Schools Crucified on Religious Icon Apparel

Posted October 13, 2010 in Your Family & The Law by Arthur Buono
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A North Carolina federal judge has ordered a school there to readmit a student banned for sporting a nose piercing. The order is temporary but it continues the trend of permitting students to display religious icons as part of their faith. The student and her mother belong to the Church of Body Modification. They consider piercings and tattoos as religious devotion.

     
  • North Carolina school must admit student with nose piercing
  • Colorado school sued for making student hide cross necklace
  • Parents say schools going too far in behavior and discipline matters

 

Students Expelled for Religious Icons, Symbols

The North Carolina school’s appearance code prohibits body piercings. Similarly, a Colorado Springs school has told a student he can’t wear a crucifix outside his shirt. Lawyers for the boy are preparing to sue the school.

Many schools have tried to tighten up on discipline by imposing dress and appearance codes. These codes include prohibitions on the display of certain symbols thought to be gang-related. One such symbol is a crucifix, or at least a cross.

Some parents now say school rules on behavior and appearance have gone too far. They claim this invades their right to raise their children as they see fit. So they are taking the schools to court. Usually this first means filing a complaint with the local school board. The board is the administrative office that hears complaints involving the school system. When an administrative office like a school board is capable of resolving a complaint, a court generally won’t hear the same complaint until the student or parent has exhausted her remedies by submitting the complaint to the board. It’s an important first step in defining, if not resolving, the legal issues involved.

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