Pubdate: Sun, 03 Sep 2006
Source: Burlington Free Press (VT)
Copyright: 2006 Burlington Free Press
Contact:  http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/632
Author: Molly Walsh, Free Press Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

SCHOOL DRESS CODES JUST GOT TRICKIER

Judges who recently ruled in favor of a student's right  to wear a 
controversial T-shirt to a Vermont public  school acknowledged the 
complexity of student  free-speech issues in their opinion, comparing 
the  topic to unsettled waters "rife with rocky shoals and  uncertain 
currents."

The ruling upheld the right of Williamstown teenager  Zachary Guiles 
to attend school wearing a T-shirt that  criticized President George 
W. Bush as a "chicken hawk  in chief" and alluded to alleged 
substance abuse as a  younger man with a picture of a martini glass 
and  cocaine.

Many schools prohibit clothing with images of alcohol  or drugs, 
regardless of the context. As administrators  and students across 
Vermont ponder the decision, some  say it will make the murky waters 
of student free  speech more difficult to navigate.

Jeanne Collins, superintendent of Burlington schools,  said she was 
concerned about the implications of the  decision. "If you look at a 
T-shirt and you see martini  glasses, you can't assume that your 
average  seventh-grader is going to see the political message,"  she said.

The decision could limit the ability of schools to  maintain a safe 
and nondisruptive environment, she  said. "It adds one more layer of 
expectation that is  very gray."

Guiles, now 15, was 13 when the case started in 2004  after he bought 
the shirt at a peace rally and wore it  to Williamstown Middle/High 
School. Another student  complained, and administrators gave Guiles 
three  choices: Wear the shirt inside out, tape over the  alcohol and 
drug images or change clothes.

Guiles refused and was sent home. He eventually agreed  to tape over 
parts of the shirt and wore it to school  with the words: "Censored." 
His family then sued the  school with assistance from the American 
Civil  Liberties Union Vermont chapter. A 2004 decision by  federal 
judge William Sessions III was mostly a victory  for the school 
district, upholding its right to censor  the images of drugs and alcohol.

The family appealed. Last week a panel of judges on the  2nd U.S. 
Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled  that the school had gone 
too far, and concluded that  the pictures were an important part of a 
political and  anti-drug message that Guiles had the right to express 
in school. The ACLU called it a victory for student  free speech.

'Small Price' To Pay

Timothy Guiles is Zach's father. By requiring the boy  to tape over 
the alcohol and drug images on the  T-shirt, school administrators 
were unfairly blunting  the impact of the teen's political statement, 
he said.  He praised the ruling, even if it means 
administrators  have to spend more time studying the slogans and 
images  on student garb. If it means taking a "little bit of  time 
and effort to assess a shirt, that's a small price  we pay for 
democracy and freedom of speech in our  country," Timothy Guiles said.

The decision could indeed mean administrators spend  more time on 
dress code issues, said Mary Woodruff,  principal of Winooski Middle 
School. "I think it opens  the door for more challenges. How is the 
symbol on my  T-shirt, how is the language on my T-shirt truly interpreted?"

That said, Guiles clearly had a right to express his  political 
opinion, Woodruff said. She encourages  students to debate political 
issues in a respectful  way.

"Sometimes they do passionately take sides, and that's  a good thing, 
I think. We want to teach kids to be  involved and to be critical 
about what candidates are  saying, so I think those are good things 
to encourage."  Mixed feelings

What do students think? Students at Winooski middle and  high school 
Friday had mixed views. Some agreed with  the Williamstown school's 
position; others sided with  Guiles. "I think they should have left 
the images,"  said Amy Snow, a 15-year-old junior at Winooski High School.

Templin Moyer, a 17-year-old senior, wasn't so sure. "I  think, 
personally, the shirt does take it a little too  far."

Even if the T-shirt meant to convey an anti-drug  message, some 
students might not understand that and  view the images of alcohol 
and drugs as promoting  substances, some students said. For this 
reason, the  school was justified in asking the student to tape 
over  the images, said Kayla Ray, a 13-year-old  eighth-grader.

"Even if I know what it is supposed to mean, people see  it differently."

At their own school, they see the dress code enforced  fairly often, 
they said. Many of the infractions have  to do with skimpy outfits 
and suggestive wording on  clothing, but enforcement is not always 
consistent,  they added.

"It varies a lot," said Grace Campbell, 17, a senior at  Winooski. 
"I've been sent home twice, actually, because  my skirt was too 
short. But I've seen people wearing  things that are much more 
revealing walk around all day  at school."

It's the nature of some teenagers to test the dress  code, she 
suggested. "People our age are in it for the  shock value, pretty much."
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