Saturday, June 19, 2010

Reality Not In The Curriculum

A Rhode Island boy is attracting a lot of attention after his school banned a hat he made because the toy soldiers  on it carried tiny guns.

8-year-old David Morales was assigned to make a hat last week for a project at the Tiogue School in Coventry. He chose a patriotic theme and glued plastic Army figures to a camouflage baseball cap. But school officials said the hat ran afoul of their no-weapons policy because the Army men held tiny guns.

The school said David was offered the chance to wear the hat if he replaced the toy soldiers holding weapons with ones that didn't have any. A local veteran came to his defense, saying that didn't make sense because soldiers are armed, and met with school administrators-- but to no avail.

The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union then sent a letter to School Superintendent Kenneth DiPietro saying the school's policy was an unconstitutional violation of students' free speech. It called on the district to revise the policy.

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