No Pentagrams or Satan Allowed in School

Sometimes I peruse the local school systems websites to see what they're up to because I have a vested interest. I grabbed a copy of the local high school's student handbook and I found this:

Dress Code: Students are NOT allowed to wear clothing which is or involves:
lewd, offensive, vulgar, or obscene: displays of sex, violence, drugs, drug-related items alcohol, tobacco, profanity, death, satanic themes, nudity, hate slogans or pictures, swastikas, pentagrams, gang signs, or gang related items.

backed up by this:
Students are prohibited from any behaviors which are associated with gang-related affiliation including, but not limited to, violation of established dress code,.....

So here's a few problems with this whole thing. First off the death and violence. If a kid comes to school wearing a USMC shirt is that not a promotion of death and violence? If in fact a kid wears a shirt with Jesus being crucified is that not a presentation of death and violence? For that matter, if a kid wears a pic of the President on their shirt.....? There would seem to be a plethora of tangents on the death and violence thing.

Satanic themes and pentagrams. There we have religious oppresion/exclusion written right into the rule book. It's in plain english that certain religious expressions are against the rules. It's fine apparently to wear any other religious garb, but just not Satanic themes and Pentagrams, which btw, do NOT go hand in hand and they are NOT one in the same.

Further, it can be considered a sign of 'gang activity'. So, a large body of students all wearing shirts with a Jesus nailed to a cross can be considered a gang as well? It would seem so according to the rules. It would seem that the local ROTC club can't wear their Army shirts around either. Death and violence are covered in the rules just as much as Satan and pentagrams.

I wonder how many other schools have these kinds of rules.

 

My old high school had similar types of rules. Ridiculous, aren't they?

I think that the only reason those rules survive is because no one challenges them. If someone actually made a big stink about it, the school board might change the policy to avoid controversy (although maybe not if you happen to live in Alabama or Kansas).

 

Political Correctness is a disease.


And this is coming from a 30 year old "NeoCon", as you kids like to say.

 

the no-pentagram rule in high schools has been challenged many times. i have never heard of a single case of the high school winning. every once in awhile a challenge will show up on the ACLU's webpage or in some pagan newsletter. unless they also ban crosses, which they daren't, the pentagram-wearers always win, because these laws are blatantly unconstitutional. even corporate entities like blockbuster video have lost challenges against similar rules, filed by their employees.


however, what is worse is the treatment students of minority relions like wicca, satanism, asatru, and even world religions like islam & judiasm face in schools, whether they openly wear the symbols of their faith or not. very often faculty and staff will do nothing to curb or prevent such harrassment, and may even encourage it.

 

If efforts at the schoolboard level fail I would suggest along the lines of kitty fabulous that one contact the ACLU. In another post you said something about being assertive every place you can be and here is not just an opportunity but a circumstance -- a local grass roots situation where the opposing side is or would be conservative fundamentalists -- where battle lines need to be drawn. Please see my post about "Students for an Educational Society:Taking Aim ..."

If you don't want to do it because of job concerns or whatever you could probably find someone else to raise the issue at the schoolboard. We're well on our way to becoming a christian theocracy and the time has come to take a stand.

 

No worries jobwise. My reputation already precedes me. 1/2 the people around these parts already think I'm the devil incarnate and I don't mind one bit. Yes, indeed, I am going after this and tangling with the school board once again.

 

fight the good fight, element. You aint alone.

 

It bugs me that Satanism and Christianty are the only two religous belifes that ever get attacked in school.

 

At my high school there were ridiculous dress codes that had to be followed by everyone but those on sports teams. The dress code said we couldn't wear anything with sexual innuendos, yet the school made shirts for the soccer team that had CLEAR innuendo. Anyway, I decided to stick it to the man by making a shirt that would test the limits of the school. Before I made the shirt I thoroughly studied all district policies regarding clothing and patches/arm bands. And yes, my shirt did not break any rules. So I made it...

From the front it looked like a school pride shirt, with the name of the school followed by an ellipsis (...). The back read, "... makes me want to commit suicide." Now remember, this set fine with every rule listed by the district.

So long story short, I got called to the principals where I was told, "take it off or else," the else being suspension. I came prepared with a list of rules from the district, to which the principal retorted, "you are advocating suicide."

I told my dad over the weekend, so he called the school and told them I had commited suicide. This taught them a lesson because they were more concerned with my "character" than the message I was trying to get across... which was, I hate this school. I should have sold those...

Anyway, back to your point. I'm not surprised these schools are doing this. I'd say as a solution, send your kid to school with pentagrams anyway. They can't do a single thing about it constitutionally speaking.

I apologize for the irrelevant, long story.

 

Mmm I did something similar, I didn't get called to the office despite how hard i tried. I went around puting Coumnist Hot Spot because the school was CHS. I then drew on a shirt a soviet hammer with a circle A to make a question mark and wrote FREEDOM?...no body got it sadly

 

Umm, it sounds like the problem is that your school just needs more clearly defined rules, not that they need to get rid of these rules altogether.

Pentagrams, beer shirts, and sexual innuendo would be A-OK with me, but if I was the principal I'd be pretty upset if somebody wore a shirt advocating suicide too.

And that's a terrible thing to do to your teachers and administrators, no matter how much you hate them.

 

Terrible? Maybe. Standing up for something you belive, no matter the extreme as long as you face what may happen to you. Earns much respect from me.

 

I'm sorry if that sounds like a rip off master card commerical lol.

 

And what exactly is someone standing up for by wearing a shirt advocating suicide, then making people think that they were dead? This isn't a free speech issue; it's just a matter of the school needing to write its rules more clearly.

Call me old-fashioned, but I hardly think that a rule against advocating suicide in high schools constitutes an infringement on free speech or a "ridiculous dress code."

 

I never claimed it to be a free speech issue, not to mention I never advocated it. I merely said that going back to face what you caused is very respectable. Perhaps that was the catalyst to get the school to rewrite its rules more clearly. Sometimes it takes things we don't fully agree with or understand to get a point across.

 

Not to mention she never said anything supporting or such about sucide. She merely used the word to get a point acorss.

 

hey hey, long live the revolution. Anybody ever have the school theaten to keep your pants? Its an interesting spot to be in. I never realized my bare knees could be so offensive... I've had a few dress code alterations in my time. One of the school athoritys least favorite shirts i have is "Who Would Jesus Bomb?' with a picture of G.W. But they cant touch that one and they know it. anyhow, long story short, my school recently banned white T-shirts(gang symbol) and theatened arrest so naturaly one tuesday a doven or so people wore a wight T in protest. They nabbed a few of us(no arrests), but not me, and im really puzzled be cause I added this phrase to mine: "D.A.R.E. to resist arrest" and walked right by cops/teachers. It was kind of a let down. anyway i heard today that some kid got kicked out of school for putting a stick i passed out on a recruiters table. It said " Join the army, vacancies avalible" with a picture of a grave. protest the death of brave americans fur an unjust cause, and you get suspended. Facism blows. and they'll trace it back to me. (they know me well, im sure they already think im involved). I was wanting opinions, is that kid violating any rules, or is he protected by the constitution? I think im still good... but thats never stopped them before.

 

Yes the white t shirt think happend at my school. What dosne't make sense is the school called "any group wearing the same color shirt is a gang and we be delt with" What about the cowboys? who wear all the same clothes CRAZY. the school system is doing what they think right, thats the sad part.

 

heh heh the cowboys around here are great... they have their own place for their big bad diesel trucks... you can tell by the chew stains on the ground. quality bunch though, really. ive always thought pretending to be a cowboy in my small town was only slightly less rediculous that trying to be a gangsta... but to each his own.

 

haha