Here’s a fascinating story from Valley News Live (Fargo-Grand Forks) about vote yes / vote no t-shirts.
According to the story, a church youth group gave students “vote yes” shirts to wear to their school. When they did this, parents called the district to complain sharing that this message didn’t belong in the schools.
However, the Ada-Borup School District disagreed. The shirts didn’t cause a disruption, nor did they violate the dress code. Because of this, Superintendent and High School Principal Mike Kolness shared that the school could not take away the students’ right to free speech.
Now, here’s where the story gets good. In response, a group of students decided to make their own “vote no” t-shirts and wear them to school the following week! According to the story:
The students at Ada-Borup want everyone to know those lines of communication are open, especially as an important November vote draws near.
Kolness says if there is ever a major problem with the T-shirts or others like them he will step in and put a halt to it.
He says nothing should interfere with educating the kids.
I don’t know that I agree with using children to get your message out. We saw this during the Dump General Mills rallies when looking at pictures – many of the attendees were school-aged children. For parents to expose children to ignorance at such an important developmental stage of their lives is sad to me. In a time that we fight the bullying epidemic, we have adults telling their children, “these people are not like you and should be treated differently. They are wrong and don’t deserve basic rights granted to others.”
And marriage supporters blame gay marriage for causing divide and destruction? It makes me think of a great quote I saw the other day:
When looking for faults, use a mirror, not a telescope.
What are your thoughts? Does freedom of speech apply here when parents adults are influencing the message?
Cindy Nathan
/ September 26, 2012Don’t be too quick to assume that kids are only parroting their parents. My entire family are involved with MN United For All Families, and my youngest, who is 15, decided on his own to apply for an internship with them. Teens can read and form an opinion on their own, even those wearing the Yes shirts. I’d hope that at some point they would become more educated on the issue- but somewhere in Minnesota I’m sure there’s an amendment-supporter parent saying the same about my 4 sons. Great blog, btw!
Minnesota for Equality
/ September 30, 2012Hi Cindy,
Thanks for your comment. I’m so happy to hear that your entire family is involved in standing up for equality – and proud of your youngest. To be helping move the conversation at 15 years old… Wow!
I don’t disagree with you. I’m sure there are kids out there that believe those scare tactics we hear from the other side. However, those kids believe it because they don’t have parents challenging them to think about all sides. The reason your sons are involved with MN United is because YOU helped shape and form them. Yes, teens absolutely have their own opinions (I’m sure you can attest to that!), but at the end of the day, their role models – parents, churches, other family members – play a key role in whether or not they are open to accepting others for who they are.
Thank you for being a role model. And thanks to your entire family for standing up for love. I’m ever hopeful that we will be cheering together on election day!