Lawsuit alleges District 423 violated student's free speech

If a woman or a man can say that they believe abortion is right, then how can one say that a 12 year old can't say it is wrong? Regardless of gender, people have the right to an opinion on the issue...Should that not also be true for age? Who are we to say how old a person must be to form an educated opinion? I say let him wear it. It isn't lude or vulgar. It isn't alcohol or drug related. Stop worrying about a kids T-shirt and raise your kids, educate your kids. It's a T-shirt...he's not running into a hospital with a bomb. Get over it.

"What do we do to a student who wears a shirt that says "sex is fun" or "drugs are cool" or "bush is an idiot"? " What we do is virtually NOTHING so that is where this problem will get very sticky for Dist 423. The t-shirts my child sees at the High School are horrid, IMHO. Not fit for Saturday in the park let alone on a teen at school, yet day after day teachers do nothing. The issue needs to be, creating then enforcing a dress code, but Dist. 423 has no backbone, hence the non specific wording. "What sixth grader is going to be that obstinent about wearing a T-shirt to school, " The same students who wear hats ALL day inside the building against the dress code and text message during class against the dress code.
I recently read 12% of civil cases get to court. The others are just money makers for lawyers. They will attempt to bury each other in paper, racking up costs for the parties involved. The party with the least money agrees to settle first. The cases that go to court are because someone has a statement to make, and the statement is rarely about the issue that brought them to court.

It doesn't really much matter whose fault it is the fact is teen apparel is out of control. I don't see any fair solution short of plain jane uniforms. We are way past the day when we can expect parents to guide these students in what is appropriate. Just look around at what some allow. We are long past when any authority can tell a teen what to wear w/o being accused of some bias. What ever one wears has the potential of offending some one else. I wonder what was so bad about the shirt in question? It was a protest against killing, against violence. Students are allowed to protest war why not abortion? Both types of legal killing. I get that Christianity is not welcome in the public schools, but I don't get why Christians are allowed to be offended, but no one else is. The occult is well represented in teen attire. Did we forget that is a religion? Uniforms are really the only equitable solution if we want to avoid these law suits, and not offend anyone.

If it was that easy 20% of our students would be tossed out. Of course when they were tossed, their parents would wake from their pull-tab coma they are in at the local watering hole and fight like drunken sailors about the right that little johnny or little sue has to get an education.
Until Abercrombie designs uniforms i doubt we will ever see it happen. Clothing allows the rich kids to walk around in designer labels... poor kids to wear walmart... and the animals to wear whatever they want!
I would love to see uniforms... something with a sense of style.
As far as making the student turn the shirt inside out... why not make the cap wearing hoods from turning their hats inside out... the ****** things are already backwards. No caps should be allowed.... a compromise could be for the cap to be a "Hutch Tigers" design... of course that would be cool enough and no one would want to wear that style... problem solved!

I expect that the girls would balk at not being able to wear pants. I know I would.

I agree with the "sue happy" people... So we have clothing guidlines for what reason? There are dress codes in every job and school, if a person does not follow them then that is their choice but then they shall reap the repercussions for breaking the rules, and should not complain or sue.

Lets look at the sunner side of this. Atleast people are standing up for what they believe in. In the bigger picture yes teens and college people are fighting authority figures even on the smallest level of dress codes but doesn't that fuel the fire for bigger changes in government (war) and religion? I think most everyone can agree things have to change so we should encourage us young people to take a stand for what to believe in but do it in the right way and legal way and not look for money out of it but for a change that betters the institution and peoples lives! If parents want a dress code then stand up for it and make a change don't complain and tell people what they should do or not do thats not going to change anything!

Of course, it is his mother!
Rules are rules and it should not matter what what one believes in or how strong the belief is.

Don't let the door hit in on your *** on the way out. At least you have finally found a school that allows you to wear all the cool clothes your heart desires. I wish you well... the hutch school system is no beacon of light for anyone anyway.

Dress attire in schools today can range from skulls, demons, explosions of hell fire flames, violent video game heroes, and the ever popular "smurf-ganster rap hoodie and unders peek-a-boo with crotch to your knees" look. The bottom line is these kids are fed a diet of death! Wearing a Pro-Life message should be so refreshing, hopeful, enlightening, and rewarded! Of course that is nearly impossible when teachers are taking teens from school for hush-hush abortions without parental knowledge or consent. Yuck, what a mess we're in! Lord Have Mercy!

Here it is people. Regardless of the student's age, sex, beliefs, etc... Regardless of who was trying to make a point or who is affliated with whom, the school district was 100% wrong in asking the student to cover or turn his shirt inside-out. This isn't an abortion debate, it's a free speech debate. My views on abortion and your views on it don't matter whatsoever. Abortion can not be deemed offensive because it is talked about in school. Is it ENCOURAGED by the school? I doubt it, but it is certainly talked about. He has every right to wear that shirt regardless of who's decision it was to wear it or the morality of abortion itself. Period.

So when this child grows up and gets a job at HTI or 3M is he going to sue them also because his shirt may offend people. In the real working world we are told what we can and can't wear no matter what the message is. I am glad my child is out of school, but when she was in school her father and I had control of what she wore. She still grew up open minded and independent I really feel sorry for this boy, because this will live with him for ever, he will be known as the boy whose mom sued the school. I hope when he gets older he doesn't get in to trouble with drinking , drugs or get a girl pregnant, because after this he and his family will be under the microscope. Hutchinson is a small town.

I do not think this is another silly lawsuit. This is a constitutional right being infringed upon, whether it be by an adult or a minor. I am behind this mother. My son was chastised because he wore a shirt with root beer mugs on it. (they could have been misconstrued by other students as "beer" mugs) As long as it is not obscene, with foul words and nasty pictures, let them wear it! I do not entirely disagree with those wanting to impose uniforms. Too many students from low income homes are being picked on by those whos parents are more affluent. That might equal the opportunities for all students. However, it may also pose more of a financial burden also.
People, wake up~we need to protect our rights, not let them be diminished by whomever decides that we can't talk or read about things as controversial as abortion. I applaud this mom for having the guts to go to bat for the things she and her son believe it~ BRAVO mom!!!!

How do you not think that fetuses are not nasty pictures? My Lord, my daughter came home from school scared when she saw those. She asked me a million questions and I answered them truthfully, but that's a parents job. Not the schools. His mother never should have let him out of the house with those on, especially for school. Maybe anywhere else, but not school. The same can be said for the girls who have their chest hanging out. . . . If the parents watched their kids closely.

I think the word "scared" might be over-the-top a bit. We are talking about middle school aged students not 1st graders at West. The theme of the shirt was inappropriate to wear to school.
A girl wearing a tight top and tiny shorts can also be a disruption. It was the content of the shirt and for most parents a clear no no... yet we have parents like this one who sees nothing wrong with it... I get the fact that they are against abortion... sending a child to school wearing a banner isn't appropriate.
I am against Bush and feel he is an idiot and a terrorist, yet I do not send my child to school wearing a shirt with bush's face on a donkey's body.

So many comments on the school monitoring what kids wear. What happened to the parents monitoring what kids are wearing??? This is just another case of poor parenting that ends up being someone else's fault.

The parents of this child are clearly trying to cash in on this joke of a lawsuit.
The only winners in this will be the lawyers who will weigh everything down with paperwork costing everyone thousands of dollars.
I was told that the shirt was very graphic... any parent who would dress the child in such a shirt should be looked at by social services. Certainly other craziness is also occurring in the household.
Maybe if the family is so "driven" about this topic the little boy could be taken by his parents to a tatoo parlor and have it inked on himself... that way he could wear the banner under his clothes everyday to school without disrupting the beliefs of others, yet at the same time be allowed to display it under wraps... a win win for both sides. Of course he would have to turn it inside out when he showers in PE.

So the way I am reading this is that the school never had any contact with the mother before this lawsuit? WHY?! The boy wore the shirt 11 times?! The school should have called the mother the second or third time. Where I went to highschool if you wore something more than twice your parents were called and there was a meeting with everyone involved. The courts should throw this one right in the trash and fine both parties for negligence.