Which of the following should kids be allowed to wear on clothes to school?

[The Man From G.O.P.]

I vote for all except the swastika, confederate flag and x-ed out GLBT rainbow.

PLEASE even try to explain how you don't allow those things but allow some others.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I vote for all except the swastika, confederate flag and x-ed out GLBT rainbow.

PLEASE even try to explain how you don't allow those things but allow some others.

Swastika = racist and anti-semetic
confederate flag = racist
x-ed out GLBT = homophobic

The rest aren't discriminatory so they're fine.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Everything but the GBLT rainbow (for the student's safety) and the Islamic crescent (same reason)

You think wearing a GLBT rainbow will endanger a student's safety more than wearing a swastika?

I'd say my school is incredibly homophoic and there are really no openly gay kids if any at all.  There are a lot of openly anti-semetic kids.

You go to a pretty f**ked up school, then, if being gay is worse than being a Nazi.

Sounds like a typical American high school to me.

I voted to ban the symbols I disliked and allow the symbols I like.

So let me guess, you voted to allow the:

x-ed out swastika
hammer and sickle
x-ed out Islamic crescent
x-ed out Christian cross
x-ed out Republican elephant
Democratic donkey
x-ed out confederate flag
a GLBT rainbow

Am I right?

[DownWithTheLeft]

Everything but the GBLT rainbow (for the student's safety) and the Islamic crescent (same reason)

You think wearing a GLBT rainbow will endanger a student's safety more than wearing a swastika?

I'd say my school is incredibly homophoic and there are really no openly gay kids if any at all.  There are a lot of openly anti-semetic kids.

You go to a pretty f**ked up school, then, if being gay is worse than being a Nazi.

Sounds like a typical American high school to me.

I voted to ban the symbols I disliked and allow the symbols I like.

So let me guess, you voted to allow the:

x-ed out swastika
hammer and sickle
x-ed out Islamic crescent
x-ed out Christian cross
x-ed out Republican elephant
Democratic donkey
x-ed out confederate flag
a GLBT rainbow

Am I right?

Yea, except for the GLBT rainbow and you forgot a few, I explained my reasoning

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

I vote for all except the swastika, confederate flag and x-ed out GLBT rainbow.

PLEASE even try to explain how you don't allow those things but allow some others.

He's a hypocrite.

[Ebowed]

All, though you should certainly get beaten up for a good amount of them.

[WalterMitty]

none.

we need school uniforms.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

none.

we need school uniforms.

Of all the awful and stupid views you have, this is hands down THE WORST.

[Dr. Cynic]

The only one I have a huge problem with is the Swastika... It means nothing but pure hatred. While the others may mean little to any average joe on the street, everyone knows someone wearing the Swastika is a neo-nazi...

[CPT MikeyMike]

Either allow all of them or ban everything and make kid wear school uniforms.

There's too much gray area here.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

none.

we need school uniforms.

Why do you hate America?

[© tweed]

All, obviously.

[WalterMitty]

for all of oyu that bash me on school uniforms:

every job ive ever worked at had a very strict dress code, why not implement the same in schools?

[Ban my account ffs!]

I checked every option, though there are a few that might be banned just to ensure the safety of students.  Someone wearing a confederate flag or a swastika is likely to be bullied by other students.

As far as the rest, have at it.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

for all of oyu that bash me on school uniforms:

every job ive ever worked at had a very strict dress code, why not implement the same in schools?

You get paid to work at those jobs too. Should kids get paid for going to school? It's not the same thing.

Besides, I've never had a job that required a uniform. My current one has a dress code, but a rather lax one, and it's not enforced.

[angus]

I'm not sure any of those are really that offensive.  Many of them are religious symbols:  crescent (Islam), swastika (Hindu and Buddhist), cross (Christian); you could also add star (Jewish) and fish (Christian) and wheel (Buddhist), etc., to the list.  I suppose in France it's fashionable not to allow overt displays of religiosity like that, but here I think it's more offensive not to.  Now, the hammer/sickle, elephant, and donkey are political, and I think the school can ban them without stepping on deeply-held american principles.  The confederate flag, of course, is a national flag of a now-defunct nation, and probably isn't much recognized anyway.  I think it isn't flown much except by Statesrights.  Most people I know who want to associate with the confederacy fly the Battle Flag instead.  There was this bar in California called The Oak Door where lots of guys had little confederate battle flags stitched into their black felt hats or green jackets.  I actually think it's kinda bothersome, but I'm not sure why exactly.  After all, other flags of other now-defunct armies don't seem to bother me.  I guess I'm just Republican enough that the thought of celebrating the armies that kill American Soldiers is a tad offensive.  The rainbow is a special case.  It may be the flag of the Tihuantinsuyu, which was ubiquitous in Cuzco as I recall.  And I remember many Gringo tourists in Peru mistake it for Jessie Jackson's rainbow coalition flag.  They are similar.  As for that flag, I think it more often than not is used as a symbol of gay pride.

I only remember once being made to change shirts myself.  It was in the seventh grade and I had a freebie tshirt from a beer company.  My social studies teacher was pretty cool about it, explaining that he personally had no problem with it, but it was school policy not to allow the advertisement of drugs on shirts at my school.  Actually, the principal offered me an old sweatshirt to wear over it when I got to his office so I didn't have to actually miss class.

I would definitely allow any of them if I were an administrator, even the beer shirt, but then I would always err on the side of libertarianism in such cases.  And if I were on the school board I'd probably argue that we have more important issues to deal with and anyway get over yourself.  Still, there is some advantage in having students wear uniforms rather than tshirts with various insignia.  I suppose that's a bit beyond the scope of the thread, though.

I also remember this guy Kenny in high school physics had a black tshirt with huge white letters that said FUCK OFF.  I remember Mister Wiley--we used to call him Wile E Coyote or Wiley Coyote--made Kenny go gome and change it.  It was hard too, because that day our bridge-building projects were due, and he was frantically trying to finish his.  He cursed and moaned at Wiley, but to no avail, since he still had to miss class to go change the shirt.  I thoughT it was a bit over-reactionary on Wiley's part.  But now that I'm a respectable, responsible grown-up I understand Wiley's position.

[minionofmidas]

for all of oyu that bash me on school uniforms:

every job ive ever worked at had a very strict dress code, why not implement the same in schools?

Students don't work in them.

If you want a dress code in schools, have it apply to teachers.

[DownWithTheLeft]

I think what should be accepted depends on the area, what flies somewhere might not fly somewhere else.  Ex., if you live in Provincetown, MA, wearing a GBLT rainbow would be normal and a Confederate flag would be crazy.  However, the reserve is opposite in the Deep South.

[Joe Republic]

I checked every option, though there are a few that might be banned just to ensure the safety of students.  Someone wearing a confederate flag or a swastika is likely to be bullied by other students.

...for which they would clearly deserve it, frankly.

That said, I'm amazed to find that the following statement is actually correct:

I think what should be accepted depends on the area, what flies somewhere might not fly somewhere else.  Ex., if you live in Provincetown, MA, wearing a GBLT rainbow would be normal and a Confederate flag would be crazy.  However, the reverse is opposite in the Deep South.

[angus]

I checked every option, though there are a few that might be banned just to ensure the safety of students.  Someone wearing a confederate flag or a swastika is likely to be bullied by other students.

...for which they would clearly deserve it, frankly.

That said, I'm amazed to find that the following statement is actually correct:

I think what should be accepted depends on the area, what flies somewhere might not fly somewhere else.  Ex., if you live in Provincetown, MA, wearing a GBLT rainbow would be normal and a Confederate flag would be crazy.  However, the reverse is opposite in the Deep South.

I doubt it's correct.  I visited Provincetown several times during the many years I lived in Boston.  I also have lived in the Deep South for nearly 3 years.  And I do not see significant differences in the frequency of the rainbows between those two places.  Then again I became an old boring married guy about the time I moved here and I don't get out that much and generally stay in the ten block radius of my apartment in a neighborhood that's mostly left-leaning students and even more left-leaning faculty.  I didn't ever see the confederate flag in either place.  However I do see the the confederate battle flag more frequently here than in any other place I have lived, except for the three years I lived a block from The Oak Door. 

I'm more concerned with your desire to see children bullied.  Seems out of character.  My bengali neighbor, an organic chemist, frequently wears a swastika on his shirt when we have him over for dinner, and he's one of the nicest person I have ever met, for example.  In fact, he gave me a shirt with a swastika on it as a souvenir.  I don't wear it.  It'd be kinda like me giving him a shirt with a crucifix.  Kinda.  But the intention was nice, I think.   Then again, he's a fifty-six year old man and not a child.  Maybe you only bully children.

[Joe Republic]

Context, angus, context.

For your friend to wear a swastika is clearly appropriate, given that it's a positive symbol of his religion (I can only assume).  I would expect - or at least hope - that most people would understand this upon seeing it on him.  However, for BRTD to include this option in his poll, he was clearly talking about the 'other' meaning of the swastika symbol, which the stereotype will associate with a skin head, antisemitic epithets, etc.  And if a kid actually behaves like that, then yeah, he or she will get exactly what's coming to them.  And no, you'll have no sympathy from me.  Especially since this child is hypothetical.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Context, angus, context.

For your friend to wear a swastika is clearly appropriate, given that it's a positive symbol of his religion (I can only assume).  I would expect - or at least hope - that most people would understand this upon seeing it on him.  However, for BRTD to include this option in his poll, he was clearly talking about the 'other' meaning of the swastika symbol, which the stereotype will associate with a skin head, antisemitic epithets, etc.  And if a kid actually behaves like that, then yeah, he or she will get exactly what's coming to them.  And no, you'll have no sympathy from me.  Especially since this child is hypothetical.

Joe are you a Nazi?

[AkSaber]

All of them. Of course, private school should be able to set whatever dress code they want, and public schools shouldn't exist, and even when they exist it should be them to set their own dress code, but I'd support not restricting any of those things.

I again find myself agreeing with you.

[Joe Republic]

Context, angus, context.

For your friend to wear a swastika is clearly appropriate, given that it's a positive symbol of his religion (I can only assume).  I would expect - or at least hope - that most people would understand this upon seeing it on him.  However, for BRTD to include this option in his poll, he was clearly talking about the 'other' meaning of the swastika symbol, which the stereotype will associate with a skin head, antisemitic epithets, etc.  And if a kid actually behaves like that, then yeah, he or she will get exactly what's coming to them.  And no, you'll have no sympathy from me.  Especially since this child is hypothetical.

Joe are you a Nazi?

Uh... no?  Wtf?

[angus]

An oversimplification on my part, and I admit.  Also just giving you a hard time Joe. 

Partly though it's my sheer interest to understand Provincetown, and for that matter Key West, which I have also visited.  I understand, or at least have a reasonable historical theory about San Francisco, and it's disproportionately large number of gay men there.  And I also have a theory about Columbus and its proportionately large number of gay men here, which is entirely unrelated to SF.  But I've never come up with a reasonable one for Ptown or Key West, and really the only think I can think of in common from my visits was little fingers of land hanging out over the eastern shoreline.  And I wanted someone to bite.  If only for my own edification.

And there's a reminder of a kneejerk reaction of public indignation of a symbol because we think our nose is beginning when sometimes the other's fist is not even thinking about swinging which really does sometimes happen, although the occurrence of the swastika from religious devotion relative to nazi-related uses is rather rare, in all likelihood of course.

Also, I like to make newcomers aware of the very similar flag of the Tihuantinsuyu in case they ever visit Peru I don't want them furthering the negative stereotypes of rich, uneducated, gringo tourists hanging out on the main streetcorner arguing through the madness of a fine Andean pure coke buzz about the reason a "gay flag" flies over the square.  Been there.  Done that. 

And there's also the obligatory anti-PC rant that I've become too lazy even to self-plagiarize.

Sorry for exploiting you of convenience.  Peace.