Seventh Grader Sues School Over Right to Wear Pro-Life T-Shirt

[danakscully64]

This is not a thread to argue the Pro-life / Pro-Choice stance, do you think this child should have been able to wear this shirt to school?


A California mom says her public school administrators violated her daughter's First Amendment rights when they ordered the seventh-grader to take off her pro-life T-shirt.

Anna Amador has gone to court on behalf of her daughter, who she says was ordered by her principal to change her shirt on "National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day." The shirt the girl was wearing displays two graphic pictures of a fetus growing in the womb.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,530284,00.html

Sounds like her Mom is lying about the aggressiveness of the teacher/principle/administrator. I think the middle picture on the shirt is stupid, about 90% of abortions done in the US are in the 1st trimester, the 2nd picture is from the 2nd trimester, it's a misrepresentation of a vast majority of abortions. Anyway....

Your thoughts?

[Skylark]

I think she should have been allowed to wear it. If the T-shirt had sported graphic pictures of a dismembered fetus, that would have been one thing. Only if other controversial topics are prohibited on student clothing would the school really have a legit leg to stand on here IMO.

[danakscully64]

I think she should have been allowed to wear it. If the T-shirt had sported graphic pictures of a dismembered fetus, that would have been one thing. Only if other controversial topics are prohibited on student clothing would the school really have a legit leg to stand on here IMO.

You know, I can see your point, the pictures aren't really graphic. I do understand why the school said it's inappropriate though, it's a K-8 school, the shirt will raise questions for the very young students and is a distraction. I'm pretty sure if a pro-choice shirt was worn with pictures on it, it would be banned as well.

[ReaganNC]

I think the shirt is distasteful, but I'm not a fan of censorship. So, I say she should have a right to wear it just as other people should have a right to wear opposing shirts.

However, I also understand that schools have to have rules to maintain order to be able to teach the kids. In that case, I'd have to agree with Skylark that the rule has to apply equally if the school has such a policy against political messages on clothing at school.

[Nickle00]

I think the girl should have been able to wear the shirt. I'm sure if there was a child in the school that had a "Say no to war" shirt or something like that there wouldn't have been any problem. There was nothing inappropriate or illegal on the shirt and the pictures were definitely NOT graphic by any means.

[rissierissie]

A California mom says her public school administrators violated her daughter's First Amendment rights when they ordered the seventh-grader to take off her pro-life T-shirt.


Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting 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 grievances.

Was this a religious violation? A violation of her freedom of speech? There's no religious message on the shirt so I'm assuming it's supposed to be a violation of her freedom of speech. But here's the thing... the government can prohibit speech that may cause dissent, a breach of peace or cause violence. So it's well within the rights of the school administration to say "you can't wear a pro-life tshirt" because to say she can is also to say that other children can wear pro-choice tshirts and that will likely cause issues with the student body and parents who would be offended by such messages.

[Nickle00]

For instance...if the girl had been wearing a shirt with a picture of a pig and a kitten with the words "Which do you pet which do you eat? " and "Why?" I would say she had a right to wear that even though some staff members would think that would be inappropriate because it would raise questions.

[Vegmedic]

the shirt will raise questions for the very young students

Questions at school? Oh my.

[Vegmedic]

But here's the thing... the government can prohibit speech that may cause dissent, a breach of peace or cause violence.

Seriously, do want the bar set so low that the government can ban any speech? You may agree with this case, but it sets a dangerous precedence that will come back to bite you in the end.

To interfere with free speech over a t-shirt which was pretty damn harmless is an afront to the first ammendment.

[Fromper]

I'm pretty seriously anti-censorship, so I disagree with the school on this one.

--Fromper
:juggle:

[danakscully64]

Questions at school? Oh my.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want my 5-10 year old knowing about abortion. If this girl wore this shirt in high school, I absolutely would not oppose it. It's just hard to know where to draw the line.

[danakscully64]

Maybe because it's such a huge political issue that could cause serious issues in a middle-school setting. I knew of a few kids who had abortions while young teens, think the shirt could have started some major problems?

[Skylark]

I've known about abortions since before I knew about sex. :lol: Maybe it's a phenomenon among evangelical Christians? Tell the kids all about how horrible abortion is and encourage them to parrot the talking points, too, but don't tell them how babies actually get here. :p

[danakscully64]

:lol:

[danakscully64]

Now how would people feel if students wore shirts like this to school:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/danakscully64/republican-prolife.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/danakscully64/mccain.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/danakscully64/adopt.jpg


?

(All from Cafe Press)

[Vegmedic]

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want my 5-10 year old knowing about abortion. If this girl wore this shirt in high school, I absolutely would not oppose it. It's just hard to know where to draw the line.

I don't have any children of my own. But I generally do not believe it is a great idea to shield children from these things. I think that they are far better at dealing with these types of concepts than we give them credit for (in fact often better than their parents as I have found with my nieces). Furthermore I think they should be teaching sexual education long before high school.

[danakscully64]

I don't have any children of my own. But I generally do not believe it is a great idea to shield children from these things. I think that they are far better at dealing with these types of concepts than we give them credit for (in fact often better than their parents as I have found with my nieces). Furthermore I think they should be teaching sexual education long before high school.

I don't have children either, but I do feel that things should be taught at the appropriate age. I absolutely think sex education should be mandatory from a very young age (elementary school, especially considering 11 year old's are having babies), but just like it is in my district, you don't hear everything from the beginning, they give more information the older the kids get. Just like you don't teach high school history to a preschooler, you give them what they can understand and process. I think I was in 4th grade when I got the lecture on male/female anatomy. I got the talk about how to use feminine products when I was in 6th grade. I don't remember when I learned about abortion, I think I learned details when I was in middle school or high school. I'd rather keep politics out of the younger grades, save that for high school when the students are more educated on the issues.

[Vegmedic]

I've known about abortions since before I knew about sex. :lol: Maybe it's a phenomenon among evangelical Christians? Tell the kids all about how horrible abortion is and encourage them to parrot the talking points, too, but don't tell them how babies actually get here. :p

I grew up in a non religious family and I knew what an abortion was when I was quite young. However, I can also say that I was in some way damaged by evangelical Christian relatives. I was told that if I played with myself that it would fall off - I was not told that because I had a tendency to do so, but because the sick SOBs told all of us things like that. I was also told that doing so was evil and that god would send me to hell. Now I never believed in a god, but still I knew that there could be one. When I was 8 or 9 I was doing evil and I um...came. I thought that I broke it, and that it was going to fall off. I have never been so scared in my life and probably for the only time in my life I prayed to god, promising that I would never touch myself again. (I broke that promise about 30 minutes later). Sex education starting in grade 1 would have saved me a lot of worrying.

(edit: I should add that most evangelicals I knew were wonderful, moral people. It was only the odd few who seemed to have what I would consider a sick fetish when it comes to sexuality.)

[danakscully64]

I grew up in a non religious family and I knew what an abortion was when I was quite young. However, I can also say that I was in some way damaged by evangelical Christian relatives. I was told that if I played with myself that it would fall off - I was not told that because I had a tendency to do so, but because the sick SOBs told all of us things like that. I was also told that doing so was evil and that god would send me to hell. Now I never believed in a god, but still I knew that there could be one. When I was 8 or 9 I was doing evil and I um...came. I thought that I broke it, and that it was going to fall off. I have never been so scared in my life and probably for the only time in my life I prayed to god, promising that I would never touch myself again. (I broke that promise about 30 minutes later). Sex education starting in grade 1 would have saved me a lot of worrying.

:lol::lol::lol:

I will absolutely talk to my kids at a VERY VERY young age about sex, but I don't think it should be taught early in school. I think every kid should have the education, but it's up the parents to decide.

[Vegmedic]

:lol::lol::lol:

Well the suspence was killing me - I had to see if it was permanently broken.

[danakscully64]

Well the suspence was killing me - I had to see if it was permanently broken.

:lol: And even today, you still have to check daily or every other day to make sure it's still working, right? ;)

[Vegmedic]

:lol: And even today, you still have to check daily or every other day to make sure it's still working, right? ;)

If it ever stops working it won't be long before I am aware.

[Raoul Duke]

I believe that any attempt to remove a person's First Amendment rights (for anything less then the keeping of public order) is a act of treason, and should be treated as such. The "public school administrators" should have had their teaching licenses revoked for treasonous actions, and should have been dismissed in disgrace.

[Sevenseas]

I think she should be allowed to wear it.

[jenni-anti-fur]

I think that they should have been able to wear it...I believe in choice and the right to free speech and dont believe in censorship...so long as they werent graphic pictures and they werent preaching all day...I have no prob with it.