School can't bar 14 year old girl over nose piercing, on the basis of religion

[Kryzantine]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PIERCING_CHURCH?SITE=OHLIM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Story in short: 14 year old girl and her mother belong to a minor religious faction called the Church of Body Modification, which sees piercings and tattoos as a factor of religious devotion. Girl gets suspended from school because of her nose piercing. Repeated attempts to explain that the piercing is religious in nature and not a fashion statement are met with extreme skepticism. Family takes case to court, court rules she can't be suspended. For now, anyway. School has a written rule exempting dress code violations for "sincerely held religious belief".

School also has dress code violations for short skirts, sagging pants, and "abnormal hair color"? WTF constitutes abnormal hair color?

Good victory for America, and one step towards religious tolerance in this country if the verdict sticks through the process. Would be nice if it significantly weakened the dress code policy as well.

 

[solemnwar]

... dear world: people shove things into their skin, get over it.


I find it pretty hilarious that there's a religion about it though, I think I'll be smiling for the next 5 minutes.

 

[archvile93]

I believe abnormal hair colors are colors no one naturally has, like blue, or purple.

OT: good going, I think. Does this mean I can go to school wearing whatever I feel like just by claiming it's religious?

 

[Asturiel]

Abnormal hair color would pretty much be any color you wouldn't see people naturally growing... unless you happen to know some naturally purple and blue haired friends in which case I'm interested.

Well, as someone who wears a uniform, and attends a school that makes you shave, no piercings, no tattoos unless tribal (Aboriginal) in nature, and they must be covered up, no hair colouring or gel, hair above the eyebrows and collar, off the ears, I like it.

Dress codes are awesome. Not sarcasm.

A dress code like "white golf-shirt and black dress pants" is awesome, what your school has is more rules about appearance than dust.

OT: I was always confused how piercings can be distracting, but alas it's good to see that the judge doesn't want her to miss any more school than she already has.

 

[ALuckyChance]

Oh, right, this.

Reminds me of the Flying Spaghetti Monster thing, though I don't really know why.

Anyway, who cares what people wear in schools. It's your, you know, personality and out-of-school socialness (is that even a word?) that matters.

 

[Freedomario]

it doesn't really sound bad to me, i would rather have strict school rules, than none. why? because i do not want to be bullied, harassed, or harmed in any way. as for the rules...
the "short skirts, sagging pants, and 'abnormal hair color'" are there to not distract anybody, and as abnormal hair color, its pretty simple, no hair that is not common in nature. ex Green Purple ECT.

 

[TheBoulder]

I really don't see the point of banning piercings and "abnormal hair colour". I undertand the pants and short skirts, but piercings and hair? Come on.

 

[Kryzantine]

I believe abnormal hair colors are colors no one naturally has, like blue, or purple.

OT: good going, I think. Does this mean I can go to school wearing whatever I feel like just by claiming it's religious?

I guess if you actually belong to a church or religious institution that claims said item is religious in nature.

Given that there's a church for piercings and tattoos, though, it wouldn't surprise me if there were other churches that promoted such items.

 

[Ask]

Kind of sad that piercing ones nose/ coloring ones hair has to be such a huge deal. I liked my high school in the fact that they didn't care what you did with yourself so long as you focused on your studies rather than the studs in your ears or face. XD (Seriously tons of people had tattoo's, piercings, weird hair etc. They even allowed me to sell tattoo designs during my lunch break on campus, that's how much they really didn't care. rofl.)

I think the only article of clothing I ever got in trouble for, was a bandanna. That however, was no surprise and somewhat anticipated (though I hoped they wouldn't dislike it because I loved that bandanna XD ) so ultimately not a big deal.

 

[mad825]

and~ one step back for the U.S.

It seems very amazing with the shit that could be exempt for "religious" reasons, I wouldn't be surprised if that rule gets abused now.

 

[Ken Sapp]

Good on the Court for upholding the applicable laws/rules. It is not the place of the court or the school to pass judgement on the legitimacy of a religion(although it strikes me as a "religion" of convenience). As long as the girl can show that it is a religious practice of a church that has been properly recognized the school is breaking its own rules by barring her from attendance.

 

[Elephant Walker19]

This gives me an idea,I want to dye my hair blue but can't due to school dresss code.So i'll start my religion where you have to dye your hair to have good points with my religion's god Paul Mitchell.


All hail the great Paul Mitchell!

 

[Kryzantine]

and~ one step back for the U.S.

It seems very amazing with the shit that could be exempt for "religious" reasons, I wouldn't be surprised if that rule gets abused now.

It's not the school's place to define what is religious and what isn't, though. If the government recognizes it as a legal religion (which it does), then you have to respect it. Separation of church and state is backwards? I thought it was one of our core tenets.

EDIT - I just realized that this may be better suited for politics and religion, so if a mod wants to move it, I'd be OK with it.

 

[Summerstorm]

Waitwaitwait. The school is called "Johnston county school"... doesn't that mean it is a PUBLIC school? How can ANY public school deny education AT ALL*? I don't understand the U.S.A sometimes.

*(If the student is not actively dangerous or unfit to be taught)

 

[Lord Devius]

I want to go to this school back when I had dyed my hair emerald green, then fuchsia when that kinda washed out.

....SUSPENSION ON STUPID AS FUCK GROUNDS WOOOHOOO

Yeah, no, this is a really stupid thing to get suspended for. It's not preventing her or others from learning, why should it be a factor?

 

[TheLaofKazi]

and~ one step back for the U.S.

It seems very amazing with the shit that could be exempt for "religious" reasons, I wouldn't be surprised if that rule gets abused now.

I know, people wearing things. Such abuse.

Waitwaitwait. The school is called "Johnston county school"... doesn't that mean it is a PUBLIC school? How can ANY public school deny education AT ALL*? I don't understand the U.S.A sometimes.

*(If the student is not actively dangerous or unfit to be taught)

No, it makes complete sense. You see, the individual school's or state's can set their own silly rules and then force students to attend and follow those rules. In a way, It's giving a public, mandatory attendance entity the rights of a private, non-mandatory attendance entity, which makes complete sense.

 

[Kryzantine]

Waitwaitwait. The school is called "Johnston county school"... doesn't that mean it is a PUBLIC school? How can ANY public school deny education AT ALL*? I don't understand the U.S.A sometimes.

*(If the student is not actively dangerous or unfit to be taught)

Public schools can kick individual students out if they violate certain non-violent rules or if their grades are low. Hell, most of our system is fucked up. Some schools hate to get rid of or suspend students, and then some schools are psycho with their students out of a desire to assert control. Things like arresting 12 year olds for writing on desks. At least if my school kicked a student out, it was for a good reason. We kicked this one guy out last year for repeated arson and before that, I think the last time we kicked someone out was for repeated incidents in the biology lab, like sticking a pair of tweezers into an electrical socket or attaching a vacuum hose to a water hose and turning both of them on (I'm really damn curious what happens). We transferred him to Bronx Sci. I think he's a surgeon now.

There are some really, really bad schools in the US.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

My school had uniforms, no hair on the ears or neck , and no unnatrual hair colour. This doesnt shock me.