Suspended for wearing a Slang T-Shirt

Posted by Ban Shirts

August 25, 2007

Snohomish High School suspended a teenager for wearing an inappropriate tee shirt to school. Justin Patrick wore a tee shirt to his school Snohos. He believed it to be a harmless tee shirt with the name of his video club group. School officials had something else to say about it. Justin Patrick was suspended from school on the grounds of wearing slang on his tee shirt. A clear violation of the school dress code. Officials contend that Snohos is a slang term for a prostitute and that the tee shirt defamed women.

Other see it quite differently. As they point out, the official website for the Snohomish School district refers to the football team using the same word. Patrick is virtually unknown to discipline at school, had only been sent to the office once for loosing his calculator.

Robynn Harrington, vice principal of Snohomish High School, advised Justin that the shirt was not appropriate, and that he should cover it. Harrington called another vice principal and it was decided between and the violation of the dress code was confirmed. Justin left the office and was later approached by security and asked again to cover the shirt. Justin got angry and said things he should not have. He was suspended for gross insubordination, sexual harassment, and dress code violation.

Justin Patrick’s father took the yearbook to school to argue his son’s case. In it, he repeatedly showed the word Snohos in the yearbook itself. School officials stood by their decision regarding the suspension.

Read more about how a student is suspended for wearing a slang t-shirt.

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