5th Grader Suspended For Anti-Obama Shirt

[red states rule]

So much for freedom of speech when you say something against the left

Now if the kid would have worn an anti-McCain shirt.............


http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/photo_servlet?contentId=7490662&version=1&locale=EN-US&subtype=MIMG&siteId=1017&isP16=true



AURORA (MyFOXColorado.com) - An 11-year-old in Aurora says his first amendment rights are being trampled after he was suspended for wearing a homemade shirt that reads "Obama is a terrorist's best friend."

The fifth grader at Aurora Frontier K-8 School wore it on a day when students were asked to wear red, white and blue to show their patriotism.

The boy's father Dann Dalton describes himself as a "proud conservative" who has taken part in some controversial anti-abortion protests. Dalton says the school made a major mistake by suspending his son for wearing the shirt.

"It's the public school system," Dalton says. "Let's be honest, it's full of liberal loons."

According the the boy's father, the school district told the student, Daxx Dalton, that he had the choice of changing his shirt, turning his shirt inside out or being suspended.

Daxx chose suspension.

"They're taking away my right of freedom of speech," he says. "If I have the right to wear this shirt I'm going to use it. And if the only way to use it is get suspended, then I'm going to get suspended."

Daxx's dad agrees with him and is encouraging his son to stand his ground. "The facts are his rights were violated. Period."

http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7490636&version=6&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

[-Cp]

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

Video: http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=7490863&version=1&locale=EN-US

[-Cp]

So much for freedom of speech when you say something against the left

Now if the kid would have worn an anti-McCain shirt.............


Kid's have limited freedom of speech while at school - this is yet another reason why I'm a huge fan of school uniforms..

[Abbey Marie]

Kid's have limited freedom of speech while at school - this is yet another reason why I'm a huge fan of school uniforms..

Yup on both counts, -Cp.

[hjmick]

I'm not convinced there's anyplace for this in a fifth grade class. An eighteen year old senior in high school, maybe. But a fifth grader? Come on. Unless the kid's name is Alex P. Keaton...

And lets not fail to recognize the fact that the parents could have easily predicted the outcome of this action. I can't help but think this was exactly what Dad was looking for.

[-Cp]

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.

[red states rule]

Ahmadinejad has already ordered 4 Large shirts and will pay to have them FedEx to Tehran

[-Cp]

Ahmadinejad has already ordered 4 Large shirts and will pay to have them FedEx to Tehran

LMAO!!

[theHawk]

Although I agree with what the kid is saying, I do not believe that school is a place to protest. Kids to not need any more distractions than what they already have. However, the school had better be suspending anyone with any kind of political T-shirt.

[red states rule]

He should auction that shirt on ebay

[CatalystOfChaos]

I hate school uniforms and loathe the enforcement of such.

All the arguments for why people should wear them drive me crazy.

I've heard....

1.) It allows students to focus on studies rather than clothing or on the opposite sex.

This is silly. People will pay attention to the opposite sex even if they're clothed in a refrigerator box. And giving students (especially in middle school on up) an environment where they get used to everyone being dressed the absolute same does NOT prepare them for the real world.

2.) It prevents people from being mistaken for gang members/wearing gang clothing.

Fearmongering ftw!

3.) Kids whose family have less money won't have to worry about their kids keeping up on the fashion curve.

No, instead, they have to spend extra money on clothes they can ONLY wear at school because they don't want to wear the ugly uniform anywhere else. And at the public school system, where parents can sign up for uniform waivers, the kids whose parents make them wear uniforms are the abnormality, and instead they have to deal with unnecessary ridicule and discomfort.

4.) Uniforms create a solidarity of mind and of being some kind of team.

Sure, when it comes to football. Instead, the only solidarity school uniforms create is annoyance and discomfort. Ever worn one of the school uniforms? My legs still itch thinking about the terrible uniforms I had to wear.

Now, when it comes to this story...

His father wanted him to make a point. Chances are, the kid is too young to truly understand the issues or form his own opinion. So, his dad heard "red white and blue" day and thought oh, here's a chance to foist my opinions on others via my child's t shirt! Even though the child probably doesn't understand the issues, the reasons, or have his own opinion, he gets ridiculed for the dogmatism his father is having him wear to school.

How school uniforms would have rectified this problem, I fail to see. Anything before high school/college is the wrong place for this kind of dogmatic display of his father's.

[Noir]

well I love school unifoms, I am not able to retort any of the above points as I am on my phone but I shall tomorrow.

On this story, I think it is right, this kid was 11! I'm sure he barely has a clue about what is going on, he has just been used as a pawn by his father, and as someone above said, it has ended up with exactly the result the father wanted I'm sure.

Also, I find it quiet perverted that when that kid came home and said 'on Monday we have o wear red White and blue to show how much we love our country' the fathers thoughts turned instantly to smear. At the very least could he not have made a pro-McCain t-shirt? Rather than try and smear obama...to 10 year olds....

[red states rule]

I wonder if they would have suspended a student for wearing a "Bush lied, people died" T-shirt?

[CatalystOfChaos]

I wonder if they would have suspended a student for wearing a "Bush lied, people died" T-shirt?

Probably.

I'd be willing to bet if it was a positive message, as the previous poster said, a Pro-McCain t shirt, it would have been fine.

It's inflammatory, negative statements that cause problems at school.

[red states rule]

Probably.

I'd be willing to bet if it was a positive message, as the previous poster said, a Pro-McCain t shirt, it would have been fine.

It's inflammatory, negative statements that cause problems at school.

Like the nutty liberal teachers who compare Pres Bush to Hitler in the classroom?

[CatalystOfChaos]

Like the nutty liberal teachers who compare Pres Bush to Hitler in the classroom?

Again, depends on the age.

Are you referring to college professors or 2nd grade teachers?

There's only really a place for that in college.

[red states rule]

Again, depends on the age.

Are you referring to college professors or 2nd grade teachers?

There's only really a place for that in college.

Here is one example of a liberal HS teacher who was suspended, yet made the rounds of the network talk shows - and was greeted as a hero

And what his comments had to do with Geography was never explained


Colorado high school teacher Jay Bennish was suspended from his classroom because of remarks that he made comparing President Bush's policies to those of Adolph Hitler. [You can listen to a student's secret recording of the teacher's provocative tirade right here.]


At least 150 Overland High School students walked out of class today to protest administrators' decision to put a teacher on leave while they investigate remarks he made about President Bush during class, including that some people compare Bush to Adolf Hitler.

Cherry Creek School District administrators were investigating whether geography teacher Jay Bennish violated a policy requiring balancing viewpoints in the classroom, district spokeswoman Tustin Amole said.

Amole said Bennish was placed on administrative leave Wednesday to avoid further disruption at the school in this east Denver suburb.

She said the school had heard rumors about the protest, which included some students who objected to Bennish's comments. Students were told to return to class, but she said no disciplinary action was taken.

"It was peaceful. The students yelled, but there was no fighting," Amole said. "Most of them did return to class." Sophomore Sean Allen recorded about 20 minutes of Bennish's class during a Feb. 1 discussion about Bush's State of the Union speech and gave the recording to his father, who complained to the principal, Amole said.

"After listening to the tape, it's evident the comments in the class were inappropriate. There were not adequate opportunities for opposing points of view," she said.

A telephone number listed for Bennish, who has been teaching social studies and American history at Overland since 2000, had been disconnected.

No action has been taken against Bennish, Amole said. She said the investigation should be complete by late next week while officials continue to talk to students, parents and faculty members.

Amole said Bennish told school officials he had received threats as news of the allegations spread, but she did not speculate on what the threats were and who made them.

She said he was the subject of similar complaints a few years ago, but said that case was resolved after Bennish met with a parent and the school principal.

Allen stayed home from school today to avoid any backlash, Amole said.

http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/001615.html

[Said1]

There's a giant Obama poster on the door of one of the patent agents where I work. I think she should be fired, mostly because she's an arrogant jerk.

[red states rule]

Let the kid wear the shirt.

Besides, the way most school systems are now working 90% of the students can't read the words on the shirt in the first place.