Calif. school caves in on abortion -- to the tune of $50,000!
We read:
"A Merced school district has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of a former sixth-grade student who was asked to remove an anti-abortion T-shirt.
Attorneys for Tiffany Amador say officials at McSwain Union Elementary School called the shirt disruptive when she wore it in April 2008. It showed pictures of an apparent fetus and said "ABORTION: growing... growing... gone."
Los Angeles attorney William Becker says the resolution amounted to a victory for his then-12-year-old client and for free speech rights in schools.
Source
12 comments:
Was this the child's idea to promote a "cause" with a t-shirt? Or was the child being used by adults as a walking advertisement, and could that be construed as child-abuse (whether or not abortion issues are appropriate in a school environment)?
And whether or not a quick and easy way to make a handsome profit on it!
The only thing that matters here is the fact that the saying on the shirt is a political statement, and as such, is fully protected by the First Amendment, even in the Peoples Republic of Mexifornia.
There's no better way to give these Marxist indoctrination camps a dose of reality than reaching deep into their pockets. Bravo!
Anon 11:43, touche!
Of course, this also means that children can wear pro-abortion T-shirts. Indeed, there is a tendency for American schools to become battlegrounds for competing T-shirts. There is a good case for a policy of having no "message" T-shirts at school. An even better case can be made for having school uniforms, like we do in Australia.
Wearing a t-shirt is not child abuse, ffs!
It's stories like this that are depressing. Regardless of First Amendment issues, people should care about their appearance while at school. Dress codes are not wrong. If school uniforms are the only way around this BS, then so be it.
A dress code, particularly one with uniforms, is certainly a viable and effective alternative--one that I believe should be considered by more schools. But that still does not nor should not prevent students from being allowed to exercise their rights to Freedom of Speech.
I agree that a dress-code in schools (as found in Australia, the UK and some other countries) is a good idea; but that will certainly contradict the supposed "right of free speech" for students to attach slogans to their uniforms, or the more direct speech of marching around the school shouting what they like, such as the school is run by tyrants. But students or their parents surely forgo such rights by agreeing to attend a particular institution with its specified rules and regulations.
Requiring students to wear a school uniform will solve many problems, not the least of which would be a return to a normal learning environment. First Amendment issues would not be a problem since the uniforms would not allowed to be altered in any way. After school, students can do and say what they wish. And to set the right example, teachers should also be required to wear a school uniform. Who knows, these institutions might just return to being what they were intended to be, a place of learning, not a fashion show or the town square.
I disagree with school uniforms in public schools, I went to a private school and HATED having to dress like a prisoner all day long (blue jean, blue shirt except for the last two years where I wrote blue jeans and a brown shirt).
Fashion IS a form of speech. Why else do we dress of for church, interviews, dates, court, and so forth? We're obviously trying to say "I'm professional" just by appearance.
If you want total freedom of dress, don't join or attend any kind of institution or organization or be employed by them, or where/wear is required of a particular type.
Be totally free - be totally alone!
This is definitely a victory for free speech! Regardless of you views on this sensitive and volatile subject, this girl has a right to express her views in an appropriate manner.
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