High School Student Suspended Over Border Patrol Shirt

They shouldent have been disciplined, unless there is a dress code then its the schools fault for not implementing one!

Over here where I live and went to school N.Ireland, Rangers and Celtic clothing are banned from schools, and I can understand why! (prodestants support rangers catholics support celtic)

The principle over reacted she/he should have pulled them to the side and explained why they couldent wear the t-shirts and be told , to go home quickly and change or to cover up the shirts with a jacket.

And yes before anyone starts jumping down my throat for going against the grain, I have been told before to cover up a Northern Ireland football T-shirt while working in a Northern Irish government building incase it offended the nationalists that worked in the building.

reply to post by navy_vet_stg3

And, to top it off, the school newspaper released this article.... School Article (external link)

Whoever runs the school paper needs to lose their job ASAP. I worked on School paper and know for a fact that we would never write some trash like that.

One time some people got caught committing a real crime on school property and we decided to not cover it at all. Sickening this story is.

When will this idiocy end? ITS A FRIGGIN SHIRT!!!!!! nothing else. Ok it has border patrol on it BIG DEAL! its not like they were going around telling hispanic students they were going to deport them. It is a tee shirt bearing the name of a Federal law enforcement agency. People wear FBI CIA ATF shirts all the time and no one says a word. These other agencies bust illegal immigrants too but no one complains when those shirts are worn. The only ones that shuld be offended by these shirts are illegal immigrants. That being the case they shuld not even be here to be offended anyway. I know all the closed minded individuals will be calling me racist an all tht junk so let me jus say I have no issues with LEGAL immigrants. hey you wanna come to my country do it right work a job and make a better life for yourself by all means come on but just do it right. Border patrol is to keep ILLEGAL immigrants out not those who are here legally. So there is really no reson for the school making this a big deal unless of course they are for allowing people to come over here illegaly live here illegaly and cause harm to this country. If that is the case then they dont deserve to call themselves Americans. As for the school and their part especially the principle that was a bit#h move on his part. Man up and have a backbone do you really think the kid is going to attack you when you answer? GET REAL. Dont you have bigger problems in your school than what shirt a couple of kids are wearing? Like maybe work on the drug problem or gangs in your school. Wait if just a kid asking a question made you feel u were being harassed then a gangmember mite just make you s#it your pants.

It's a t-shirt that says nothing offensive. The words 'border' and 'patrol' are not in any way offensive and they should not be consider offensive by anyone, anywhere from any country. It is the mind of the people reading those words that gives power to the thought that it is racist. In my most humble opinion I think the officers that patrol the border have one of the most dangerous jobs there is to be had. The people that are trying to cross the border illegally are often drug runners not innocent people looking for a better way of life. Anyone that wants to start a better life by breaking the LAW is doing the wrong thing. I realize that life is horrible in many places south of the border and personally we work very hard to do what we can to help (I live in Southern California-and we build houses for the poor in Mexico all the time, we send food over, clothes, really anything and everything that someone might need). What I absolutely hate is when I am told that I NEED to learn a FOREIGN language to live in the USA. Everyone is always saying we need to have compassion...but when there is a city like Santa Ana that is home to more illegal immigrants than anywhere else in the nation and it is also home to the most gangs, and you have innocent people losing their lives every night because of the gang fights it really makes a person mad. Illegal immigration has turned from a group of people looking to feed their families to a group of people looking to feed off of other people.

the principle at my boys elementary schol asked that parents not dress children in skull shirts, violent images like wolverine things like that and I agree

high school is no different

I support uniforms all the way. let them change into whatever they want when they get home, but school needs to be shown respect

he should have worn a "border patrol: northern boundary."

i think the principal is racist. if mexican's were white, there wouldn't be a problem.

Personally, I can see both sides to this debate. First off let me state that I am absolutely a liberal ( inb4 the rhetoric) however, it was well within this kid's right to go ahead and wear that border patrol shirt. Do I personally think everything was kosher with WHY he chose to wear it? Lolno, I don't I can absolutely see the reason why some people would be like, yeah he just might be one of those guys.


Again though before I get attacked and accused of playing le race card, he is well within his RIGHTS to wear that shirt. Was the principal in the wrong? Well, suspending a kid for simply asking ' why" is very heavy handed. I think I will go ahead with yes, he was wrong. Was he wrong for not letting the kids on the bus? Hmm really depends on the reasoning to me.

See here is the thing, as a principal a student's safety is his responsibility. Not everyone will take a " joke" with a smile or a wow you're a jerk" comment. So, if he was actually thinking of the kid's safety, well then fine. I could see that. Though his behavior kind of steers me towards no he was just trying to be politically correct.

Now for everyone saying " oh but only the ILLEGALS will be offended" Yeah? Try being a LEGAL immigrant that has actually been harassed and accused of being illegal because you just might be speaking Spanish to a group of friends. I'm Puerto Rican. Know what that means? That means I was automatically born a United States citizen ( as much as that may just kill some of you inside) Guess what? I've been harassed and accused of being illegal. Until I nice and kindly whipped out my Id card and told them where to shove it. They were mad, I was glad no big deal kept it moving.


So you really should try to look at it in another way. Can it be construed as racist? Absolutely. Anyone who doesn't think so has obviously never been racially profiled ( big shocker there.) Does this mean that they should have had the kind of treatment they did? Sure doesn't. Hey by all means let them wear their shirts. When the kids of Mexican descent ( or any other nationality for that matter) wear shirts that just might irk you, don't cry about it. After all, it's just the first amendment. It goes both ways guys =)

I cannot find any reference to Ridgeview High School in Littleton, CO. Am I right or have my searching abilities gotten dull? So something isn't right with what was posted in the op.

Of course it DOESN'T matter why they wore these shirts. The only reason a shirt could be banned from a government sponsored school is if it includes hate speech, or anything that could be deemed inappropriate. The #s they were wearing simply name a government agency. What is the problem with this?

Even if they were wearing the shirts to make some kind of statement, it doesn't matter. I would SUE the crap out of that school district, mainly for what happened afterward. However, I do have a feeling we don't have all the facts. Either way though, the school's principal, among a couple of others, should be punished for this blatant misuse of authority. If you let them get away with it, what will they do next time?

reply to post by Procession101


You do realize there is more than one border around this country right? Or did you forget about the largest non-militarized border in the world? Maybe they were supporting Border Patrol efforts along the Canadian-American border.
Hypocrisy at it's finest.

reply to post by Procession101
Do you know what you do when you need to go to the hospital and the E.R is full?Wear a border patrol jacket and everyone will run out the door and you will be first inline.Probably also the only one who has insurance to..lol.I wish i could make the border patrol uniform mandatory for schools k-12.I hate illegal immigrants.My family came from Germany and followed the rules and came here and the first thing they did was learn english and assimilate into an American.I live in Arizona and i deplore what the Mexicans have done to our country.They all have kids like rabbits .mooch of the state and bankrupt hospitals.

Originally posted by navy_vet_stg3
Again, we go back to the point that the principal gets to decide when the 1st Amendment applies? Funny, I thought you liberals were champions of the 1st Amendment.

Actually this is correct. When someone signs up for school they sign a contract. In this contract you find all kind of clauses that give the principal and staff this kind of power.

Kinda like someone in the military signs away certain rights when signing up.

I don't get it. The US border patrol is a real US government agency. It protects the border of the United States against illegal immigration, terrorists and drug runners. It's the same as the FBI or local police departments - they are all law enforcement agencies.

Originally posted by isthisreallife
reply to post by Procession101

 

You do realize there is more than one border around this country right? Or did you forget about the largest non-militarized border in the world? Maybe they were supporting Border Patrol efforts along the Canadian-American border.
Hypocrisy at it's finest.

Really? Are you really going to go ahead and put on your durr face? Oh yes, they were definitely supporting the fine Canadian mounties patrolling the mean borders of Canada. That's why the school was going to a rival game in Pueblo Quebec right? I suppose Pueblo is Quebecois for town too right?

Originally posted by JiggyPotamus
I cannot find any reference to Ridgeview High School in Littleton, CO. Am I right or have my searching abilities gotten dull? So something isn't right with what was posted in the op.

That was my bad. In my haste, I transposed the school newspaper and the school name. The name of the school is Dakota Ridge High School. I apologize for this confusion.

Originally posted by syrinx high priest
the principle at my boys elementary schol asked that parents not dress children in skull shirts, violent images like wolverine things like that and I agree

high school is no different

I support uniforms all the way. let them change into whatever they want when they get home, but school needs to be shown respect

I agree, and I'd support uniforms. However, there are NOT uniforms at this school, and the kid was suspended for wearing a shirt with a law enforcement agency on it, not skulls, or violent images.

It's only a failure of democracy if legal means fail. I'd love to have had this happened to me TBH. So much ammo to take into court. Encourage the woman to sue. If it fails, try to get her booked on the talk circuit, and change schools either way,

reply to post by Procession101


Why they were wearing the shirts is irrelevant. Their actions are protected under the 1st amendment.

reply to post by angrysniper


They are not if they signed a contract stating that they will follow certain rules while at school or participating in school activities and it probably also says that the principal has the final word.

reply to post by navy_vet_stg3


to quote from the article :

The boys who wore the shirts in an environment with a significant Hispanic population created the potential for a substantial disruption and danger to themselves and those around them

my translation :

are they really admitting that they think hispanics will attack people who wear a border patrol shirt ?

reply to post by Lovebringer


Why not? It is a legitimate law enforcement agency that deals with legitimate legal problems, not excluding illegal immigration and drug enforcement. They also live in Colorado, which if I am not mistaken has multiple highways that lead to and from the Canadian border. Is it not possible that their fathers work for ICE?

I'm just suggesting keeping a level head to the fact that just because one is wearing a Border Patrol t-shirt, does not mean they are explicitly referring to the Mexican-American border or to Latinos in general.