pledge,flags, mohawks,and studs.

[oipunk]

hey i just need to know if anyone is really educated with llegal stuff i've been suspended for wearing an upside down flag and not standing for the pledge. im not allowed in any pe classes because that teacher thinks my mohawk's "dangerous" (mormon area) and i've been told not to wear my studded (not with spikes,just studs)jackets or i'll be suspended. one day they will have us all looking the same if this continues. can anyone give advice on what i legally can & cannot do? thaks

[jacobhaller]

Hmmm ... A public school can have and enforce a dress code, but it cannot restrict political speech (or religious expression). A public school must follow the first amendment (not, sadly, the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eight or tenth).

They can restrict your studs. They may be able to restrict your Mohawk. They cannot require you to stand for the pledge. They can try, but it is blatantly unconstitutional.

The upside-down flag is more complicated. The flag is per se a political symbol and the use of the flag is per se political speech. There are flag codes. The government uses them to define its own use of the flag; some other orgs like the BSA use them for the same purpose.

[trashycakes]

on the pledge - your school can not legally do shit if you refuse to stand for the pledge. unless you are causing a disruption (ie. doing last minute hw or something else you shouldnt during that time) then they can't get you into any trouble. you can take this as far as you want, i strongly suggest going to ACLU.ORG , they do a lot with this kind of thing. (there are even examples of refusing to stand for the pledge. its considered unconstitutional in these cases to be forced to stand/say/support the pledge)
on the flag - my favorite hoody has an upside down flag on the back and i've never been stopped. it's true that students ARE allowed to wear political things, and so you shouldn't get in any trouble for this either - again unless you are causing a disruption, like a distraction. in this case, it first must CAUSE a disruption for them to do anything about it. again, aclu.org

not sure about the mohawk and the studs, since those are pretty much based on their discrepency (although it sounds like bullshit i must add).. neither of those are actually dangerous, nor could honestly be considered weapons, so i might bring that up with your schools dress code rules and administration, fight back a little bit and demand to know why you can't wear them. although legally, i don't think there is much you can do.

hope this helps

[Pomegranate]

I’m tired of kissin' ass, I can't sit still all day,
now I know your school's a lie, that's why you dragged me here.

"You're a hyperactive child, you're destructive, you're too wild.
We're going to calm you down, now this won't hurt a bit."

Drag me to the floor, pullin' down my pants,
ram a needle up my butt, put my brain into a trance.

"No more hyperactive child, got too much of a mind,
wouldn't you rather be happy? Now this won't hurt a bit."

Cameras in the halls, no windows, just brick walls,
pledge allegiance to a flag, now you will obey.

[Robert E.]

not standing up that is free speech no question about that. but the upside down flag if you say it is silent political protest then you are good to go. i cant remember the case name but two kids in the 60's wore black bands around there arms as protest and the schools kicked them out. they took it to the supreme court and won the right to protest. so just say it is silent protest. i will find the case though and get back to you guys

[Poop]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_v._Des_Moines_Independent_Community_School_District

[Casualty]

a lot of restrictions and rules imposed by schools are utter nonsense - like the fact that someone can get thrown out of class for refusing to take a discretionary survey or a rule that prohibits males from wearing any sort of earrings...i did some research and learned that for the most part, students in a school aren't covered by constitutional amendments - this argument has been used for multiple cases where a student claimed free speech or right to expression...this is debatable, but many of these cases have been dropped with a few days of suspension and refusal to protest the issue

that's why i say, if you have done some research pertaining to laws in your state and you know what you did is constitutionally just, make a scene and make sure that you're not being silenced by someone who doesn't know the law - aclu.org is a good site, it has a search that covers each state, so check the laws in your area

[Thunk]

I know this post was made like 5 years ago, but if anyone ever comes up on the same situation, there's an easy answer:

Call the ACLU (in the USA, of course...Brits and others, I don't know whom you're expected to phone).

[Guest]

just be aware of the history of the ACLU if you do have to call them... *cough*stalinists*cough*

[Jawn Disease]

I got suspended for a T-shirt with George Bush's face and 'international terrorist' written on it, and this was in Canada, too. the teacher told me I couldn't wear it, I asked why not, she said it was offensive, i said only to fascists, she told me to take it off or get out, so i took it off, and then she got me suspended for being half naked in math class. What a whore.

I never stood for the national anthem. Everyone else did, every morning. Some teachers tried to get me to stand. I refused, saying that I was not a nationalist. they insisted. wasn't I Canadian? They understood I was a very clever and opinionated young man, and that was very nice, but I should be more sensitive to the views of others. I should be proud of being Canadian! I told them I didn't care about their little flag and their silly song and that i was present in English class to learn about modern fiction not to listen to music. i told them that if they tried to force me to stand for the anthem, I would just refuse, and if they threatened to expel me for it, I would stand up for their fucking song and write a letter every god damn day to every member of the school board until I got the right to do what I want to.

they ended up just telling me again to stand for the anthem and then i didn't for the rest of the year.

It was fucking stupid. I hated that school. I felt like an alien. I had just moved there from abroad and it was so fucked up to be back in my country and realize how fucking shitty anglophone public schools in Quebec were. I'm glad i was stoned out of my fucking head every second of my time there or i would have fucked up some serious shit.

[Guest]

I got suspended for a T-shirt with George Bush's face and 'international terrorist' written on it, and this was in Canada, too. the teacher told me I couldn't wear it, I asked why not, she said it was offensive, i said only to fascists, she told me to take it off or get out, so i took it off, and then she got me suspended for being half naked in math class. What a whore.

That's pretty clever.

I remember that sophomore year, I was told that I couldn't wear my patches because some of them "promoted violence". This was mainly because I had a patch that said Capitalism on it, and showed one person with a gun pointed at the other person's head (i'm sure many people have seen the symbol). I wore it the next day, but the administrators didn't see it for the rest of the year, not that I had it hidden or anything, they were just... unobservant. So, point of the story is that the public education system can still fuck you over even if you're exhibiting free speech. Besides, If you're under 18, there are "youth codes" (yes, its word-play on the Black Codes of the 19th and 20th centuries) for that type of stuff anyway. The Vietnam students won their case because they were citizens over 18, people younger than 18 aren't even considered citizens under the law, so, as a juvinile, you less rights than what the constitution says.

[Zazaban]

I didn't know they made people stand for the anthem in class here in Canada. I've certainly never heard of anyone doing that. Where do you live?

[|Y|]

That's new to me, too. I thought the US was the only country in the northern americas that had such asinine nationalist tendencies.

[Insecuritykiller]

You're choice to goto school. It's their school. Follow the rules, who cares.

[joebob]

hey i just need to know if anyone is really educated with llegal stuff i've been suspended for wearing an upside down flag and not standing for the pledge. im not allowed in any pe classes because that teacher thinks my mohawk's "dangerous" (mormon area) and i've been told not to wear my studded (not with spikes,just studs)jackets or i'll be suspended. one day they will have us all looking the same if this continues. can anyone give advice on what i legally can & cannot do? thaks

Here is some great advice: Grow the fuck up and stop dressing like a tool.

It'll save you tons of trouble.