Originally posted by inimalist
then it just seems like yet another over-reaction of the authoritarian day-care centre that passes as the education system...
I'm curious, but how would something like this be handled in Canada? Say if someone wore something that could potentially be offensive to some of the native tribes that live in Canada, but patriotic in that, say the theme was based around your country's flag.
Would anyone care? Would it even make the news?
i dont think the kids should have bn suspended.. the problem i see here is that it was obvious those kids wanted to get a rise out of the other kids who do celebrate cinco de mayo out of spite..
now if i was at downtown celebrating and drinking and some dipsh#@ came to me wearing a red white and blue flag i wouldn't care. now if he came to me and try to throw it in my face then i would kick his @$$ not b/c i don't respect the America flag which i do and even fought for it even though at times the flag doesn't seem to represent what it once was. but, i would kick his @$$ b/c obviously the guy came with something to prove and try to be petty and spiteful.
those kids should have just gotten their @$$ kicked by some random kids for their immaturity and obvious attempt to get a rise out of ppl "if" they were walking up to ppl to see their reaction.
Originally posted by Autokrat
I'm curious, but how would something like this be handled in Canada? Say if someone wore something that could potentially be offensive to some of the native tribes that live in Canada, but patriotic in that, say the theme was based around your country's flag.
depends. This whole situation seems really hit and miss. You get good administrators and you get bad ones, and everyone makes a bad call now and then. Students have been suspended for stupid things all over the world, and we are as sensitive to racial issues here as anywhere.
However, it is important to realize we don't have this sort of knee jerk patriotism. Native rights issues don't really evoke such exclusionary ideas (our ignorance normally comes from not understanding why they wouldn't want to be part of mainstream Canadian society) and few real issues with immigration (this is getting worse in the working class).
Originally posted by Autokrat
Would anyone care?
not in the way Americans do. Patriotism is very strange for Canadians. We are extremely nationalistic, but we are suspiscious of nationalism. The sort of overt "this is my canada" doesn't play well. We like to be canadians, but we really don't want to tell people who can and can't be a canadian
So like, people would care, but I think it would focus on "why are they doing this" rather than on "they be allowed to wear whatever they want". Our constitution works differently with regards to free speech, and besides, schools don't have to give students free speech anyways. But even then, its not going to be the same. The whole issue wouldn't make sense in a Canadian context, and people would probably be interested more because it would show a troubling trend in youth patriotism
Originally posted by Autokrat
Would it even make the news?
local maybe. if anything, cbc might cover it if it became a national thing. But its not something that would garner a whole lot of attention unless someone really tried to make it an issue
So, in theory, the school would pull the same stunt if someone wore a Mexican or US flag on St. Patrick's day? It's an Irish holiday, but like Cinco de Mayo, is not celebrating independence day, and by and large tends to be celebrated far more heavily in the US (since we've gone right ahead and pretty much turned it into "National Drinking Day"😉.
Additionally, if the school were really worried about them causing a problem, and did want to send the kids home, they should have at least made it an excused absence. Trying to mark them down as absent for no reason, like the school wasn't notified of why they were gone and thus had no idea where the kids were, is bogus when the damn school itself is the one that told them to go home. An actual suspension is overboard, considering it's extremely unlikely any actual dress code violation took place, as it's obvious there's no rule in place against the wearing of a national flag. The article mentions plenty of Mexican flags appearing on clothing, after all.
Originally posted by The Dark Cloud
I think kids should be able to wear shirts with Swastikas on them. Seriously...it's an an American school, American flags should be OK, flags of other countries should not be allowed.
There is a contradiction between your first sentence and your second sentence. You indicate that any kind of symbol be allowed no matter how offensive but then turn around and say that only American flags should be allowed? Despite using an obvious non American example.
Originally posted by Autokrat
There is a contradiction between your first sentence and your second sentence. You indicate that any kind of symbol be allowed no matter how offensive but then turn around and say that only American flags should be allowed? Despite using an obvious non American example.
I see you are oblivious to sarcasm (my first sentance)