Cejai Taylor was sent home from Mahaffey Middle School for wearing a T-shirt which violated the schools dress code. Emblazoned with the slogan "Support Our Troops". What's wrong with that, one might ask, and how does it violate dress code. School officials noted the shirt does not have a collar. That can be argued from a T-shirt perspective, but according to the dress code for the school;
"Pullover polo style or dress shirts/blouses with short or long sleeves with a collar are to be worn."
The dress code also indicates the following;
"No sleeveless, see-through materials, excessively tight or revealing clothing, or logos over two square inches (except authorized school logos) are allowed."
On two counts, the T-shirt in question does conflict with the dress code. Its not that Taylor did anything wrong, other than wear a T-shirt which supports her dad who is currently deployed, and wear the T-shirt in a school at Fort Campbell, KY.
Again, Taylor didn't wear an offensive T-shirt or something to raise the hackles of school officials. Its school policy to have students wear under-stated and boring clothing. The focus should be on learning, not how cool of a wardrobe you have. I understand that, it just makes for good publicity when a student is sent home for supporting her father who is in the military. Its an unfortunate conflict. If the school allows Taylor to wear her T-shirt where do they stop students from wearing T-shirts with logos and slogans. Eventually, you encounter that breaking point where the perception and definition of offensive varies between people. So, no logos, no slogans.
Be proud of your father and military Taylor. You can't do it at school. As we've seen time and time again, verbalizing support of the troops will be tolerated, but wearing the same slogan on a T-shirt. That'll trigger a response nearly every time.
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