A 15-year-old student who wore a National Rifle Association (NRA) t-shirt was singled out, lectured, and kicked out of class on Friday by her teacher, the teen’s mom says.
Charlene Craig told CBS13 that a history teacher at Lodi High School in California saw her daughter and another sophomore wearing NRA shirts and began discussing “his personal beliefs” about guns.
Craig said that her daughter’s shirt did not depict weaponry. The shirt featured the letters NRA on the front and an American flag on the back. The flag is made up of what appears to be differently hued bullet primers.
The mom said her daughter was “being attacked, basically, in class,” and told by the teacher that “guns kill people.”
“I think he’s there to teach. I don’t think he’s there to discuss his personal beliefs,” she said. “He basically yelled at her, telling her that she would be writing an essay if she disagreed with him.”
Craig isn’t the only one who believes this teacher was out of line. The Lodi Unified School District said that it reviewed the t-shirt in said it didn’t violate school policy. A school-created graphic of what is and isn’t appropriate does specify that clothing showing weapons is not allowed. At the very bottom of the graphic, however, is a message with an asterisk.
“Any potentially disruptive clothing or accessories may be restricted, as determined by the Lodi High administration, at any time,” it reads. It appears the school has determined that the only disruption in this case was caused by the teacher.
As a result, Craig says, she’ll be sending her daughter back to school in the same shirt.
Lodi High School’s mission, as it appears on the school website, is to “provide equal educational opportunity for each student to succeed to his/her highest potential; to foster intellectual and social development for all students in order to take advantage of students’ individual abilities; to encourage the respect of self and others; and to help students become responsible, productive, and contributing members of society.”
[Image via CBS13 screengrab]
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