I don’t want people to think – just because I’m a bit skeptical of the level of fervor around the Maine reports - that I don’t believe that teachers can be strongly antiwar and antimilitary and then act inappropriately on their feelings. Here’s an article from last week’s Daily Breeze:
A week after an ROTC student was removed from a Carson High School classroom for wearing military fatigues, school officials Friday said they would permit cadets to don the camouflage uniforms in the future but with some restrictions.It remained unclear, however, what those restrictions would be, as administrators struggled to draw new policies that balanced the concerns of teachers with the requests of ROTC members.
The problem arose Feb. 28 when some cadets put on the outfit — which has splotches of green and brown and is known as “Marine utility” dress — instead of the more formal uniform that the ROTC typically wears once a week during the program’s “inspection” days.
It was the first time Carson’s ROTC had a chance to dress in the popular fatigues, and a teacher reacted by asking a student in the new uniform to leave the classroom and finish the day’s lesson in another room. Tricia Churchill, the history teacher who dismissed the student, declined to comment.
Carson Principal Doug Waybright said the teacher found the apparel “inappropriate,” but did not elaborate. He told the teacher that “we as public educators do not have the right to advocate a position,” though he would not say whether disciplinary action was taken.
… Lt. Col. Ted McDonald, coordinator for the Los Angeles Unified School District’s ROTC program, said he advises ROTC instructors against allowing students to wear the uniforms on campus, except for major events, to avoid the kind of problem Carson experienced.I hear the voices of future leaders here.“Some teachers object to what appears to them as a war uniform,” McDonald said. “But we don’t need to cause controversy and we’ve elected not to use that uniform except for camping and hiking.” That policy, McDonald added, has exceptions and was in place when he took over the district’s ROTC program in 1990.
Cheryl Geurbaoui, a Carson teacher, disapproved of students wearing the uniform, especially at a time when the country is on the precipice of war.
“They encourage people to think about war when they should be learning and it just bothers me because this is a tense time,” said Geurbaoui, who believes that dislike of the outfits is widespread among schools, not isolated to Carson. “I don’t think it’s unpatriotic to not want kids in the uniforms on campus.” But many students voiced strong support for the uniform and felt the teacher was out of line.“The uniform doesn’t symbolize war. To me it’s about being proud of your country,” said Brandyn Robinson, a Carson senior. “They let athletes and cheerleaders wear their uniforms but when it comes to ROTC they don’t. It doesn’t make sense.”
Meliza Marshall, a sophomore enrolled in ROTC, said she felt dejected about by what she viewed as “discrimination” against the cadets.
“We worked hard for those uniforms and we want to wear them and we’re proud to wear them,” she said.
ROTC students at other schools were similarly upset. Cadet Sgt. Maj. Mike Heitmann, a senior at Redondo Union High School who leads his ROTC unit, said he interpreted the action as an insult to the military in general.
“I think it’s ridiculous because the military is here to protect its people; we’re not warmongers,” he said.
And while it’s amusingly predictable that a few teachers would stand in front of their students and object, I’ll also tip my hat to the school administration for stepping up and dealing with this unprompted.
I have a feeling that had the Maine administrators acted in the same way, we wouldn't have been debating the issue.
Huh,the ROTC at my school wore their cammo's because dry cleaning marine blues was so pricy.
<Cheryl Geurbaoui, a Carson teacher, disapproved <of students wearing the uniform, especially at a <time when the country is on the precipice of <war.
<“They encourage people to think about war when <they should be learning and it just bothers me <because this is a tense time,” said Geurbaoui, <who believes that dislike of the outfits is <widespread among schools, not isolated to <Carson.
As a high school teacher myself, if learning is the goal, and the uniforms distract from that goal, than cheerleaders uniforms (very distracting to adolescent boys) and team uniforms (such as jerseys worn on gamedays to draw attention and conversation to the big game that night) should also be banned. Spirit days which call for students to dress up (sometimes in wild and outragous ensembles, again which demands students to converse about) should also be banned. Because in all cases, the learning environment is disrupted to some degree.
However, the teacher quoted above sounded more like she was offended only by the uniform that is worn by members of the military, in this case JROTC cadets. It sounds like it is an objection for personal political reasons and beliefs, not that there was a disruption to the learning environment. The reason she is "bothered" is that there might be students, or teachers such as myself that hold views contrary to hers and that, God forbid, if conversation about the possibility of war begins in a classroom, students might learn something that just might prompt them to support action to disarm Saddam Hussein and liberate Iraq. The reason that it disrupts learning is just a cover explanation.
I do not advocate students hijacking a class, or teachers hijacking a class to make a political point but just the act of wearing a Battle Dress Uniform to class does not do this. I make it a point to hide my views and tend to play devil's advocate.
In the same way I do not advocate schools forcing students to take off anti-war shirts as long as they are not obscene and do not cause a disruption.
Only if a true disruption of the learning environment occurs should action be taken.