Major Metal better leave while you still can!

[syciprider]

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/275/story/460170.html

Thursday, Sep. 18, 2008
Dos Palos students protest after school forces sophomore to remove American flag shirt
School officials have apologized to student, American Legion
By Danielle Gaines
dgaines@mercedsun-star.com

DOS PALOS -- Students at Dos Palos High School protested Thursday -- by wearing patriotic regalia to school -- after a sophomore student was forced to remove a T-shirt depicting the American flag.

Officials at the Merced County school confirmed Thursday that Jake Shelly was forced to take off a red, white and blue tie-dyed American flag T-shirt on Tuesday. The shirt said nothing offensive, just: "United States of America, Washington, D.C."

The school's assistant principal issued Shelly a bright yellow T-shirt that read "DCV: Dress Code Violator" to wear for the rest of the day. He was given his shirt back after classes ended.

"It was really embarrassing and humiliating to have to wear that all day -- and just for supporting your country," his sister Kaycee Shelly said.

Kaycee Shelly told members of the media at lunchtime that her brother was overwhelmed and did not want to do any more interviews.

Earlier in the day, he was speaking with a local news station when an unidentified teacher walked up to him, ripped off the microphone clipped to his shirt and told him he was not allowed to talk to the media.

District officials said they apologized to the student, his family and the local American Legion on Wednesday -- Constitution Day.

"In reviewing the dress code at the time, an administrator felt the shirt was in violation of that section of the dress code," said Superintendent Brian Walker. "She asked him to remove it and he did."

The assistant principal initially thought Shelly's T-shirt violated a clause of the school dress code that does not allow "shirts/blouses that promote specific races, cultures, or ethnicities."

School officials said they will now interpret that clause of the dress code -- which was written at the beginning of this school year -- differently.

Defiance when asked to remove an article of clothing is an automatic 3- to 5-day suspension, according to the dress code.

"Certainly we are taking responsibility for it and it will not happen again," Walker said. "A shirt that has an American flag, a shirt that has a Chinese flag or a Mexican flag, is certainly not a violation of that part of the dress code."

Jake Shelly was wearing the tie-dyed T-shirt as part of a hippie dress-up day during homecoming week.

Students on campus started a campaign to wear as much red, white or blue clothing and carry as many flags as possible Thursday in protest of Tuesday's decision, despite the apology. Jake Shelly wore the same shirt he wore Tuesday and was not disciplined.

"I am glad so many people are supporting this and wearing red, white and blue," his sister said. She believes the swift change in rules was because of the overwhelming student action.

A.J. Galindo is one student who wore a patriotic shirt to school.

Galindo's shirt honored Marine Cpl. Joshua Pickard, a family member who died in Iraq in 2006. Pickard's two brothers remain active in the Marines.

"I think it is horrible that you can't wear an American flag to school without something like this happening," he said, referring to the flurry of activities during the school's lunch hour. "We have people fighting for our country and dying every day, but we can't wear an American flag at a public school?"

A.J. said he was proud of the patriotism displayed by his classmates.

His mother, Julie, said she was upset when she first heard the news Tuesday but feels better about the situation now.

"Initially, I was really concerned about what I heard, but after asking a few questions I realized the whole controversy is just the result of one person's misinterpretation of the rule," she said.

Julie Galindo said everyone makes mistakes and accepted the apologies by the school's administration.

She added that Dos Palos is a patriotic town and erected a veteran's memorial just last year. Several members of the education community served on a committee to erect the memorial that stands on the grounds of Marks Elementary School.

"I wouldn't want anyone to think of Dos Palos as an unpatriotic place," Julie Galindo said. "I feel very proud of my town and very proud of my country and very proud to wear the American flag."

Welcome to California MM. We're sorry!

[jomahu]

uniforms. all the way.

cannot stress this enough.

[syciprider]

A dose of common sense works too!

[ROON]

How ridiculous. Being PC has gone way overboard.

[bassteban]

Originally Posted by jomahu

uniforms. all the way.

cannot stress this enough.

Red, white & blue tie-dyed fig leaves. Or burkhas(sp), or full nudity, dependant on the weather.

[ROON]

Originally Posted by jomahu

uniforms. all the way.

cannot stress this enough.

Forcing kids to wear uniforms is one option, or they could revise the dress code so it is not so stupid. Promoting ones culture/ethnicity should not be deemed offensive. If I walked into that school wearing an Australian flag shirt, that doesn't mean I dislike Americans or people of any other ethnicity, I'd just be showing my roots. Nothin' wrong with that.

However shirts promoting races could cause some nasty stuff to happen.

[Muusers]

Originally Posted by bassteban

Red, white & blue tie-dyed fig leaves. Or burkhas(sp), or full nudity, dependant on the weather.

i'd say depending on the girl

[MakiSupaStar]

Yay. More dumb@$$es.

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by Article

His mother, Julie, said she was upset when she first heard the news Tuesday but feels better about the situation now.

"Initially, I was really concerned about what I heard, but after asking a few questions I realized the whole controversy is just the result of one person's misinterpretation of the rule," she said.

Julie Galindo said everyone makes mistakes and accepted the apologies by the school's administration.

Why exactly is this news?

Rabble, rabble, rabble.....

[mrokern]

Since the Asst. Principal seems to have such an issue with the US, I've got a few ideas for nations where we can send her to live...

-Mark

[mrokern]

Originally Posted by ROON

How ridiculous. Being PC has gone way overboard.

It went way overboard in our schools here a number of years ago, at least now we're starting to see some backlash.

[disenchant]

Instead of teaching everyone how not to offend others, how about we teach everyone how to get over themselves?

[Muusers]

Originally Posted by disenchant

Instead of teaching everyone how not to offend others

i thought you were gonna type, lets teach everyone how to offend others

[ROON]

Originally Posted by mrokern

It went way overboard in our schools here a number of years ago, at least now we're starting to see some backlash.

Power to the people! (obviously not the nutty PC ones)

[EricF]

Originally Posted by disenchant

Instead of teaching everyone how not to offend others, how about we teach everyone how to get over themselves?

Good plan.

Not that it matters all that much, but Dos Palos is a tiny little town in a very rural area of Central California (my company built the swimming pool at Dos Palos High School a couple of years ago). The folks of Dos Palos need to make quite a fuss for anyone to even notice they exist. I guess they did it this time.

[Croox]

Originally Posted by mrokern

Since the Asst. Principal seems to have such an issue with the US, I've got a few ideas for nations where we can send her to live...

-Mark

I agree, but lets not spend too much on it, I'd say we use a catapult to send 'em packing!

about the uniforms, there is no proven facts that it helps student conduct.
What's good for the Group isn't good for the Individual.

I'm still waiting for California to break off and sink into the ocean.

[jady]

Merced county is kinda off. I have had nothing but bad experiences in Merced Co.

EDIT: My old college roommate was the music teacher at Dos Palos HS. He hated it, they react before thinking a lot.

[ROON]

Originally Posted by Croox

about the uniforms, there is no proven facts that it helps student conduct.

I went to a non-uniformed school and we were as well behaved and disciplined as any other uniformed school.

[syciprider]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

Why exactly is this news?

Rabble, rabble, rabble.....

Apologizing is the typical response after being caught. It seems that saying "I'm sorry" makes it okay to be stupid these days.
They threw common sense out of the door and went out of their way to be offended and they won't even admit that after they were called out. They'd rather rely on a weak "misinterpreted" excuse to justify their actions. In my line of work I call BS when I see BS. Tell me exactly what you did and what you were thinking and I'll let you off easier. In this case tell me you had a moment of stupidity, arrogance and a general feeling of being unpatriotic and I will admire you for owing up.

Pity that these adults are responsible for shaping tomorrow's youth. They will mold them to be as weak as they are.

[mike_v_s]

Originally Posted by ROON

However shirts promoting races could cause some nasty stuff to happen.

You should have seen my high school campus. We had, uh.....some issues.

Mike