A schoolgirl punished for a pro-Palestinian T-shirt in France!!

[Sajdah]

LYON (France) - A student of 16 in a college in central-eastern France has been ruled out three days from school for "proselytism" because of wearing a T-shirt bearing the inscription "Free Palestine", said Friday a committee supporting pro-Palestinian.​

On January 29, in a college of Villefranche-sur-Saone, the young girl, dressed in her T-shirt, had an altercation with her history professor who asked her to cover the T-shirt.​

According to the letter from the headmaster of the school to the mother of the schoolgirl, of which AFP has obtained a copy, "the facts committed, that act of proselytism and leaving a course without permission with disobedience, are misconduct justifying disciplinary action.​

The penalty will take effect March 2, after the return from the winter holiday of college students.
The pro-Palestinian group, of which the schoolgirl’s mother is member, has decided to support the girl and demand the immediate cancellation of the penalty.​

"We salute the courage of Zeyneb who had opposed with her own means the proselytize of her teacher," said the Collective of Villefranche-sur-Saone to the Palestinian people, accusing the professor of history of being pro-Israeli.​

The association said it had received 1300 letters of support.
The education authorities in the region were unreachable on Friday morning.​

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[YmirGF]

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Would you be good with other students wearing T-shirts that said, "Long live Israel"?

 

[KatNotKathy]

Would you be good with other students wearing T-shirts that said, "Long live Israel"?

Neither should get somebody suspended.

 

[YmirGF]

Neither should get somebody suspended.

And neither should be worn in class.

 

[KatNotKathy]

And neither should be worn in class.

That's what I don't get. How could something so benign (and by that, I mean either shirt) be a problem? Back when I was in high school the rule was no hats and a more subjective no "disruptive clothing" rule, mostly used for when girls came half naked or dudes showed up with the F bomb on their shirts. I can't see how the phrase "Free Palestine" or "Long live Israel" should be any issue.

Her shirt shouldn't be a big deal unless somebody was making a big deal out of it. If she was being disruptive outside of what she was wearing, then she should be punished, but if her only crime was wearing a shirt that some people might take offense to (somehow. It's not exactly calling for the destruction of Israel...) then suspension will do no good.

 

[YmirGF]

"Free Palestine" demonstrates a woeful disregard for history and should not be tolerated. Do note that it was an alleged "history professor" who took her to task over the T-shirt. That should serve as a "heads up". Perhaps I am missing something though.

 

[Alceste]

"Free Palestine" demonstrates a woeful disregard for history and should not be tolerated. Do note that it was an alleged "history professor" who took her to task over the T-shirt. That should serve as a "heads up". Perhaps I am missing something though.

I think you're missing something. A decent history professor would have opened the slogan up to a class discussion if he wanted to correct historical misperceptions he thought it implied. Asking for it to be "covered up" is a knee-jerk reaction that appears to result from his own pro-Israeli sympathies. IMO, taking sides in such a way is not befitting a professor of history.

 

[YmirGF]

I think you're missing something. A decent history professor would have opened the slogan up to a class discussion if he wanted to correct historical misperceptions he thought it implied. Asking for it to be "covered up" is a knee-jerk reaction that appears to result from his own pro-Israeli sympathies. IMO, taking sides in such a way is not befitting a professor of history.

That is a good point, but perhaps the class was not currently discussing the "Palestinian"/Israeli conflict. Why should he derail his lecture to accommodate the child?

 

[Copernicus]

Myself, I think that the proper way to handle this kind of thing is to talk to the girl after class and possibly involve the parents. Making it an issue in the classroom, especially if the shirt is not disrupting the class, is counter-productive. From the news article, it sounded like the teacher actually went out of his way to call attention to the problem in front of her classmates. But we really do not know the facts of what happened, since journalism is not always a reliable source of information.

Freedom of speech is important, and school should be a place where people can discuss serious issues such as the Palestinian situation. However, wearing slogans on clothing is not a rational discussion, but a demonstration of an opinion. In the context of a high school classroom, that can easily provoke disruptive behavior.

 

[dogsgod]

I want one of those T-shirts.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

While I would like to read some information from a more reputable source, assuming the facts offered I oppose the punishment.

 

[dogsgod]

I also would like a BOYCOTT ISRAEL T-shirt.

 

[sonofskeptish]

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I'd bet almost anything there was more to it than just the T-shirt... I'm assuming that everyone saw the disciplinary action was for the act of proselytism and leaving a course without permission with disobedience.

In my school years I saw 2 students get sent home for their T-shirts...

The first was a girl in grade six that wore a T-shirt to school with a cartoon of a rugby player on it which looked banged-up and/or intoxicated, standing with one foot on a barrel and holding a dirnk. The caption read "Hug a Rugby Player Today". The principal sent her home. Within an hour she was back with the same T-shirt on, and the whole school could hear her mother in the principals office yelling at him and tearing him a new assh-le. Think even the the teachers were laughing (the principal was a d-ck).

The second was a friend in grade 8 (or 9?), that wore a T-shirt to school with a picture of a high-performance engine on it, and the caption read "Injection Is Nice But I'd Rather Be Blown". Similar to this...

Actually, come to think of it, he wasn't sent home... he was made to wear it inside-out. Brought more attention to the matter than if everyone had just ignored it.

And finally, I was in Disneyland in my early twenties. In our group was a Swedish girl who had cut-off shorts on, with a small worn part in one of her butt cheeks. Small hole about the size of a quarter. Couldn't see her underwear unless you really tried to. A Disney security gaurd stopped us, called another 2 security over with his walkie-talkie, and the 3 of them spent several minutes inspecting her *** and discussing if it was inappropriate or not. In the end they made her buy a shirt and tie it around her waste.

Sorry for the waffling... not sure of the relevance. Perhaps just that IMO banning such things draws more attention to them than anything else. Either the teacher was an idiot, or as I said, there was more to it than reported.

 

[enchanted_one1975]

And neither should be worn in class.

Freedom of religion is not the same as restriction from religion. That seems to be one of the biggest misconceptions in our modern world. However, I do realize this was France and I am not familiar with their laws concerning such.

 

[Darkness]

I believe France has a school policy of no political/religious clothing being worn.

 

[Darkness]

"Free Palestine" demonstrates a woeful disregard for history and should not be tolerated. Do note that it was an alleged "history professor" who took her to task over the T-shirt. That should serve as a "heads up". Perhaps I am missing something though.

What part of history is it getting wrong exactly? In fact, it is not a historical statement at all. It is a political statement.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I also would like a BOYCOTT ISRAEL T-shirt.

Who cares?

 

[Moonstone]

And neither should be worn in class.

I agree with this. Just my opinion though. :angel2:

 

[Madhuri]

If you aren't allowed to wear religious or political clothing in the school context then you shouldn't. It isn't unreasonable, so the girl was in the wrong. That doesn't mean she can't have an opinion, she just needs to behave appropriately.

 

[Alceste]

That is a good point, but perhaps the class was not currently discussing the "Palestinian"/Israeli conflict. Why should he derail his lecture to accommodate the child?

Why should he derail his lecture to argue about whether or not a kid's T-Shirt is an acceptable form of dress because he doesn't like the slogan? Reminds me of the kid who got suspended for wearing a Pepsi shirt on Coke day. Something tells me education is taking a back seat to the arbitrary exercise of the teacher's authority.