This is ridiculous. A school has the right to confiscate anything that is going to be disruptive to an effective learning environment.

O wow..Im all for freedom of speech and he is free to express his opinion but mentioning terrorism in that way is just wrong..this was an elementary school at that!

I feel bad for the kid being dragged into this quagmire

Exactly! It's quite clearly the dad's views that are being displayed here.

"On a day when students wore red, white, and blue to show patriotism, the 11-year-old son of a "proud conservative" decided to show his political opinion, too."

Doesn't the father know you can only share a political opinion if everyone likes it?

Schools have special sets of circumstances, so I definitely think the school was right in telling the student his shirt violated the dress code. He didn't get immediately suspended; he had the choice to turn the shirt inside out. Had he been immediately suspended, I may feel differently.

I voted for 'yes', even though I don't agree with the "plus" part of the statement. The school asked the children to be 'patriotic' and then when this child exercised his right to free speech, they punished him. I understand the argument for a dress code, but schools have far too much power to violate students' rights.

The poor kid is 11, I doubt he was exercising 'his right to free speech'. That's all I'm saying.

So maybe kids should start wearing swastikas to school? It's their right after all.

The school was right to ask the children to wear red, white, and blue. In fact, perhaps they should always have to wear our flag's colors.

However, I take issue with calling it a show of patriotism. Not that patriotism isn't okay, it's just that nationalism is less messy. You see, when you show patriotism, you are proud of a country's virtues and ready to remedy any deficiencies.

What the children were asked to show was nationalism, which is an entirely different story in practice.

I think, like Dave said yesterday, that you don't really have free speech in schools. Especially public schools. Their job is to learn, the teachers to teach the three R's. I am all for uniforms. That way there are no "Excuses" for anything.

>So maybe kids should start wearing swastikas to school? It's their right after all.

This.

"Schools have special sets of circumstances, so I definitely think the school was right in telling the student his shirt violated the dress code."

I agree completely.

The kid made his own choice when the school offered him a choice between turning the shirt inside out and getting suspended. Yes, we have freedom of speech--the child hasn't been thrown in jail, after all--but that doesn't mean there aren't specific consequences in specific environments for specific kinds of speech. It's a school. Of course the administrators are going to try to prevent kids from wearing anything that's unnecessarily provocative and potentially disruptive to the learning environment.

"So maybe kids should start wearing swastikas to school? It's their right after all."

Good point, HF.

On a side note, I'm a huge supporter of school uniforms.

HF, it's incredibly rude to roll your eyes at the very first person who has an opinion different than yours. I honestly think it would be a person's right to wear a swastika.

If this were out and about in public, and this child were told by a police officer to remove his shirt, would you feel differently about the case? I understand the difference, but I'm just wondering.

Well then maybe you should go into education and be one of the ones that has to deal with the kid wearing a n*gg*r shirt and the one wearing I hate towel heads and the one that says that sp*cs should go back to mexico and a couple wearing the white devil and see what you have to deal with. Honestly, if you want your kid to be able to wear inflammatory shirts then home school them. Some rules and regulations do have to be in order especially when dealing with children.

He need to be suspended. The shirt is in inappropriate.

Jude and GS I agree about uniforms.

Well thanks for completely ignoring the question. It just seems to me that we have mandatory public education, and most parents are more or less forced to send their child to a public school, even though they know their child's rights will be violated there.

Like I said before, I think we give far too much leeway to public schools to violate the rights of the children. We discussed this yesterday in the Conservative group and I said the same thing there. We send our children to school from a very young age, and they are taught that their rights don't count? What sort of citizens do we expect to produce?

Harm. Mich has stated several times that she is Libertarian. This view clearly falls under that line of thought. It is hard for some to swallow, but true freedom is the main platform in this party. Yeah, if can be offensive as hell, but that is the risk that the person takes wearing said shirt. I'm not explaining it well, sorry!

If his parents are so pro-American, they would know that U.S. law states that slander/libel (spreading falsities that can damage someone's credentials that are proven false) is illegal.

Follow the damn law, or get the hell out.

So wearing an Obama is a terrorist BFF tees is patriotic???? I get you have your own opinion -- but I don't understand how the kids family could think the shirt was patriotic.

...I would say the same thing if it was a shirt that said that McCain supports turning the U.S. into a tolitarian state. It could be a joke, but if he chose to sue, he could because I would be doing something illegal.

Thats my point.

One choice should be "freedom of speech but not patriotic".

Lady, it would only be libelous if the shirt read "Obama is a Terrorist".

Dream, I'm sure their thought was patriotism = freedom. And in that line of thought probably the right to dissent. I dunno though.

The father just wanted to push his own agenda and stir the free speech pot here. It makes me sick that he is exploiting a child in the process.

GS, that's pretty much it. People need to learn that a) that you can't react violently to something just because it offends you, and b) if you wear things that offensive, society will shun you.

agreed lady, I was going to say the same thing..even if it was a McCain shirt I still feel that in the public school system the rights are different..and anything that is deemed inappropriate and disruptive should be dealth with accordingly.

agreed lady, I was going to say the same thing..even if it was a McCain shirt I still feel that in the public school system the rights are different..and anything that is deemed inappropriate and disruptive should be dealth with accordingly.

Well you're a libertarian GS and you understand that there is still SOME need for rules and regulations in SOME cases. Common sense tells you that if a large group of kids are taught together that inflammatory t-shirts would not be conducive to a healthy learning environment. And no one is being forced to attend public school. There is always the option of home schooling. If you care that much about it then you would find a way to not enroll your child where there rights would be taken away.

I agree that free speech needs to be protected at all costs. I think it's incorrect to assume that an anti-Bush shirt would have been praised. Especially in Colorado - they don't call it a swing state for nothing.

HF, home schooling is a nice idea, but there are lots of demands that I just can't see a single mother being able to meet.

Maybe solution would be to make schooling optional. Then the kid can choose if he wants to wear his offensive t-shirt to public school, home school, other school, or no school. Freedom for all!

"I think we give far too much leeway to public schools to violate the rights of the children. We discussed this yesterday in the Conservative group and I said the same thing there. We send our children to school from a very young age, and they are taught that their rights don't count?"

No, the children have their rights--but the school also has its right to do what it feels best for the school, and the other children in the school. You can teach children that they have rights, but it seems also reasonable and right to teach them that sometimes exercising those rights do have consequences.

For instance, I have a perfect right to tell my boss that he's a @$#%&!!!!!. But he also has the perfect right to fire me.

Why are we talking about wether the shirt was patriotic? He wasn't suspended for failure to adhere to a theme.

Well that's their problem isn't it? Isn't that the mantra? Why should the government make things easier for an individual. It's that individual's responsibility to rise up and make a life for themselves.

patriotism = freedom of speech -- hey I voted for Freedom of Speech but it's a stretch for a school holiday. I mean why not just wear an American flag tee. The shirt was inappropriate for the event. The father was obviously pushing his own agenda with his rant on the "liberal school district".

LOL, Harmony. I don't know if you meant that in a funny way but I can't help but think of Lord of the Flies right now.

I brought up patriotic in response to the creation of the shirt and the assignment set by the school.

"patriotism = freedom of speech -- hey I voted for Freedom of Speech" I had no idea you were an anti-federalist! We have so much to talk about.

Jude, the people doing the punishing (and making the rules) in a school are an agency of the government. They're not allowed to make rules violating your Constitutional rights. Furthermore, they're forced to be there. Does it not seem strange that there are laws forcing you to go to a place where your rights don't exist? (Don't even get me on the search and seizure violations in schools)

The problem with a lot of the "rights for kids" argument is that kids also need to be taught to respect others and their environment, not just that they have the right to do whatever they want. That's a part of growing up as a human being in a civil society.

Organic -- I see slumber parties and hair braiding in our future.

Just FYI - On the news last night they did a follow up and the actual reason the kid was suspended is because he was causing a problem because he was yelling at other kids who told him he was wrong. It started on the playground and kept going in the middle of math class even after the teacher told him to stop. It wasn't because his shirt was anti-Obama. His sister wore an anti-Obama shirt to the same school on the same day but she didn't disrupt class so she wasn't suspended. I don't think they should have suspended him for the shirt but if he was causing problems in class he should be suspended.

Exactly Mich! Let's let the kids decide if they even want to go to school since currently they are forced. They can wear their offensive t shirt while playing XBox all day eating foods filled with trans fats. Problem solved!

I agree that the real problem in this particular case isn't feedome of speech but that a "parent" is "pimping out" a kid with their political views. This child isn't even old enough to vote ( I know that doesn't mean he doesn't have views) so I doubt that he even knows the details of this campaign from either side. I mean really what audience is the kids shirt reaching with this T shirt in an elementry school other than teachers and administators.

Mich, the kid's rights do exist. However, so does the right of the school administrators to take action against what they feel is inappropriate to the learning environment of the hundreds of OTHER kids who also attend the school.

Once again, I have a perfect right to tell my boss that he's a @$#%&!!!!!. But he also has the perfect right to fire me.

It is not inappropriate or a violation of rights to teach a child that in certain situations, certain actions--even those to which the child has a right--will have consequences. Once again, that's called being a part of a civil society.

"Well that's their problem isn't it? Isn't that the mantra? Why should the government make things easier for an individual. It's that individual's responsibility to rise up and make a life for themselves."

You've got it backwards. The government doesn't have to make it easier for anybody, but they sure shouldn't be making it harder. They shouldn't be forcibly taking your money in property taxes in order to fund public schools, and then making laws saying your child has to be in school, and then violating their rights there.