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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSpecial needs student forced to remove letter jacket after parent complained he didn't earn it
Another parent, from what I am told, was upset that my son was wearing his letter jacket.
The mother claims her son was asked to take that jacket off and was given a sweat shirt to wear instead.
The school claimed it was school policy, but the Athletic Director for the entire school district says it is NOT district policy:
The family turned to J. Means, USD 259s Athletic Director. He told the family that when he was the athletic director at Northwest High their policy was to allow special needs students to earn letters, just like other athletes.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/27/1373746/-Special-needs-student-forced-to-remove-letter-jacket-after-parent-complained-he-didn-t-earn-it?detail=facebook_sf
What a fucking POS sorry excuse.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)School policy my ass. CYA policy is more like it.
MerryBlooms
(11,776 posts)RELEASE THE SKITTLES
Initech
(100,129 posts)Laurian
(2,593 posts)The student whose parents complained must be embarrassed as hell. At least I hope he/she is, but maybe not since hatefulness must abound in that home. Ugh.
MerryBlooms
(11,776 posts)etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)... much less complain about it.
onenote
(42,821 posts)out of sight in facilities that would make Dickens roll in his grave.
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)I can't even imagine wanting to do this to a kid
onenote
(42,821 posts)sullies up their tidy little worlds. Of course, some of these same people will talk about "all God's children".
You're absolutely right -- Blech.
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)My (pseudo) niece was severely and multiply impaired (she died 3.5 years ago at the age of 21).
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)conservative Christian rich family. The second they come across one that needs financial help from a government program or are from a liberal family, these children are just a drain on society.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)I hope they get a lot of grief for this incredible meanness.
MerryBlooms
(11,776 posts)joeybee12
(56,177 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Why are so many so obsessed with minding the business of others who are doing them no harm?
That "parent" is a brass-plated, four-door shitheel.
JI7
(89,283 posts)uppityperson
(115,681 posts)stupid thing to do and shame on the parent who complained.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)It is almost tradition in American high schools for guys to let their girlfriends wear their letterman jacket from time to time. Certainly if it's not theirs they didn't earn it either.
underpants
(182,994 posts)Freshman - Junior in soccer
Soph- Senior in football
This was the Reagan 80's. I wasn't politically aware at the time but I thought it was weird that the school promoted sales like this. I literally twitched in my seat during the mandatory assembly to sell us class rings - never bought one of those either.
I never understood the emphasis put in these things. It's stoopid freaking high school for crying out loud.
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)senior class rings, key chains, and sweat shirts. It's disgusting.
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)I think it was because it was somethi g our mother had done (dad's family didn't have money for such things). I remember getting it in the spring of my junior year. I wore it occasionally for a year. It went into a dresser drawer. It's in a differenr dresser drawer now. My brother's class ring is buried in silt in the lake across the street from our house.
When my brother's boys brought home the order forms, he offered to buy them each a shotgun instead. They will have them the rest of their lives. (They use them hunting grouse at our cabin.)
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)is buried in the silt of the Illinois River.
brer cat
(24,640 posts)and the parent shamed. I hope Michael gets to wear his jacket again.
Wella
(1,827 posts)It is enough that his community knows who he is. And enough that we come to the support of a special needs student.
d_r
(6,907 posts)here is a petition the mother will present to the BOE meeting in Wichita on Monday. It states only that children with special needs be allowed to earn a letter if they participate in a sport.
My take on what is going on here: the school has a team for children with disabilities, but does not allow them to earn letters. Separate and not equal.
and here is the link to the petition:
https://www.change.org/p/administration-of-wichita-high-school-east-allow-special-needs-students-the-opportunity-to-earn-a-varsity-letter-if-they-participate-in-a-school-sponsored-team?recruiter=264719566&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)I shared it on Facebook, so maybe I can get a few more signatures to help out. Only 4,577 more to go to get to 15,000.
d_r
(6,907 posts)it has 36,000 now
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)Wish I could take credit for that.
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)For shame!
Skittles
(153,261 posts)Initech
(100,129 posts)But fuck those fucking assholes!
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)The only people that you would offend are probably those fucking assholes.
mountain grammy
(26,663 posts)and live by themselves.
Laxman
(2,419 posts)in situations like this, take a minute to watch this video of kids from a high school near me. Their team was 2-8 last year but they're winners in my book!
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)I think that too many people have never known someone who is different, and so they just don't understand.
I'm 66, and when I was growing up there were rarely "special needs" kids to be seen anywhere. They were kept home or institutionalized. Fast forward several decades, I have a couple of young kids and I take them swimming at the local rec center. A couple of afternoons a week after school there was a group of kids with Down Syndrome, and while my boys didn't really interact with them, at least they saw them using the same swimming pool they were in. Something small, but it matters.
Laxman
(2,419 posts)this kid was seen hanging around watching football practice and was asked to participate as an "equipment manager". He was welcomed in by the team. One Friday afternoon before a game he was found sitting in the corner of the locker room talking to himself. One of the team members asked if everything was alright. He said he was just practicing his speech to the team. It became a regular event after that for this kid to address the team before every game.
Instead of just calling people who behave badly names or shaming them, I would prefer to provide them with examples of how decent people and people of character behave. This is one of those examples.
woolldog
(8,791 posts)he shouldn't get to wear it.
roamer65
(36,748 posts)I chose the job. Glad I did now given the strong correlation between football and CTE.
Destroying my body for a piece of cloth to sew on a jacket wasn't worth it in my book.