Schools Bans Boy From Wearing ‘Star Wars’ Shirt
A Texas boy was told he can’t wear his Star Wars shirt to school because the garment has a gun on it. The shirt worn by seventh-grader Colton Southern featured a stormtrooper character holding a futuristic blaster gun. News of the Star Wars shirt ban quickly went viral on social media and prompted posts declaring that political correctness is out of control in America.
The Colton Southern Star Wars shirt ban is just one of many incidences where a student got into trouble for wearing a shirt that school officials felt possessed a threatening message because a gun was part of the design. Public school students have even been told to change their shirts or turn them inside out because the patriotic emblem on the garment included an image of the memorial soldiers cross. Even young children in elementary school have found themselves in hot water for biting pop tarts in what was considered the shape of a gun, pointing a finger, and saying “bang” to other students while playing at recess. As “PC police” angst increases when stories like the Star Wars shirt ban emerge, the ranks of homeschooling students continue to swell in the United States.
“By most measures, Colton Southern is a model seventh-grader. He’s a boy scout, an active member of his church… https://t.co/sJ637OvU1G
— The Rutherford Inst. (@Rutherford_Inst) December 14, 2015
“It’s political correctness run amok. You’re talking about a Star Wars t-shirt, a week before the biggest movie of the year comes out. It has nothing to do with guns or making a stand. It’s just a Star Wars shirt,” Joe Southern, the Texas boy’s father, said during an interview with ABC News 13.
https://youtu.be/RUvl4TBxM8g
Even the millions of people who have no intention of going to see the new Star Wars movie have voiced firm opinions about the boy being he couldn’t wear his new favorite shirt to school because it features a stormtrooper blaster. When the original Star Wars movie came out 1977, children wore shirts showcasing their love of the film and their favorite characters without an eyebrow being raised. However, that was back during the era when students could play with toy guns and swords at recess, teachers had “shootouts” with their students using squirt guns on the last day of school, the term “mass shooting” had no yet been coined, and the idea of school shootings had not entered the public consciousness.
A school in Texas has banned Colton Southern’s Star Wars shirt: https://t.co/a9UOvuimoV
— News 96.5 (WDBO) (@news965wdbo) December 12, 2015
George Junior High School officials did not punish the boy for wearing the Star Wars: The Force Awakens shirt to school — he was just ordered to zip up his jacket, according to a Daily Mail report. A representative for the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District told the media that the school handbook clearly states that “symbols oriented toward violence” violates the dress code. The spokesperson also said that school officials could have issued Colton Southern an in-school suspension or other punishments and required him to change his shirt.
According to a Facebook post by the elder Southern, Colton had worn the stormtrooper blaster shirt to school several times in the past without incident.
“He’s a Boy Scout, active in church, volunteers at Brazos Bend State Park. There’s not a violent bone in his body. He’s just an excited kid for the movie,” Joe Southern added.
What do you think about the boy being told he couldn’t wear his Star Wars shirt to school?
[Image via Shutterstock.com/Stefano Tinti]
