It’s obviously meant to downplay potential violence. It seems stupid, but schools pass rules like this all the time to avoid trouble. A close friend of mine teaches at Dallas Can! Academy where gang colors are banned.

If you’ve got some kids who are all about rockin’ their American flag clothing, there are going to be kids who show up wearing PLO shirts or something similar, and the potential for a violent exchange is high. Distasteful as it may seem to a red-blooded patriot like yourself, the school system can’t make a value judgement on one flag or the other being “objectionable”. I mean, I guess they could, but then they’d have to get tied up in the inevitable litigation that would come. Rather, they chose to nip the problem in the bud by banning flags from ANY nation altogether. Bars in Europe frequently ban “football colors” for the same reason.

Sounds stupid, but these are high school kids we’re talking about.

Left by John Jarzemsky on September 12th, 2007 at 4:04 pm

It’s very simple. This is the United States of America. Love it or leave it. There can be absolutely no compromising on this. I would sue the school district.

Left by Dianne on September 12th, 2007 at 5:07 pm

Maybe the school should prohibit kids from wearing shirts that show their support for the Army, Marines, Navy, or Air Force, too.

That way all those kids of libtards won’t have to be subjected to their classmates’ patriotism. Or the kids wearing shirts that support the troops won’t be discriminated against by their libtard teachers…

Left by Robbie on September 12th, 2007 at 6:07 pm

Oh boy blood pressure alert. Yet again the decay of this country is right in our faces. when we get to the point of this:

“The superintendent of schools in Sampson County calls the situation unfortunate, but says educators didn’t’t want to be forced to pick and choose which flags should be permissible”

where educators can’t pick and choose which flag is permissible..are you kidding me?????????????? this is America, the flag on a shirt or a button should be encouraged. if fights start because of this, simply kick the kids out of school that started the fight with the patriotic kids..is that so hard to understand.?? support people who are proud of this country and come down hard on the others….but yet again what is right is wrong. god how did this country fall so deeply asleep as to elect people that would allow this kind of dumb ass, treasonous thinking to invade every crevice of society??????? how did we allow complete idiots to run our lives? are there that many stupid people out there that keep voting for people be it a school board member, mayor’s, congressman, dog catcher, that have no clue who they are voting for.??. do these people just walk up to the booth and go…duh, that one has a pretty name, vote for them!? man, if we don’t wake up and shake this system completely out & spray everything down with disinfectant, we are doomed. our future is in dire jeopardy people..I am completely serious.

Left by Marc on September 12th, 2007 at 8:19 pm

Uhh…do they have flags flying on flagpoles in front of the school?
Considering these PC mental midgets, it may not be such a silly question.

Left by no2liberals on September 12th, 2007 at 11:23 pm

I’m not saying it’s right or awesome that they do it, but they do it because the school district DOESN’T WANT TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS MOST PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Christ, are you fucking people all morons? Is letting Bobby go to school with an American flag made by sweat shop workers in China, heaven forbid, MEXICO more important than avoiding children getting into brawls?

Yeah, this is America: the land of freedom of expression. Meaning that if you let kids go to school wearing American flag shit, you are bound, by the egalitarian principles inherent in our country and its constitution, allow kids to wear the flag of any country they want. That would no doubt lead to some red-blooded, redneck douchebags complaining because a kid wore a French, Mexican, or some other “objectionable” flag on their shirts. Parents would threaten lawsuits and withdrawl of their children, fights might break out, etc.

They’re avoiding a powder keg by banning all nationalist related garb. I think it’s stupid that anybody would have a problem with it one way or another, kids should be allowed to wear whatever they want to school and not have it cause problems, but people are incredibly opinionated, and the fact of the matter is, somebody’s going to get pissed off, so this school district has chosen to cover their asses, and I don’t think it’s an unreasonable thing to do.

PS: I like how Marc immediately jumpd to the conclusion that the “patriotic kids” wouldn’t start fights themselves. Since we all know deer-smackin’, pickup drivin’, united we stand bumper sticker havin’ hicks are the moste peaceable and reasonable people in the entire fucking world.

Left by John Jarzemsky on September 13th, 2007 at 12:15 am

i think it’s been overturned. the flag is again permitted.

Left by adam on September 13th, 2007 at 9:42 am

Thanks for the tip, Adam. You’re right — it has been overturned.

Though I’m more inclined to believe that the reversal has more to do with embarrassment over the national exposure than it does an honest intent to just do the right thing.

Left by Robbie on September 13th, 2007 at 10:31 am

Dang, Jarzemsky, what’s your malfunction?
I know you went to ESD, I’m a Dallas resident in the Prestonwood area, and know people who send their kids there, but they don’t have the elitist attitude you express.

Left by no2liberals on September 13th, 2007 at 11:30 am

John very impressive “all deer-smackin’, pickup drivin’, united we stand bumper sticker havin’ hicks”…your words not mine, that does not sound very inclusive and diverse of you. where is your understanding of “deer-smackin’, pickup drivin’, united we stand bumper sticker havin’ hickspeople” that you obviously show towards the unpatriotic kids that want to wear any other symbol besides the American symbol.??? gosh, where is your open mindedness? sorry I just don’t see it in your vulgar statement. what you don’t seem to get is it’s the principle of the thing.!!!! yes who cares about what shirt a kid wears, they are kids and probably don’t have a clue…but it is the political correctness of saying “oh my, we better not offend anyone”…just who are the kids wearing American flag shirts going offend? this is America, the American flag is the flag many have died for. if someone is offended by that, they are mentally SICK and need to get major therapy or leave and go where it’s nice and safe with butterflies and daffodils to dance in all day… if some kid wants to wear this shirt and then gets picked on, then kick the kid out of school who caused the fight. seems simple, right????? don’t take the milk toast, PC panty waist approach and say well then no one gets to wear any shirt with any symbols..that is the problem today, not enough people stand up for what is right and say no to this PC insanity that is going on this country. it’s not the stupid shirt John, it’s the principle of watering down good strong patriotic principles so no one gets their feelings hurt, or the school gets sued by some money grubbing sell out lawyer. heck if the school systems were run by sane people with backbones they would take care of the discipline and that would be the end of matter. but no, the ACL and lawyers have to stick their filthy noses into it and water everything down..shame this country is so full of hand wringers.

Left by Marc on September 13th, 2007 at 1:01 pm

I was frustrated and made some inappropriate characterizations because it had been a long day. Apologies all around, and allow me to clarify.

Marc: yeah it is bullshit that any kids would have problems with somebody wearing a flag of any stripe in school.

The truth is though, that schools, especially public schools, are not in the field of fostering patriotism or furthering public expression. They exist to teach our children in as safe an environment as possible.

In this day in age, I think everyone will agree that it’s becoming harder and harder to provide a safe environment for our children. Columbine, Jonesboro, V-Tech, etc.

So, when faced with a potential dilemma regarding display of nationalism through clothing, the school chose to forgo dealing with the matter entirely.

It’s stupid, childish, and sad, BUT I completely understand the POV of the school district. I’m assuming (maybe a little presumptuously) that the school has had problems over this sort of thing before.

The total ban on flag-related clothing, American or otherwise, served as a method of keeping the school district away from playing ACLU to its students and lets them get on with more important things, like education.

Again, look at my example with Dallas Can! Academy and crips/bloods garb. While I’m not trying to equate the United States of America with urban street gangs, the principles at work are the same: if you’ve got two groups of kids with severely differing principles, regardless of who is right or wrong, there’s going to be trouble.

Rather than let the kids wearing all blue or all red get in fights with one another, the school chose to outlaw BOTH styles of clothing, because they are concerned with keeping the students safe and learning.

Say you were the headmaster of a high school. Say you had a huge contingent of Spurs fans in the school, and also a huge contingent of Rockets fans. Say these kids liked to wear their jerseys to school, and there were tons of fighs about it.

Yeah, one solution is to mediate each incident seperately, determine who started what, and dole out punishments accordingly. Another one is to pre-empt (familiar?) the whole thing, and ban the jerseys in school. Schools do it ALL THE TIME, not just with clothes either: there’s been cases of certain fads or accessories being banned at school because fights break out, thefts are common, huge instances of cliques form around them, et cetera.

Stupid? Yeah, totally. But like I said, the school’s position is completely defensible.

Left by John Jarzemsky on September 13th, 2007 at 9:44 pm

Jarzemsky, I understand your position, eventhough I disagree.
I believe our public schools are the perfect place for developing national pride and patriotism. I’m almost certain there are flag poles in front of the school, with the U.S. and State flag prominently displayed. There was a time when the school day began with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, though I doubt that is the case in most areas of the country, to our detriment.
I would like to point out, for clarification of this issue, that the school Principal arbitrarily took this action, and is not the policy of this school district.
I think we can agree that the safety and security of our children in school is paramount, but should any disputes arise over the students displaying an American flag, they need to be dealt with at the school, by following standard disciplinary policy. From my experience, it takes little for altercations to erupt between students. Should the display of the American flag, in an American school, instigate a brawl, then there are deeper issues that need be addressed.

Left by no2liberals on September 14th, 2007 at 10:50 am

You see this is exactly why so many schools in Texas have started making uniforms mandatory….because of situations like this. Now I personally think that if you have the American Flag flying in front of you school then the kids should be able to wear it on their clothes. I say Ban other flags if you want to but it’s American Taxpayers money that pays for these kids educations so every kid in school should be taught to appreciate the American Flag. Do you know they don’t even say the Pledge everyday like they used when I was growing up. I have a friend who’s 11 year old doesn’t even know the pledge. That’s just sad. This is one of many reasons why this country is slowly falling apart.

Left by Texasgal on September 14th, 2007 at 1:35 pm