Let me pose a query to you guys:
There is a news story circulating about a teenager who wore a T-shirt to school. The T-shirt had artwork on the front: "NRA Protect Your Right". There was a rifle under the message and a big yellow blotch that may have been a target or a flesh wound.
The teacher asked the student to turn the shirt inside out since it violated school district policy for proper attire. He refused. A bunch of stuff ensued, students nearly rioted but obeyed when instructed to take their seats. The teen was taken to the prinicipal, the parents were called and the police arrived. The teen was arrested.
The internet is filled with outrage over this travesty of justice, of the boy's constitutional rights being trampled, of everything, it seems, other than what seems to me the obvious: This teen, in fact no students, have "Constitutional Rights" inside the schools. The schools have obligations, of course, but they have standards and must enforce and maintain those standards. Students may, of course, protest, but expulsion is generally the end result.
The "internet outrage" seems to believe students should be able to make any kind of political statement they want. My argument is that if students have "Constitutional Rights", then they have the right to "bear arms" in school. But...oh, wait! Everyone under 18 is a "minor" and Constitutional rights don't really apply to "wilfull conduct" by minors. Or do they?
It does seem that people in this country embrace the notion that anyone can do anything he or she likes, say anything he or she likes -- WHEREVER he or she wants to do or say it.
What is your reaction to this?
