••

There's that slippery slope again. If we assume the students in question had the right to wear the flag at all, we cannot really start splitting hairs over WHY they are wearing the flag. "Harassment" can be a difficult charge, depending as it does so much upon the response of the person who feels him/herself to be harassed.

There seems little doubt that the INTENT here was to make a point, and that point could easily cross the line into harassment -- but if ALL that is happening is that some punks are wearing the flag in order to make trouble, all that needs to be done to avoid trouble is. . . IGNORE them.

If they then PUSH the point, crossing over into physical actions, perhaps, THEN there is a clear and unquestionable case of harassment. But if we're just talking about some students taking offense, that, to me, is a dangerous place to go.

Context matters, Matthew.

I agree. Which is why I think (hope) there is a missing piece to the story.

If we're dealing with a group of punks with a history of causing trouble and they saw this was one more way of causing a ruckus -- essentially trying to put a turd in the punch bowl at someone's party -- then we're not engaged in a discussion on the appropriateness or not of a particular article of clothing and whether a school administrator overstepped his bounds.

Actually, what is much more interesting to me on a cultural scale is the reaction to this event, such as the Live Oak High School students who took to the streets because they found it disrespectful (their word, by the way) for people to wear American colours on Cinco de Mayo.

Just think about that for a moment. The perception of disrespect -- based on others wearing an article of clothing  -- prompted a march through the streets of Morgan Hill by 200 high school students.

Were I so inclined to put this to satire, Mike, this has the makings of a wonderful British farce!

••

I'm a High School student. I am also a grumpy gus. It's Valentine's Day. The school is festooned with paper hearts and pink and red ribbons. I come into class wearing a T-Shirt with a medical textbook representation of a real human heart emblazoned upon it. One of my fellow students is revolted by the image and complains to the Principal, saying my wearing the shirt constitutes harassment.

The Principal sends me home with an order to change my shirt.

Who's right, who's wrong?

William,

I agree with you that articles of clothing that look like they were made out of the flag itsef -- like the graphic of the shirt you shared -- are just downright tacky.

Indeed, that shirt looks like something Evil Kenevil or Bronco Billy would wear while performing!

I'm a High School student. I am also a grumpy gus. It's Valentine's Day. The school is festooned with paper hearts and pink and red ribbons. I come into class wearing a T-Shirt with a medical textbook representation of a real human heart emblazoned upon it. One of my fellow students is revolted by the image and complains to the Principal, saying my wearing the shirt constitutes harassment.

The Principal sends me home with an order to change my shirt.

I'm a High School student. I am also a grumpy gus. It's Valentine's Day.

Trick question, John!

St. Valentine's Day -- like St. Patrick's Day -- is obviously a Christian religious holiday and thus it shouldn't be celebrated in a publicly-funded high school. If that argument is insufficient, then a day dedicated to love and affection might lead to inappropriate physical contact and the potential sexual harassment of students at school. Under California law, we must ensure all places of business and public education remain safe environments lest we wish to entertain a lawsuit. And let's not forget that an excessive amount of chocolate leads to childhood obesity. That should be the kiss of death to it right there. And what about the children who don't receive any valentines? That's discriminatory, and could result in deep emotional scars that could negatively impact those student's lives.

What a horrible blight on the school calendar!

Figured in a thread about ignorance this story deserved a mention:

http://www.bravewords.com/news/139360

Seems the Westboro Baptist Church is going to picket the funeral of Ronnie James Dio.

*****

I long for some destitute individual to punch Phelps in his withered old face.

You know, as a society, with some sort of collective sense of common decency, couldn't we all just agree to leave cemeteries -- particularly during the conduct of funeral services -- and private homes of individuals off the list of appropriate venues for protests?

It's because funeral services are usually left alone out of decency is the reason why those pieces of trash are staging protests at them - in order to garner the most attention.