To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Friday, February 11, 2005
Ruining It For Everyone
Remember back when you were in school, and a couple of kids were really acting up, and because of them, your entire class missed out on something cool? Well, Raven Furbert knows how you feel.
Wrong. A while back, law enforcement and "gang specialists" informed the school district that, in certain parts of town (ie- The Hood), the beads were being used as identifiers. So, cute little plastic jewelry goes on the "ban" list.
Fast forward to Raven. She doesn't know about any of this. She's not in a gang. She's a good kid. She just wants to honor her uncle and support the troops. So, she makes a nice necklace. Sounds like a plan, right?
Wrong. She broke the rules. She didn't know it, but she did. She didn't do it in the gang-bang spirit, but she did it, non-the-less.
Because a bunch of bad-@ss wannabes, she gets in trouble. (Ok- not big trouble- she was just asked to take off the necklace.) The school district has no problem with her showing her patriotism, just not with little plastic beads. She can wear a t-shirt, wear a flag necklace or pin- just no plastic beads.
Her lawyer is filing a federal lawsuit against the school district is violating her First Amendment rights. They were on Hannity and Colmes, arguing their case. So was the school district. Sorry, Sean and Alan (who, remarkably, were on the same side this time), but you're wrong.
The school district has a moral and legal obligation to protect the students. If they have credible evidence that those stupid little plastic beads are being used as gang tags (and, evidently, one gang uses red, and the other blue- how convenient), then they have to ban them. They have to do their best to get the gangs out of the school.
They're going to take this to court (sadly.) Raven will still not get to wear her necklace (which really is a pity- it's a nice necklace- she did a good job). All because of a bunch of kids who probably don't even care about the people Raven was trying to honor.
Twelve-year-old Raven Furbert insists the beaded necklace shows her support for the troops. School administrators say regardless of what the necklace means, the beads are not allowed.OK... let me fill in a few blanks for you. The school district's code of conduct says "no clothing deemed gang related" - ie. wearing "colors." No bandanas, etc. to signify a gang affiliation. What to do, what to do if you're an up-and-coming hoodlum. Oh, wait! I know... make a little bracelet or a necklace out of cheap plastic beads you can pick up at Walmart. They won't notice a little piece of jewelry, right?
For Raven, every day is a chance to be patriotic. Her uncle, J.D. Barnes, is serving in Iraq. So she made a red, white and blue beaded necklace to express her patriotism and her support for the troops....
...The school's code of conduct states student's jewelry "will be safe, appropriate and not...interfere with the educational process." It also says "students will not wear any clothing deemed to be gang related."
Wrong. A while back, law enforcement and "gang specialists" informed the school district that, in certain parts of town (ie- The Hood), the beads were being used as identifiers. So, cute little plastic jewelry goes on the "ban" list.
Fast forward to Raven. She doesn't know about any of this. She's not in a gang. She's a good kid. She just wants to honor her uncle and support the troops. So, she makes a nice necklace. Sounds like a plan, right?
Wrong. She broke the rules. She didn't know it, but she did. She didn't do it in the gang-bang spirit, but she did it, non-the-less.
Because a bunch of bad-@ss wannabes, she gets in trouble. (Ok- not big trouble- she was just asked to take off the necklace.) The school district has no problem with her showing her patriotism, just not with little plastic beads. She can wear a t-shirt, wear a flag necklace or pin- just no plastic beads.
Her lawyer is filing a federal lawsuit against the school district is violating her First Amendment rights. They were on Hannity and Colmes, arguing their case. So was the school district. Sorry, Sean and Alan (who, remarkably, were on the same side this time), but you're wrong.
The school district has a moral and legal obligation to protect the students. If they have credible evidence that those stupid little plastic beads are being used as gang tags (and, evidently, one gang uses red, and the other blue- how convenient), then they have to ban them. They have to do their best to get the gangs out of the school.
They're going to take this to court (sadly.) Raven will still not get to wear her necklace (which really is a pity- it's a nice necklace- she did a good job). All because of a bunch of kids who probably don't even care about the people Raven was trying to honor.
