Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Principal Taking Away T-Shirts

AliensAreFuzzy

AliensAreFuzzy

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 30, 2004
1,561
0
Madison, WI
So yesterday, my younger sister (senior in high school) came home from soccer practice quite upset. Apparently, one of the coaches had T-Shirts made for the entire team that said "Xavier Soccer" on the front and "Working ours off to kick yours" on the back. Everybody on the team liked them and I thought they were pretty good (I have one from my last co-op that's similar).

But when the principal found out through the Dean of Students (Who is also the athletic director) he cited them as being offensive. And rather than just disallowing them from wearing the shirts at school, he demanded that the entire team turn in the T-Shirts to the school administration or they would be punished.

Now I wouldn't have as much of a problem if the prinicipal had simply not allowed those shirts to be worn in school or if the shirts had been bought using funds from the soccer team. What I find incredibly aggrivating is that the principal is confiscating all the T-Shirts that one of the coaches paid for out of his own pocket. To me, that basically seems like stealing.

I actually know the principal pretty well as I was very involved in a lot of activities during High School and I'm probably going to go in to voice my opinion on the situation later this week.

What do you guys think of the situation?
 
The team is working its off to kick yours, but the principal has a stick too far up his. That seems to be the main problem.

That said, it gets a little gray if the shirts use the school's name/logo/mascot--then it's a matter of hijacking the "brand" for something the principal deems does not reflect the school's "values." But even then, he might not quite have a leg to stand on in stopping the shirts from being made...

I'm not really sure, but it's just one of those things where you have to ask, "Is it worth fighting?" It sucks and the principal is a loser, but that's life, unfortunately.
 
The main question here though, agreeing with "themadchemist", is it really worth fighting for in your situation? After all, if the man who paid for the t-shirts doesn't have a problem with them being confiscated, then there is really no point in fighting it, and if the shirts bear the school's mascot, name, crest or anything of the sort, then the principle does have some say, after all the school is under his control. But personally, I don't find much of an issue with the shirts, we have made a lot more offensive t-shirts for the drama group at our school than what the back of that shirt says, we ordered shirts last year that had our school's name with the words drama club under it (i.e. XXXX High School Drama Club), and on the back it read, "We Do it in the Dark," (a drama joke), and the school found it offensive before the shirts were even delivered and had us cancel the order. We got in a little trouble, but nothing more than that.
 
themadchemist said:
The team is working its off to kick yours, but the principal has a stick too far up his. That seems to be the main problem.
Click to expand...

I actually said almost the same thing last night, except it was that he had his head up his.

As for the branding issue, there have been MUCH worse shirts made and nothing this drastic was done. But I will admit, the girls soccer team has been known to tip-toe along the line with their aparrel before (They would have inconspicuous acronynms that stood for some pretty ridiculous stuff)
 
That really is stupid. If he's going to be that drastic, then they should enstate some kind of pre-approval system where any event/team item is going to be made/printed and distributed (with the possibility of it being worn or brought to school and being representational of that event/team).

Because I've seen and heard much worse in common high school lunch room conversation.
 
Abstract said:
The Principal should have let you keep them. You're right.

I wonder if some negative press would make him change his mind?
Click to expand...
Probably not. We had a ban on wearing anything that is dominantly red (polos, shirts, blouses, t-shirts, etc.) from our school this year since we have a "gang problem." :rolleyes: We had the news talk about it ad all that stuff, but we still can't wear red (except on spirit days.)

We tried to protest it, by wearing red on a Wednesday. The administration found out and on the Tuesday before they made an announcement saying anyone wearing red would be suspended, having their parking revoked, not be able to participate in activities, go to dances, etc. etc.

The funny thing is, red is our school color.
 
Awww yes, trying to protect the children still.

The shirt doesn't even say a bad word. I wouldn't return the shirt. What kind of trouble could he get you into? It is your property and you can argue it is another Xavier school.

Plus the bad press if he were to punish your sister would outweigh any good taking the shirts back did.

This principal is exactly what is wrong with America. Get over it. This is high school, the people are doing drugs and saying ****. A shirt that doesn't have a single bad word is not influencing anyone. These people have made up their mind.
 
AliensAreFuzzy said:
haha, well they have to turn them in by the end of the week, or there will be consequences (My sister didn't say what those consequences would be)
Click to expand...

Well, I would not hand over private property to another person, just because he or she or it is the principal. He can pay for them, but if he or she or it didn't pay for them and can't provide a receipt, I guess he or she or it ain't getting them.

And if the principal starts with that childish rant about how he doesn't have to let them play soccer, then so be it. I guess there won't be a soccer team. The newspapers love to tell stories like that.
 
  1. Soak t-shirt.
  2. Roll into a medium length tube.
  3. Freeze.
  4. Beat principal savagely. Inform the principal that today's special at the cafeteria is pain, and there's a two for one discount.
 
That is ridiculous! :mad: He should turn in the large stick he clearly has up his.

I think some bad press on this would be a good thing. ;)
 
lostfan916 said:
Probably not. We had a ban on wearing anything that is dominantly red (polos, shirts, blouses, t-shirts, etc.) from our school this year since we have a "gang problem." :rolleyes: We had the news talk about it ad all that stuff, but we still can't wear red (except on spirit days.)

We tried to protest it, by wearing red on a Wednesday. The administration found out and on the Tuesday before they made an announcement saying anyone wearing red would be suspended, having their parking revoked, not be able to participate in activities, go to dances, etc. etc.

The funny thing is, red is our school color.
Click to expand...

Are you from the US? Is this what schools have amounted to? Such a waste of administrative time to uphold and get these sort of rules in place. Forget the colours. What about the kids that aren't doing well at school? Worry about them first. It's a school, first and foremost. Educating kids should be what it's all about.

I would have hated having a uniform as a kid, but in hindsight, I'd say that if they were mandatory in all schools, many small issues would be taken care of.
 
This is what the US public school system has deteriorated to. It's sad. My youngest stepdaughter got sent home one day from the York County Public school system, probably in the top 5 in Virginia, because she had Pixie Stix at school. The idiots there said it looked like "crack cocaine" if you can believe that. So they sent her home. My wife called them and yelled at them so loud and so long that I could hear her outside the house.
 
ctt1wbw said:
This is what the US public school system has deteriorated to. It's sad. My youngest stepdaughter got sent home one day from the York County Public school system, probably in the top 5 in Virginia, because she had Pixie Stix at school. The idiots there said it looked like "crack cocaine" if you can believe that. So they sent her home. My wife called them and yelled at them so loud and so long that I could hear her outside the house.
Click to expand...

Back when I was in high school, pre-9/11, in Canada, a female honours student got strip searched because drug dogs reacted to her locker (where there were, predictably, no drugs).
 
It uses the school's logo, so it makes it representative of the school....

When you say "Dean of Students" I am thinking this is a private school... In which case, he has more leeway with what he can confiscate.

But that's just the Public School Employee in me speaking; If it were up to me personally, I'd call the ACLU.
 
In high school in los angeles I had a t-shirt from the movie Blue Velvet that had Dennis Hopper with a gas mask on and the words "Don't you f***ing look at me" (but not censored) on it. I got through 5 classes before a teacher merely told me not to wear it again. Times, they are a changin'.
 
Iscariot said:
Back when I was in high school, pre-9/11, in Canada, a female honours student got strip searched because drug dogs reacted to her locker (where there were, predictably, no drugs).
Click to expand...

Post 9/11 I believe it was 2004/5 I think we had a bomb scare and I got ISS for going to my locker as we were evacuating the school because I wanted my laptop.

I was a straight A student with a contract with the school to work, and I fought the ISS charge saying its a blemish and a stupid call because not only was my laptop worth enough to take with me, but also my keys to my car/house/relative's houses were in there as well.

Then again last year we had another bomb scare, and they evacuated us to the old wooden bleachers that were decaying and the main reason we were building another stadium. Lovely let's pack the high school (given we don't have that many people) onto the already classified as unsafe bleachers that were rotting out.

High school sucks, fight what you can, take bitterly what you can't
 
The principal must be dirty minded in order to find anything remotely offensive in the phrase "Working ours off to kick yours". Regardless, unless they printed a copyrighted school image for use on the shirt (xavier school logo, etc.) then the principal really has no right to confiscate the shirts.

I can see how one could make a case that the principal is guilty of extortion, in that he threatens discipline unless the non-school funded t-shirts are given to the administration. Banning the wearing of the shirts at school/school events is fine, but demanding that they be turned in regardless of where the shirts are worn is possibly illegal.
 
Abstract said:
Are you from the US? Is this what schools have amounted to? Such a waste of administrative time to uphold and get these sort of rules in place. Forget the colours. What about the kids that aren't doing well at school? Worry about them first. It's a school, first and foremost. Educating kids should be what it's all about.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. This is how the public school systems are deteriorating. My husband taught in public high school until recently, when he broke, quit, and started a new and more sane position at a community college.

99.9% of the people on Board of Education have never been teachers, have never worked alongside teachers in a classroom. They have no idea what actually goes on in the classroom, other than what they can remember from their own high school days. Half of them don't even have children in the public schools. Therefore, they have no sympathy with the public school teachers, the people who are actually doing the under-appreciated job of educating the kids... and so the teachers are under-supported and under-resourced and the kids are not educated. And then they complain that the standardized test scores are dropping.

The kids who aren't doing well at school? The worst ones are shunted into a separate "alternative school," which receives even less resources and less funding than the regular schools. They also do not have teachers at this school; the English, science, and math teachers are all also teaching history, social studies, phys ed, and music, because there is not enough money to pay for more teachers and there are no teachers who want to take a job with "bad kids" and poor pay. And so these kids are not educated either. But here, because they are at a *separate* school, they don't bring average test scores at the regular schools down. And so the Board of Education can pretend they don't exist... more than half of the Board actually doesn't know that they exist. And most of the people of the town and the parents of the kids at the regular schools don't know that they exist either.

It is no longer about the education of the kids. It has become all about what colors to wear.

*stepping off soapbox now*
 
On topic: unless it is private school, you're not hosed at all. Don't turn in the shirts, wear it once, assess the consequences, decide whether or not to escalate the situation. Schools will (99% of the time) back down when faced with organized, logical, and image-smearing resistance. If it is a private school, you are screwed.

Off topic: the public school system, more or less, is a crock. My wife went to Naperville Central, a school district with plenty of fat cat tax money to waste. Waste it they did. My high school, considered one of the best in the nation, had its share of embarassing foibles, but it pales in comparison to some of the rural high schools I've visited with a friend who is doing student teaching.

By the time these people reach high school, there is a diminishing returns in operation that makes it unlikely that more than 50% of them will be "turned around" or become "productive members of society". However, we NEED these people to do the bottom-of-the-barrel jobs (supposedly), so no one really sees it as a problem. The top 10% keep on getting good jobs, good careers, and things move on.

In actuality, my gripe is principally focused on the elementary and pre-school institutions, where the greatest chance of making lifelong impressions and building productive habits is done. If they paid elementary school teachers like doctors, I tremble at the thought of what awesomeness might ensue. Or, conversely, they would be corrupted by their wealth, and devolve into a system much akin to our health care of today. I guess the low wages sort out those people really committed to doing the job, even if it means crappy wages and little or no professional verticality over time.

Decline and fall of education = decline and fall of the empire.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back