11-year-old suspended for anti-Obama shirt
It “interrupted the learning environment:”
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.”
…Aurora Public Schools would not talk about the case but said the district “Respects a student’s right to free speech, such as the right to wear specific clothing,” but administrators say they review any situation that interrupts the learning environment.
Paperwork submitted by the school district says Daxx Dalton was not suspended for wearing the shirt, but for willful disobedience and defiance.
Hat tip: Weasel Zippers
***
Allahpundit says: Sue!
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emjem24, this was prompted by TXSkirt, who is “not of the “let the kids decide for themselves” school of thought.”
So which is it? Do you home school so that kids can think for themselves, or do you home school because kids cannot decide for themselves? Or do you just pick a reason that suits your argument?
Hell No.
While I think the t-shirt was in poor taste I would not have suspended the boy.
One thing I have to smile about when it crosses my mind: the teachers must have been having absolute hissy fits when they saw it!! “No, not my SAVIOR!”
Germany Germany is listening in and profiling. They stop a lot of attacks.
Ireland
“Just a matter of time”.
Germany: Failed Bomb Plot Seen As Al-Qaida Initiation Test
Scandinavia: New Terrorism Case Confirms That Denmark Is a Target
Ireland: MI5 targets Ireland’s al-Qaeda cells
Of course not. And it’s ridiculous to insist that teachers would have treated that any differently.
If this is completely true, let us have the email for the school.
“but administrators say they review any situation that interrupts the
learning environmentObamessiah Propaganda push.”What a farse
You sure about that?
Here is one example. I would give me more, but I need to run to a meeting in a few minutes.
Yes, exactly. You homeschool because they cant decide for themselves, so that they can think for themselves.
My teenage daughter goes to public school by day, and then I de-program her (or present the other side of) what I dont agree with, at night.
I wouldn’t send my kid to school with an Obama Luvs Terrorists shirt. However, what I want to know is how often have teachers at this school used their time to urge their students to “tell mommy and daddy to vote for X because he’s for schools” or to pontificate on the wonderfulness of The One.
Tinker v. Bell is supposed to guarantee the rights of students to express their political views at school but as we’ve seen recently, Tinker has been tinkered with when said views are offensive to the politically-correct. The kid who wanted to wear a t-shirt saying homosexuality is a sin during Gay Pride Week should have been able to do so under Tinker but your rights don’t count if the judge is a liberal and you are not.
My daughters history teacher is currently teaching about the Pilgrams. She is presenting the Indians as pot-smoking hippies that only wanted peace with the Pilgrams.
No, seriously.
1) The shirt was red, white and blue – this part of the assignment was completed correctly.
2) The shirt made a political statement – this part of the assignment, to show patriotism was completed correctly.
No wonder our kids are confused…. do the assignment…but not that way.
Actually, my response was directly to Omu and not TxSkirt. I know where she is coming from, though, as a former teacher, I would introduce all political thought and do a comparitive analysis when my kid(s) were old enough to understand. BTW, I’m a public school product and looking back on that experience I don’t think that teachers gave me and my peers nearly enough credit. Our teachers didn’t treat us like we could think for ourselves and instead that we were more like empty vessels in which they could fill us with “their” knowledge and insight. Kids do eventually figure out for themeselves who and what they identify with. For me, I thought I was a liberal until I went to graduate school and actually discussed the future of education with my fellow masters’ students. It was quite enlightening to find out that we all felt that many of our professors were left-wing indoctrinators, not “teachers.”
So are you for or against homeschooling? Do you understand why most parents homeschool in the first place? Since I do not have children yet, I haven’t decided if I will homeschool (though I’m leaning toward that because of my background in teaching). Many parents feel that their kids are being spoon fed ideas that they’re not allowed to process or discuss. As a history teacher, I’ve seen a lot of lousy lesson plans that had nothing to do with the unit topic. I’ve actually seen my cooperative teacher (a liberal) introduce buddhist monk sand paintings into a topic that was supposed to be about immigration. This is the sort of stuff that parents don’t understand and distrust. Teachers can improvise and introduce things that either don’t belong in the curriculum or just completely abuse their power entirely.
I wonder if you particularly understand why it is that parents no longer trust the public school system. I’m not defending people who treat their kids like “empty vessels” so I wouldn’t be a parent who only taught the “conservative perspective.” I do understand folks like TxSkirt who are concerned that she has no control or say over her kids’ lives and wants to bring them up with the right values and morals. What is wrong with that?
Has any kid at this school been suspended for wearing a Che Guevara shirt? If the answer is “No,” I see a double-standard.
What bugs me about this is the school’s rationale that some shirts are disruptive. But that is problematic since conservatives are less likely to make a stink about someone wearing a left-leaning shirt than liberals are to make a stink about someone wearing a conservative shirt.
The effect, then, is to empower leftists on the basis of their superior obnoxiousness.
I wonder if the ACLU would get involved with this. It reminds me of an incident where a Princeton High School student posted signs printed from Protest Warrior’s site and faced issues of censorship. Link here.
My understanding is that a distraction of the learning environment would have to occur first.
K2, my impression is not that this was some social-studies assignment, but more of a benign wear the colors of the U.S. flag day. The school didn’t initiate a “show your support/or lack thereof for a presidential candidate”
The fact that his shirt was written in the appropriate colors doesn’t equate to the right thing to do.
I posted this on another thread, but last week my daughter came home and told me about another girl wearing an anti-Obama shirt. It said:
Could you imagine having B.O. for four years? (The “O” was a mask) NOBAMA.
I was surprised that she wasn’t asked to change her shirt, sent home, etc. Now, I don’t know if any teachers saw it and therefore don’t know the whole story.
If this boy’s shirt was disruptive, then that’s something. I think there would have been a different way to express his feelings, using more effective words. I don’t want Obama to be elected, but that doesn’t serve our side well to sink to their level. My oldest daughter has a girl in her class who blames everything on Bush and, to me, that’s disruptive. Someone walks into class late, she cries, “it’s Bush’s fault you’re late!”. Most of the kids ignore her, but that doesn’t make it less disruptive.
Fixed.
There’s a difference, you dolt. Che Guever is an international symbol of revolution, and is now a style icon. A crudely painted, offensive sentence that, first of all, introduces the topic of terrorism to a class of 11-year-olds and then proceeds to connect terrorism to a current presidential candidate. Are you seriously making that comparision, or was that some subtle satire?
No, out kids are confused because they don’t study. Also anyone going into Engineering or Medical after their high school is considered nerdy by their peers. Please don’t just play the liberal victim card hare…
Good point. Wasn’t it Obama who said ‘real patriotism’ is dissenting opinions..or something to that effect.
Your right. I think Obama does a good enough job of that all on his own.
Really, Omu? I wouldn’t spend a penny on one of those POS shirts, but one of Obama’s campaign headquarters hung a flag in their office.
Be careful who you defend. This guy was a murderer. Period.
It’s called free speech.
I think you need to check your dolt remark at the door…Che is not an international symbol of revolution, unless you mean that his image and record of murder is “Revolting.” And he is not a “style icon.” A style icon is someone who promotes a current fashion fad. (His “fashion sense” was limited to Army green fatigues.) And lastly, his name is spelled Guevara, not Guever.
The left has made this mass murderer in to a “hero” through propaganda, distortions, and outright lies. The truth is, he executed people he perceived as enemies of the Cuban Revolution…no trials…no reviews…no fact checking. Simple-summary-execution. When Che crossed the line of civilized behavior, he became a mass murderer. Period! To defend him shows one’s lack of common sense…
Would you have the same support for Dr. Mengele, or Joe Stalin if the fashion “icons” deemed their portraits on shirts “heroic?” There is no good defense for projecting and protecting Che’s image as that of a hero…None!
I’m sure this has already been said, but my bet is that the ‘willful disobedience’ was refusal to remove the shirt when told to do so. Of course, that would make the wearing of the shirt the fundamental reason for the suspension.
Democrats in Congress shall make
nolaw NOT respecting an establishment of Conservative Republicans religion, <strike>orand prohibit the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievancesonlyunless it is to liberal dmocratic citizens.THAT IS IT EXACTLY!
My teenage daughter doesnt want to be seen by her friends as nerdy, a teachers pet or a suck up. So, I tell her “Fine, play stupid around your ‘friends’, but your teachers are going to know the real you and by god, you had better know the correct answer to every question I ask you.”
Its not a matter of girls NOT have the backing or resources to be in Science or Math – its overcoming the crap that other girls or their peers put on them.
(its similar to why minorities tend to not achieve outside of their social class)
– Omu
I’m pretty sure most 11 yr olds know what terrorism is in this day and age. And he didn’t connect terrorism to Obama. Obama connected himself to terrorism through his associations with the likes of Bill Ayers.
Where is the ACLU on this? What a joke.
Also, it does not state that Obama loves terrorists, as another commenter suggested, only that he is a terrorist’s best friend, which is likely true, given Obama’s willingness to dialogue with Iran’s Hitler, his soft stance on foreign policy, etc.
Cosmo said
??? Why should she not go over the teacher’s head?
Or did I misunderstand your comment?
I just saw this kid and his father on Fox News. I feel sorry for this kid. I can’t imagine caring about anything but baseball and playing with my friends at that age.
I think I’ll go find my father and give him a hug for allowing me to form my own opinions and for letting me be a child…not a young political hack.
You should have heard how the t-shirt story was presented on the Detroit news this morning!
They provided the details, including the message, then segued into the next slot with “We’ll discuss this and other racial issues tonight on (some show name here…)
My 9 year old immediately said “That’s not racist!”
Yes, he will gut our military, and he said so right here.
Ah yes; I remember the late 60s early 70s when we still read ‘Huckleberry Finn’ in school, watched the dead add up in Vietnam on the TV news, and there was no such thing as AIDS.
At 11 years of age, I would have never worn such a thing to school (we were not in uniforms, but there was a strict dress code), nor understood its meaning nor implications.
The world has moved on. I do understand why kids would need to know the differences nowadays–the indoctrination will take place by the teachers if a parent doesn’t do the job first.
hahahahahaha
Now that’s rich.
Here are a few tidbits about your style icon.
1. Chief executioner for the Castro regime, responsible for the murder of thousands
2. Was appointed Cuba’s Minister of Economics in 1960; within months the Cuban peso was practically worthless.
3. Was appointed Cuba’s Minister of Industries in 1961; within a year a previously prosperous nation was rationing food, closing factories, and losing hundreds of thousands of its most productive citizens, who were happy to flee with only the clothes on their backs
What a guy, huh? Here’s more:
Here’s the best part, though.
More on Che
On September 23rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm, moonshot said:
Well stated.
In his rabid zeal to make some kind of grand political statement, this idiotic and irresponsible “conservative activist” father has insured that his poor, innocent child is marked for the remainder of his grade-school career.
I too saw the interview with the father and son on FOX at lunchtime. I, like many here, was sympathetic to the boy’s situtation. However, after hearing from the father, it became very clear that it was he, not the son, that was intent on making a point. The son stated that he was “influenced” in deciding to wear the shirt to school. Dad has some issues. I feel sorry for the kid!
I find it rather appalling, that so many people here are willing to justify and even defend the fathers’ behavior in this incident, simply because he’s a conservative.
On September 23rd, 2008 at 2:53 pm, Thors_Hammer said:
Ya think?
I think the shirt should have read “Terrorists Prefer Obama” because that is more of a statement of fact. It also is more inclusive of Hamas, Al Queda, etc.
One could argue that Obama’s friendship with Ayers and Dorn make the shirt factually correct, but in my opinion the wording is more offensive somehow and less inclusive, and we all want to be inclusive, don’t we?
The shirt was in poor taste and inappropriate for school. But here’s the problem—this shirt gets rightly banned, while a Saturday Night Live ’skit’ falsely and disgustingly accusing Todd Palin of incest airs nationwide and the folks at NBC are just fine with it. The skit is far worse than the T-shirt. I’ve already complained to NBC; hope others do, too.
I’ll bet that the kid is still in one of Comrade Obama’s “re-education” camps
Omu I let them read your posts. It wasn’t me they found selfish and intolerant. My kids have met and have friendships with many children from many socioeconomic brackets and different cultures. They undoubtedly have more volunteer experience than you do and therefore a better world view. You see, that’s the beauty of home school.
Irish rose, thank you for your input. I’ll put them in
indoctrinationpublic school tomorrow. Please do not preach to me or assume that I am doing my children a disservice. My children are well rounded and well aquainted with other people of other religions and political beliefs.Sorry, all. I didn’t realize that posting that I home schooled would be such a big deal. Just so you know, I don’t think everyone should home school and most of my friends do not. However I do and have written an essay about it on Twitter if you want to know how I really feel.
I’m ending my posts on this now as it really isn’t “good for my children.” (Actually, it’s been a great lesson in free speech as they have read all of your posts. Thanks for helping “do school” ya’ll).
Well, I came back to emu’s post about Che and see “owl” was slapped down again. I think emu is getting an lgm complex.
Omu, come ON! Defend Che? I lost what little respect I had hoped to have for you and shall hence forth join in with the crowd that has dubed you – emu.
To all of you saying the Dad used this kid, you are probably wrong.
My daughter at age 10 was a political junky. She loved it. Bill Clinton was running for office and when her 4th gr. teacher asked the class what the difference between R. & D. was, she was the only one in class who raised her hand. She got up and told the teacher that Dems want to take our money from us and give it to other people and the Repubs want us to keep our own money. Needless to say her school year was tough as her teacher was promoting Clinton actively in the classroom. My daughter even called Mary Matalin’s radio show.
So, not every kid this age is uninformed. This kid may very well like keeping up on current events.
If they have the brains to keep up with the newest games and technology, why not politics?
I notice that no one has argued the truth of the statement …because it is true…i hope that student is proud of standing-up to the bs that has become publicly funded education…
I think the suspension was a bit much and while I think it’s a true statement, I think it’s provocative, which can be problematic in secondary and younger schools.
This is also why I’m in favor of strict uniform dress codes.
<
Yeah, the little wacko just picked this up from those conservative Barbies with whom she was having a tea party…. Or MAYBE the “father” is a little obsessive??
No, many of them know who Sponge Bob is and if a cloud looks like a bunny or a cow.
Che Guevara’s legacy is still very popular in Europe.
The third biggest Swiss telecom company is using his symbole for their newest ad.
http://www.sunrise.ch/privatkunden/angebote/internet-festnetz/free-internet.htm
Sunrise is offering you free broadband internet access for life if you switch to them both your landline and mobile phone carrier.
So your saying a Swiss telecom company endorses a murderer? Cool, that must be a popular company in Europe then. /sarcasm
I can only blame his irresponsible dad. He’s nothing more than an uneducated trailer trash redneck – something that America has in abundance! I feel really bad for the kid.
They did the same thing in a school in California. And the shirt wasn’t anything like the anti-Obama shirt.
You might be right. We do have redneck, trailer trash here, but I’ll take that over this:
You guys must be so proud of yourselves for holding a murdering thug up as a symbol. It’s as though you think it’s cool to promote him or maybe you work for this company.
I think I’ll take my chances with the redneck.
In certain cases, such as writing children’s books that attempt to turn a political figure into a messianic god like creature, I would agree with this statement:
However, after you hear what the kid said, which was:
I think that it is perfectly clear that this 5th grader absolutely “had a full comprehension of what her shirt meant”.
I have no idea why you would pray that he didn’t, for I am quite pleased myself that there is not only a child as old as he is that is more than intelligent enough to have that much of a grasp of what his rights are, especially in this day and age when the Liberal Brainwashing and Manipulation Campaign is reaching newer and scarier hights, and that the rights of anyone that does not follow along the Party lines gets ridiculed and punished by those whose only purpose is to teach them academia and NOT their personal political beliefs and prejudices.
I think that this is a prime example of exactly why he and all children in grade school should know and understand their Constitutional Rights. It is a far better and more important thing for them to learn starting in kindergarten than where to buy a condom and how to use it.
I say strong work to him AND his father.
You’re going a bang-up job of proving my point that people are more interested in immature insults than in actual discussion.
I was not defending Che Guevara, I was explaining how his iconic image isn’t about socialism or murder or terrorism at all any more. It’s just style.
Waaahhhhh, he called me a bird! Isn’t an owl a bird? I’d hardly call that an insult in this instance. I find it laughable that you think people aren’t trying to engage you in a discussion. The problem is that you don’t answer questions even though others answer yours. You use this blog as a soapbox to spew your liberal talking points.
Your excuse that you’re not defending Che is sad. What you are saying is that it’s ok to use a murdering,terrorist thug as a symbol because it’s all about style???? I guess we could start making shirts with Lenin and Hitler in the name of style according to your logic.
And we are saying that socialism or murder or terrorism should never be relegated or be in “style”.
Dear Gang:
IMO, partisan politics really have no place in elementary school or perhaps below 10th grade or maybe not in any public school.
I am not voting for Barack Obama
for reasons I shall not go into here.
However I think the teacher was spot-on;
I don’t think that shirt was appropriate for a classroom and sending the kid home was appropriate.
3-day suspension appears a bit over-the-top although I have a good feeling the kid was confrontational and so was his dad.
As far as a lawsuit goes the Dad’s money IMO would be far better spent by taking his kid out of public school and either home school or private school.
And I doubt the much stricter dress codes in private schools allow for partisan slogans such as “Obama the Terrorist’s Friend” or “McCain the Warmonger” …
in fact I am pretty sure many “conservative” private schools consider a T shirt as not completely dressed and will discipline any pupil showing up to school wearing a T shirt without an overshirt.
Of course these schools can also afford enough air-conditioning so kids won’t be smelling like goats come 2 pm if they wear full-dress.
I know this is a late comment, but I only just heard about this ruling in 1969…I don’t know if anyone is still reading this thread, but I’ll post anyway!
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/tinker.html
I actually just found out about this from listening to NPR, where their youth program was discussing student free speech, etc. Of course the example they used was of a student wearing a Bush = Terrorist shirt who was asked to change.
However, they mentioned this case from the Supreme Court, and it applies here as well.