mother and son have the option of seeking relief in federal court should the school not change its decision. The Law Center requested a response from the school officials by January 31, 2003.
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Why do all these replies to your post think this public school is so strange?
Government education in this country is dead..Please read... dead!
If people want their children to get an education...then do the following: Send your child to a good non-public school. No money you say Pure B.S......Give up your expensive vactions...forego the new car and drive your jalopy until the wheels fall of.....Dining out?.... Forget it
Bottom line...Save your child!!!!!
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
Hmmmmmm.
Ostracism, public shaming, and a good tongue-lashing have been a part of the justice system of virtually every culture ever to exist on the planet.
Ummm
thats because madg is a liberal homosexual activist troll from GLAAD or similar and the TMLC is on the hit list
along with the AFA, CWA, FRI, et al
Reason? to wit: Incompetent teachers, dumbed down curriculum, fear of political correctness by administrators, acceptance of those applauding and/or accepting sodomy as a reasonable lifestyle, the ACLU...to name a few.
Want to educate your child? Get them out of public "schooling" and put them into the best non-public (governmental) school available!
No money your say? A wimp response!... Forego that expensive vacation....drive your jalopy until the wheels fall off...no more expensive clothes or dining out....
Forget reformation of the Democratic party or the socialists such as Dachle, Clinton etc as these people have damaged our public school system beyond any sensible repair.
Bottom line...expend your energy instead to Save your child
The pro-life message should be "forced onto" children everywhere because abortion is murder. No one has a problem "forcing" the anti-murder message onto children.
Thank you for posting that laughable "mission statement." Does anyone see it? There is no mission. None whatsoever.
The true purpose of a school follows from the true purpose of human life (to know, love and serve God in this life and to be happy forever with him in the next). The central purpose of a true education then is to aid a child in learning to know, love and serve God in this life and to be happy forever with him in the next.
Have a nice day.
Please explain how this has anything to do with parents buying clothes (uniforms) for their children to wear to school.
"(There's a whole heck of a lot of us subsidizing education without much voice.)"
What does that have to do with children wearing uniforms to school?
"More importantly... you would be erecting a hurtle to equal treatment... something specifically disallowed."
How? If all children in the school are required to wear similar uniforms, they'd all be treated equally.
More importantly... you would be erecting a hurtle to equal treatment... something specifically disallowed. "
Worse premise. The idea of uniforms, while problematic, can't be invalidated on that basis alone. You're confusing the left's sacred cow of disparate impact with equal treatment under law. The type of confusion, in some quarters, that allows homeless people to defecate on streets with little consequence, because to forbid it might inconvenience them.
See Sowell's The Quest for Cosmic Justice for a thorough treatment of the idea. A very interesting read.
The true purpose of a school follows from the true purpose of human life (to know, love and serve God in this life and to be happy forever with him in the next). The central purpose of a true education then is to aid a child in learning to know, love and serve God in this life and to be happy forever with him in the next.
You know that, and I know that, but you could never have that as a mission statement for a public school. The closest secular equivalant would be to help the students grow to their greatest human potential (which IS to know, love and serve God in this life and to be happy forever with him in the next!)
Or to simply achieve "happiness," in the sense that Aristotle would have used the term. Unfortunately, the phrase "greatest human potential" can mean just about anything these days.
Don't like statements, ads or pictures on kids' shirts that would start an argument in school, either on my side or against it. "In loco parentis"--if we can allow no discretion to school authorities, we shouldn't be surprised that they won't act with authority. Look at the "zero tolerance" nonsense. Because of lack of discretion and common sense, you can't send your kid to school with Pepto Bismol without fear of being arrested for drugs...
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