Make way for the latest disgusting Nazi comparison. But not in the Arab world. It’s in Bayonne, New Jersey (home to the woman I call “Cousin Shirley from Bayonne”).
A seventh- and fifth-grade child went to school wearing buttons depicting the Hitler Youth, as a protest against wearing the uniforms. I believe that’s an excellent example of what Patrick Moynihan called “defining deviancy down.” I believe it is also an excellent example of using your children to make a political point.
Apparently, being made to wear a school uniform is being compared to being forced into the Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany. Apparently, being made to wear a school uniform is going to turn your child into a mindless drone. Apparently, two women from Bayonne are unable to deal with rules.
Parents of two New Jersey students claim their school district was wrong when it threatened to suspend the boys for donning buttons featuring a picture of Hitler Youth to protest mandatory school uniforms.
The parents, in a federal suit filed Friday, say the Bayonne district and several of its officials have “stifled” the First Amendment rights of their children.
The buttons have the words “no school uniforms” with a slash through them superimposed on a photo of young boys wearing identical shirts and neckerchiefs.
The district instituted mandatory uniforms in September for Grades K-8, and one student wore the button for at least six weeks before objections were raised last month, said Karin R. White Morgen, a lawyer for the parents.
Those children didn’t think this up by themselves. Those children didn’t make up those buttons without help from their parents. This is the parents’ statement on school uniforms, and it is a pretty disgusting way to make a statement.
Morgen said the pupils’ parents don’t want to speak to reporters, but provided a statement from Michael’s mother, Laura DePinto.
“I’ve gotten overwhelming support from MANY people that tell me that they absolutely agree with what the image depicted, an ominously homogenous group of blindly cooperative children,” the statement said.
That statement is from the mother of the fifth grader whom, I presume, is not allowed to make any real decisions in his life, such as deciding to eat ice cream for dinner, or staying up until midnight on a school night. But that’s not the same, you see, as being forced to wear a uniform to school, thus turning him into a “blindly cooperative” (presumably mindless) drone. And gee, the fact that many people agree with the Hitler Youth image gives me such a feeling of comfort, you would not believe. (Thinking of my cousin Shirley, who is actually my mother’s cousin, makes me talk like that.)
Here’s a kicker for the parents: The Supreme Court has proven, time and time again, that students don’t have full First Amendment rights. School systems are allowed to dictate what clothes the children may wear to school. Police are allowed to search high school lockers without warrants. And student newspapers have been unable to publish things their advisors or principals try to quash. I may not agree with these things, but that is what has happened when parents bring school issues to court.
However, that’s beside the point. The point is, the parents could easily have made some other kind of reference—Orwell’s 1984 comes immediately to mind—than the Hitler Youth Group to make their point.
But trust them not to notice how offensive the buttons are. Because their point is far more important: How dare the school authorities tell them what to tell their precious babies what to do.
Gee. Society has rules. Who knew?
Bingo!
Your mother’s cousin is “actually” your cousin. If Shirley and your mother are first cousins, then she and you are first cousins once removed. If Shirley has kids, they too are “actually” your cousins—second cousins, to be precise.
So, what happens to these children when they leave the nest, and go out on their own with such silly attitudes? How successful will they be in a world that isn’t “fair?” We all have restrictions to live by, both just and un-just, some just out of sheer respect and kindness. Yet, now, the parents are teaching their children that their rights are to be respected BUT they don’t need to respect others.
Robert
You clearly do not know or understand the entire story. I am the attorney on this case. The fifth grader, Michael, who is a highly gifted student, did actually choose the image himself. His point was that the school district forced him to wear an emblem on his chest much like Hitler forced people to wear emblems on their chests. Also, you need to know that his great uncle was in Buchenwald – so the issue is very close to his family.
The school board basically shoved the uniform policy down the throats of the parents without following any procedures or involving the parents as the law requires. This is as the parents and kids beleive a clear erosion of their rights. The uniforms represent the first step in a series of actions that may rob their children of their individuality and identity. This is a very important issue and one not to be taken lightly. and that is the point.
Well, I’m reading up on the issue now, and somehow, I’m still finding that using Nazi identification to protest a uniform ban is yet another instance of the misuse of Nazi images to make a point.
The fact that one of the children’s granduncles was in Buchenwald makes me even more disgusted that the image was used.
The Bayonne school system is requiring students to wear uniforms during school hours. Funny, but kids who go to private schools that require uniforms don’t seem to have had their individuality and identity beaten out of them by spending the school day in the same kind of dress as the other students.
This child should have been told to use a different image. He isn’t old enough to understand the offense he is causing—but his parents are. I don’t care how gifted he is. He has the maturity of a fifth grader. His judgment is that of a fifth grader.
His parents believe it’s an erosion of their rights? Please. It’s a friggin’ uniform. They’re not trying to indocrinate the kids.