How much crime and mayhem could result from a photo of a gun? Since when did a photo become a weapon? And since when did Douglas McKay High School (OR) become so terrified of guns that even photos of them are verboten?
My 15 year old daughter, Shea, out of sheer pride, took a picture of her brother to her high school to share with a teacher. Her brother, Bill, also a graduate of Douglas McKay High School in Salem, Oregon, is a US Marine and a decorated veteran of the Iraq war...Shea, a freshman at McKay, has become acquainted with one of her teachers that her brother also had while in school...Mr. Costa has several pictures of McKay graduates hung in his classroom and Shea asked that if she brought a picture of Bill would he also hang it with the others. He of course said yes.
Shea proudly printed a picture of her brother and took it to school. The picture she selected is of her brother in Iraq, in combat uniform and holding a gun. Just, a typical picture of a Marine at work in a war zone. Mr. Costa asked the school administration for permission to hang the picture due to the graphic nature of the picture. He was denied, based on the fact that a gun is included in the picture. From there I’m told it was taken to the Salem-Keizer Administrative offices and it was scanned and the gun removed in order for it meet the guidelines of political correctness.
Michelle Malkin has posted the photo in question. The school's principal believes that posting this photo would send the wrong "message" to the students. And Head's Bunker loses his, well, head over this ridiculous story:
Has it come to this, really? Have we allowed such delusional people to run our schools, brainwashing our youth that there is no legitimate use for a weapon? Are they going to go through the school library and remove all images of guns from their history books? Are they going to take their foolish "no-tolerance" policy for guns and be consistent and strip their books of any significant event in which guns were used to liberate, defend, restore, and dispense justice?
I wouldn't taunt them, HB. I bet they would.
Update: The controversy appears to have been cleared up.
Posted by kswygert at March 31, 2005 10:43 AM