Originally Posted by robsawatsky
I'm all for free speech - in appropriate settings.
School is a workplace for children and I would expect that the atmosphere would be moderated much like a place of business. Therefore, restricting slogans and other public expression is reasonable within a school setting. The word "dam" is obviously a play on the word "damn", which is considered vulgar in most every businesslike workplace (not necessarily the dock at the shipyard), so I have no problem with the decision in this case.
Now, if she had been arrested on the street, I would draw a different conclusion.
If one agrees that school is a "workplace for children" and, even further, that children in their workplace should be subject to rules appropriate to a only some an adult workplaces, then I might agree.
However, I just got back from an multi-errand run around the city. I saw workers in offices and shops and small businesses and chain stores, and all kinds of dress from uniforms to business business dress to jeans and T-Shirts with slogan. The local grocery staff had some lively slogans, but the multi-colored hair and multiple, multiple piercings caught my eye so much that I read but a few.
People can make rules based on whatever premise they choose, but your is not the only one. To make kids dress like middle management or bank clerks is not going to happen in the urban USA any more. Those days are gone.