Withdrawal of photo approval may keep student out of the yearbook
Updated 09 June 2004: ACLU opines on yearbook kerfuffle (at bottom of post)
PHS disallows portrait with firearm
Pewaukee High School senior Tyler Schultz submitted his picture in time and it was approved by the yearbook adviser. On May 26 he was informed that it was inappropriate after all. The picture shows the rebel flag in the background and shows Shultz wearing a cowboy hat and holding his shotgun.
“It (the photo) was very tastefully done,” said Tammy Ankomeus, Schultz’s mother. She also pointed out that students were encouraged by the school to show their personality in their photos, portraying themselves with sports equipment or other items that they identified with.
Schultz uses the shotgun at Menomonee Falls Rod and Gun Club, where he has been trap shooting since age 15.
Previous yearbooks have shown guns, though not in a student portrait. Although guns are not permitted on the school grounds a shotgun was still brought in earlier in the school year for a demonstration.
Pewaukee School Superintendent JoAnn Sternke stated that she had no knowledge of the photos in previous yearbooks or a firearm being brought into school for a presentation and was only responding to the situation with Schultz.
“Weapons or images of this sort are not something we endorse or condone in the school environment. Weapons by law and school policy are not allowed on school grounds,” Sternke said.
…
That was something that concerned Sternke. “Not everyone who looks at the yearbook will know Tyler and they may misconstrue that we as a school allow or condone our students to carry guns, to carry rifles or guns in our schools.”An image of the confederate flag in the yearbook could also be misconstrued, Sternke said.
That darned Southern flag. It sure does come up a lot in those Northern schools, doesn’t it? In this case Schultz was proactive and spoke with minority students about including it. Because they know him they don’t have a problem with it.
Schultz may not be in the yearbook at all as he’s nixed a cropped version that shows only his face.
UPDATE
ACLU weighs in on senior photo issue
The school’s position sounds quite rational:
“As the yearbook is representative of the school and a publication of Pewaukee High School, it is, by its very nature, an extension of the school and school district,” Sternke said.
“Therefore, it is reasonable for the school and school district to regulate the messages that the school sends via our publications” Sternke said.
But in this case the school specifically requested that the students “express themselves” in their yearbook photos. Even without that specific request there are legal restrictions on what the school can restrict.
While [Chris Ahmuty, executive director of the ACLU in Milwaukee] acknowledged the editorial power and responsibility of a school in a school publication, he stated that restrictions may be tolerated only when they are employed to forestall events that would clearly endanger the health or safety of members of the school community or clearly and imminently disrupt the educational process.
“Neither the faculty advisers nor the principal should prohibit the inclusion of material for publication except when such publication would clearly endanger the health or safety of the students, or clearly and imminently threaten to disrupt the educational process,” Ahmuty said.
…
“The constitutionality of the school’s actions in Pewaukee come down to two factual questions,” Ahmuty said. One is if the school has a history of racial tension that justifies administrators’ concerns and the other is if the school opened up the yearbook to personal expression.“If the first question is answered in the affirmative, then the school, according to recent court decisions, can restrict images of the Confederate flag or guns. If the first question is answered in the negative and the second in the affirmative, then the school has no business refusing to accept a photo, even if it is offensive,” Ahmuty said.
As Tyler had previously worn shirts with the Confederate flag without incident and had specifically cleared the picture with black students it would seem like an impossible task for the school to show that inclusion of the picture would cause a disruption.
Ahmuty also suggested a workable compromise. Include the picture with a disclaimer that the images shown (Confederate flag and gun) are not representative of the opinions of the institution.
A shotgun isn’t a weapon, it is a tool. Any tool can be used as a weapon (screwdriver, hammer, nail gun, razor knife, et cetera). The confederate flag is not racist any more than the word “niggardly” is.
That being said, is anybody suprised? People have lost their minds.
He needs to get a lawyer and sue. It sucks that it’s that way, but educrats only listen to students when they get lawyers.
The confederate flag issue in this case sounds exactly like another recent story here about several high schoolers driving by their school waving the flag. As several people mentioned, the confederate flag is not a symbol of slavery, but rather the state’s rights issue, which continues in other forms today. Slavery was only a vehicle for that conflict.
One would think educators would know this sort of thing.
”Ahmuty also suggested a workable compromise. Include the picture with a disclaimer that the images shown (Confederate flag and gun) are not representative of the opinions of the institution.”
If that is the ”workable compromise”, then the disclaimer really ought to be put at the front of the yearbook, not single out each student who might have a different belief from ‘mainstream’.
Who gets the disclaimer? The gay student? The adamantly straight student? The black pride student? The shotgun-south student? Its not really a compromise as much as a judgement.
Good point Scott but a judgement is exactly what the school is making. There are no reports of them disallowing gay, straight or black themes, only stereotype Southern.
This country and school systems have gone to shit. If someone wanted to wear a shirt with a picture of the Amercian flag or any other Country nothing would be said but when some one attempts to where the confederate flag people accuse them of bieng racist when Even some African Americans where them at my school in Tenneessee. And The confederacy is in the south so i reall see nothing wrong with wearing a flag on your shirt and if guns are not allowed in schools then why can SRO officers have guns there some say Guns disrupt the school enviroment some say it is dangerous and some say guns kill people when in all actuality guns dont kill people. People kill people. And take a good look at the consitution. I believe this kid is bieng deprived of his constitutional rights that many men died getting and still protecting the rights we take for granite today. Off topic but look at the constitution nobody has the right to impede your travel but many buy into it when they sign to get there drivers liscence. So next time some one tells you to sign something read it closely and next time anyone trys to harm you defend yourself whether it a police officer or another citizen. Stand up as Americans and protect your rights. Many will think this is not true but how many have actually sat down and read the constitution.
My son received 3 detentions for wearing a shirt that had a machine gun on it. The shirt was from a Machine gun Shoot that is held every year in Kentucky and he finally got to go to it during spring break. The shirt had a picture of a machine gun and the name of the show. No one was pointing it, it didn’t say anything about endorsing guns, just where it was held and the year. He also got a warning that he could not wear a belt buckle that had the American flag and Confederate flag on it. The logo said” American by birth, Southern by the grace of God.” The school said that it might be misconstrued and that he can not wear it. In talking to the school administrators, they said that their laywers said they had the right, above the Constitution and Tinker vs Board, to set school policy forbidding the Confederate flag in school. They say that the students perceive the flag as a threat. Higher education doesn’t always mean you are right. The Constitution and the Supreme Court are the judges of those issues. But apparently some educators are above the laws of our nation and can twist it to serve their needs.