Is this too graphic?
I’m all for school dress codes, but I wonder if the interpretation of this particular one might be going a bit too far. Back in April, a sixth grade student in California wore a pro-life t-shirt to school featuring a photo of an unborn baby.
The shirt featured the word “ABORTION” on the front with three squares below it. The first two squares showed images of fetuses and the third was black. Below the three squares was the caption, “growing, growing … gone.” The back of the shirt read: “American Life League’s Sixth Annual NATIONAL PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT DAY April 29, 2008 www.ALL.org.”
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School officials contended that the shirt violated the school’s dress code, which states: “Personal articles, clothing, or manner of dress shall make no suggestion of tobacco, drug, or alcohol use, sexual promiscuity, profanity, vulgarity, or other inappropriate subject matter.”
There is now a lawsuit, of course. The student says her t-shirt was banned because school officials disapproved of its message. School officials contend that this has nothing to do with politics—the images on the t-shirt were just “too graphic.”
So we’re back to the whole idea that images of unborn babies are graphic, scary, and inappropriate for the classroom. Are you buying it? I’m pretty sure I’m not.
But I might be persuaded to believe an argument that the t-shirt was likely to be a cause of distraction and disruption in the classroom. Would we pro-lifers support a student’s right to wear a “graphic” pro-abortion t-shirt, for example? Is the classroom a place for graphic t-shirts of any kind? As pro-life as I am, I’m not sure I believe it is. I would prefer a dress code that explicitly bans all t-shirts with graphics of any kind.
As long as the school rule is not so generally stated, we’ll have teachers picking and choosing which of our students have a right to express themselves. And don’t think any of us can stomach that idea.
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Those are not graphic pictures. Now if the shirt had a picture of a post-abortion baby on it, that’s a different story. But you can see those same pictures in any high-school biology book!
If they have a problem with pictures on shirts, ban ALL pictures on shirts. Or put the kids in uniforms.
We wouldn’t have a problem at all if kids were in uniforms. Which I’m in favor of.
A fetus can only be “graphic” to those who don’t want to be confronted with the truth. With abortion statistics as they are, what are the odds that the teacher and/or principal is pro-abortion (considerable, especially in a public school) or have had abortions (still considerable). I’m guessing some doesn’t want to be exposed to the truth and feels its their duty to shield other children from the truth as well.
Sadly, many textbooks and curricula don’t reflect the truth anymore, either, but only politics. Teachers are used to hiding the truth and spinning stories.
Do they have such ‘graphic photos’ in their library, school books or other such sources? Hidden away in most biology or health lessons? What will the school do about those???
As a former school teacher, I say: No images on any shirt except THAT school’s school mascot. I’m with Danielle in that, while the message is true, the distraction factor is too great!
Those are hardly graphic photos - and in fact, I’d kinda like to get one of those shirts myself. However, I agree with those commenting above that it would probably be too distracting - school is school, not the place for politics (except the political science courses, of course). If the school wants to ban it, fine. Just make sure they ban ALL images, not just those they might disagree with. No double standard.
I hung that t-shirt in my classroom, for protest and education purposes, during the last presidential election campaign because the Catholic school I taught in was so over the top about obama. It generated the start of our Pro-Life Club, which sent a group to Washington for the March For Life this past January!!
Those pictures are NOT graphic. they can be found in the freshmen biology book.
While I agree with those who say these same photos are to be found in
the science textbooks in most schools..the message is clearly meant to be provocative…and unsettling. Schools are not the same as the political
arena however they should have room for discourse on provocative subjects. Therefore the shirt should be allowed…but keep in mind that
the sword cuts both ways..it will then be permissable for the Pro-Abort
to wear their message bearing T-shirts…maybe the school should forbid
in the best interest of a day to day learning atmosphere to forbid all
“message apparell” except for one day a year…and that day given over
to free discourse concerning “hot topics”...with appropriate controls, etc. This would honor free speech w/o disturbing the kind of atmosphere
that must prevail in order to learn on a day to day basis…There are
plenty of other opportunities for students to express themselves and to
become involved in the pro-life movement. I am speaking of course of those
students in high school…otherwise strict enforcement of a ban on message bearing apparell e.b. T-shirts, buttons, stickers, etc. Those in the lower grades NEED to be concentrating while in school on learning the basic rudiments…there are too many distractions as it is!
Paranoid political-correctness adherents automatically assume on first glance these are aborted children simply because they can be seen. If the wearer argues that these are actually images of living babies, not dead babies, then the retort will be “Well, it’s inappropriate because it’s controversial.” What makes it controversial in their minds is that abortion is legal, so generating emotion over something legal creates controversy. The real controversy should be this: should killing fellow children yet in utero be legal? Schools are being closed all over the world. Hellooooo.
This shirt is ridiculous. No one cares about your political views. School is a place to learn, not to be subjected to a pro-life guilt-trip.
GET AT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think this is freedom of speach, but a 6th grader should not be wearing it at all, let alone to school. And a 6th grader wearing a shirt like this? I do respect that there is freedom of speach involved, but if someone is going to wear it, it should be someone over the age of 15 or 16. What kind of parent who let their 6th grader walk out of the house wearing this? It might be ok to the parent, but at least be curdious to the school and wear the shirt on your own time. Like at home or in ur town, but not in school, thats out of the question.
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