A religious freedom and civil liberties legal group has come to the defense of two public high school students in central Virginia after they were reportedly reprimanded by school administrators to cease wearing pro-abstinence t-shirts.
The students – who wore shirts that proudly displayed messages such as “Virginity Rocks” and “I’m loving my Husband And I haven’t even Met Him!” – were allegedly ordered by school officials to change or turn their shirts inside out.
In a letter to the school superintendent of Albemarle County Public Schools, Rutherford Institute President John W. Whitehead defended the students, noting that the alleged action by school administrators was a violation of the students’ right to free speech.
“[L]imitation of students’ free speech rights is permissible only if the administration can demonstrate a well-founded expectation of disruption that is factually based on past incidents arising out of similar speech and not simply some remote apprehension of a disturbance,” Whitehead wrote in his letter to the superintendent.
“It is difficult to imagine how the shirts worn by the students – shirts promoting the message of abstinence for public health purposes – could reasonably be considered so disturbing as to produce in school officials a well-founded expectation of disruption,” he added.
Whitehead noted further in his letter that school officials were wrong to censor students as the shirts’ message of abstinence was part of the state’s curriculum guidelines for family life education.
“In light of the fact that nearly 26 percent (1 in 4) of American girls aged 14-19 have at least one sexually transmitted disease, I can’t imagine why any school would object to a message that promotes abstinence over potentially risky sexual activity,” Whitehead said in a personal statement.
“It is our hope that school officials will recognize and respect that these students have a constitutional right to exercise their freedom of speech by wearing ‘Virginity Rocks’ t-shirts,” he added.
The pro-abstinence t-shirts worn by the students were part of a promotion campaign developed by “Worth Your Wait,” a nonprofit organization dedicated to both the “health and well-being of students in Central Virginia,” and empowering “students to resist negative peer pressure when making decisions about sexual activity and to inform students about the physical risks of having sex.”
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Steveh20,
Good post. Clearly Islam and judaism also promote abstinence in premarital situations but no one was saying the school was anti muslim or anti semetic. It is a non religious civil rights issue. As a High School principal I can personally testify that school officials routinely receive information from a variety of sources around this issue. For these officials to act in this way displays either a willful ignorance of basic student rights or an agenda of some sort. In my public school students freely wear clothing with religious and political messages. This is not only there right it adds to the intellectual level of the school by provoking student to student discussion on issues and topics. Though I must say I almost mistakenly adressed a student with a shirt that had "heavy drinker" on the front until I read the back of the shirt. ( we do prohibit promotion of illegal or dangerous behavior). I find that this approach of recognizing student rights is the norm not the exception among my colleagues. The school officials in this case should be provided corrective supervision and training if they are to continue in their roles. and should be making public apologies to the students involved.
To Steve,
Wow we actually agree on something...
wow, they really do want Christian's out of this world, if pretribulation theory is correct i wonder what people will do when were gone and basic moral standard is completely out of the picture. equal rights is one thing, but complete lawlessness, thats where society seems to be going anymore....
So now I guess issues like preventing teen pregnancy and STD's are considered offensive by school administrators.
Why is it that the higher people rise through the ranks of the public education system in America the dumber they get?
Can't understand why the students where told not to where the shirts. As far as I can see it's not even a religious issue, it is just as easy to abide by no religion what so ever and stlli be pro abstinence( and vice versa), very odd, definately a free speech issue.
Steve
FACT: The 10 commandments are the basis of our laws. Without that you have only society's say so that something is wrong. If we throw that away we are leaving ourselves wide open for anything. If you take a moment and look around at what is coming out of the courts and our political leaders, this is exactly where we are heading...anything goes if you can justify it to the right people at the right time.
The Word of God is supposed to be offensive to a degree. That doesn't mean to jump on someone's back and ride them into the ground but how often do you get your toes stepped on in church. If you don't either you don't go to church, your pastor(s) don't preach the Word of God, or you're Christ himself.
The Word is supposed to rub us the wrong way if we're going the wrong way. When we give in to God's will then it no longer hurts.
That's the way I see it.
chicago24--
I understand what you're saying, but that just goes to show the problems we run into when we make immoral laws. I think it remains a moral issue regardless of its legality.
tgender:
I'm just saying that if male students in Massachussetts (where gay marriage is legal) want to wear the shirt that reads “I’m loving my Husband And I haven’t even Met Him!” there's nothing the schools can do to prohibit it BECAUSE this precident has been set.
It's a legal issue now that the precident has been set. Not a moral one.
chicago24—
“Okay, but next thing you know, a MALE student will be wearing a shirt that says ‘I’m loving my Husband And I haven’t even Met Him!’ and the schools won't be able to say a thing.”
Your implication seems to be that we must endorse no moral viewpoints or all moral viewpoints. This view assumes that there is no such thing as objective morality—moral laws that are true for all people at all times in all places. This is the crucial question for our society, isn’t it? We live as if moral relativism is true, when it is clearly false. I commend these students for being bold enough to stand up for true Biblical morality.
This is ridiculous when common sense takes a backseat to not "offending anyone", I applaud these young ladies courage in sticking to their convictions. IN JESUS NAME