Inappropriate? School Tells Student to Cover Up Marine Corps T-Shirt Because of Bulldog’s Genitals
- Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:35am by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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Image source: Marine Corps Times
Image source: Marine Corps Times
A Mississippi sixth-grader whose brother is serving in Afghanistan was told by school officials to turn his T-shirt inside-out because of its anatomically correct depiction of the U.S. Marine Corps bulldog, the Marine Corps Times reported.
Jordan Griffith, 13, received the T-shirt as a gift from his older brother, Lance Cpl. Timothy Swann Jr., while he was on leave before deploying. The front of the shirt shows the dog’s head and body and reads, “If you are not the lead dog,” while the back shows a rear view of the animal and states, “The view never changes.”
“Jordan just idolizes Timothy,” their mother, Sandy Griffith, told the Marine Corps Times. “Timothy gave him the shirt and told him, ‘Always remember you’re a leader, not a follower.’”
But that’s apparently not the message officials at South Jones Elementary in Ellisville chose to focus on: According to the Times, they objected to the realistic rendering of the dog’s genitals. Griffith was told to either turn his shirt inside-out or have his parents bring him a new one.
Incensed, Sandy Griffith chose to pull her son out of class rather than have him swap shirts.
“The bond [between the brothers] is very uncanny,” she told Fox News. “If you want to talk about inappropriate and offensive, that was offensive to me.”
Tommy Parker, the school’s superintendent, insisted to the Times that despite the outrage, the decision had nothing to do with it being a Marine Corps shirt.
“We’re very pro-military,” he said. “We’re one of the most conservative places in the United States.”
Parker said some teachers simply objected to the shirt because “all the details are there” with regard to the dog’s anatomy and they didn’t want to look at it all day or have younger students see it.
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Comments (157)
trotula
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:05pmSo, if the kid was walking a dog, would he be criticized because the dog’s genitals were showing? New flash. Dogs go naked.
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 1:20pmYeah, it’s only a bulldog. Could’ve been worse, it could’ve been a bull.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 1:37pmit’s not ok to show dogs anatomy but this year in 6th grade kids will learn all about having sex, masturbating, how great abortion is, gay sex and whatever public school planned parenthood course is required including men cutting off junk and having it turned into woman parts because they think they are women, dog balls….nope.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 1:49pmThe school must be full of Katherine Heigl ‘s and people who don’t like the Corps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF2TyajIL94
Report Post »pavepaws
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:27pm“Parker said some teachers simply objected to the shirt because “all the details are there” with regard to the dog’s anatomy and they didn’t want to look at it all day or have younger students see it.“ Thank goodness those ”younger students” don’t have pets at home. Better not let them watch TV either where worse things are seen. I guess their school doesn’t subject the children to sex ed like elsewhere or expose them to anything the National Education Association deems is appropriate today in modern education.
Report Post »CougarNick78
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:44pmNewsflash: The libs were jealous that THAT ONE DOG had more balls than all of them COMBINED….and Best_Patriot included!
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:46pmThis Just Released:
(American Legion Riders participating in Rolling Thunder “Run for the Wall” for the first time as a group! © 2012 The American Legion. All Rights Reserved.) Have a great Memorial Day in our Nations wonderful Capital City!
TEA
Report Post »ThomasUSA
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:55pmCome on! – I mean REALLY??? Do you mean to say I don’t have to fight with my dog every time I take him for a walk, to put on that silly pair of under ware? Wait till I tell the P.C. Zoo in our town.. That dang male elephant was starting to put up a fight!
Report Post »ThemDemsLie2much
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 6:35pmSo who exactly from this school, sees the genitals of an animal as a sexual object? Hum! Got to be an Obot.
Report Post »ICEDRAGONNITE
Posted on May 25, 2012 at 1:51pmThe gist is the schools does not like the US Marines. The rest is BS.
Report Post »FaithfulFriend
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:05pmGod bless the Corps!
I miss by bully. Boone.
Report Post »bdandsl
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:02pmI guess it means some want to neuter the Marines.
Report Post »Freedom Hound
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 10:38pmThese liberals don’t deserve to look at the b@lls of Chesty.
Report Post »HKS
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:02pmWell I guess they don‘t want anything at all around that’s got balls.
Report Post »Notarichboy
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:42pmExactly! They probably are Obama supporters because he doesn’t have any!
Report Post »TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 1:29pmThere‘s was an old saying when I was in the Military that once you got ’em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.
The schools motto: Once you take away their balls, their hearts and minds will follow.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:01pm“they didn’t want to have younger students see it.” Of course half the male students are probably walking around with their @sses hanging out of their pants… but that’s a cultural thing, we can’t interfere.
Report Post »Obama_Sham
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:50pm@Gonzo…
Good point… I was going to bring up that some of the older female students probably have their thongs hanging out as well…
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 1:28pmI thought of that too Sham…but I find it hard to complain about scantily clad women.
Report Post »Obama_Sham
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 1:55pmYa, I have no problem with scantily clad women. However, scantily clad underage girls is inappropriate.
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:47pmWhat’s funny is watching these idiots with their pants below their arses lifting them up continiously because they keep sliding off..apparently it’s a lot of concentration and effort to look that stupid…
Report Post »SingerGuy
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:01pmIt took a lot of balls for Mr. Parker to say that the action had “nothing to do with it being a Marine Corps shirt.” And he said it with a straight face. Well played, Mr. Parker.
Report Post »65Mustang
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:01pmI don’t find it offensive…maybe the Democrats will grow a pair and vote their balless leader out of office.
Report Post »NHwinter
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:58amAmazing, PP has a special masterbation week or month, Fluke is begging for free contraceptions, Hustler has an outstanding conservative woman on it cover in a vile way, yet this school doesn’t want to show the rear end of a dog. It is all upside down and we need to right the direction America is heading. Vote almost all of them out of office, except for a “few good men and women”.
Report Post »welovetheUSA
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:58amDon’t liberals realize they will be the first to go if war breaks………..bring in mandatory enlistment for all men and women……it will change their views on this silly green utopia they live in their pea brains.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:54amThe shirt would have been OK with administrators and teachers if the genitals in question had been those of Dan Savage instead……
Report Post »bdandsl
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:53amShow me any person over a year old that has never seen a dog’s genitals. I guess, if you walk your dog in public you better put clothes on it so not to offend someone.
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:53amI agree it is about the message and I agree it does seem alright for them to teach them things we as parents do not agree with. Take all the kids out of public schools.
I am glad to see people standing up.
Report Post »Countrygirl1362
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:50amIts a dog for crying out loud. What next we have to put pants on our dogs to be PC?
Report Post »Inlandmar2
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:48amI guess now thay will be banning anatomically correct animals. All donkeys, cows, bulls and dogs must altered so as not to offend anyone……Take about nuts!,,,pun intended.
Report Post »Maxim Crux
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:47amTrying to castrate the Marine Corps Mascot….that’s rich. They need to castrate these school officials
Report Post »piper60
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:47amLike NONE of the younger students has a dog, or has ever seen the dog’s genitals? Really?
Report Post »Your Name Here
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 8:54amI wonder what these so called ‘officials’ think when the dog licks his junk.
Report Post »Maybe they like the idea of ‘fifi’ “kissing” them on the mouth right after ‘fifi’ has just licked her a$$.
I’d bet a good majority of liberals have worms.
NeoKong
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:46amCome on now….it wasn’t the picture that got some whiny little school administrator all upset.
Report Post »It was the message.
BumperMorgan
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:19pmYep.
Report Post »DJ in AZ
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:46amSorry, kid and parents, but I think the school is right about this. If the shirt is a distraction, the school has every right to tell the kid to change his shirt.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:49amWhat about all the Mexicans who wear the Mexican flag on US Holidays? Should we ban them too? Or is that too politically correct for you? What about the schools who have a no hat policy, but allow hajibs?
Report Post »Banner67
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:54amYes, DJ is correct. If it is a distraction, you really don’t need to be wearing it at school.
Report Post »rickc34
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:55amWhat was the message? Are we going to have toput pants on all animals to cover up their privates? The kid was proud of his brother but some pervert goes and stare at the dogs private are . Now the dogs thinks everyone is checking him out . How about sex ed or what people wear to school . No more short skirt or low cut in the front. I believe people should dress modestly but this went a little to far.
Report Post »bdandsl
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:01pmWhy is it a distraction? Have you never seen a real live dog? They don’t wear pants and it is out there for all to see.
Report Post »DJ in AZ
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:20pmSchools and teachers are in the business of educating our children. (Or at least that should be their focus…but that’s another issue for another time.) Anyways, when the things that kids wear become a distraction and a hinderance to the education process, then the school has the responsibility to rectify the problem so it can move on with its mission.
I don’t know where that line should be all the time, and I really don’t want to be the fashion police at my local school or at yours. So let the school do its job, OK. That’s what they get paid to do.
P.S. – I’m a freemdom-loving Republican constitutionalist from AZ. I just don’t think this is a 1st Amendment free speech issue that needs to be tossed about and fixed on the Blaze. Let the school administrators do their job.
Report Post »RedDirtTexas
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:25pmI respect this little boy. He’s honoring his big brother and his country. BUT, having raised boy’s and a girl of my own, I can just imagine the giggling and carrying on in the classroom of sixth graders. Teacher was probably trying to get her class back to order. I’m not irate about this. I’m willing to bet any other USMC Tee would be ok.
Report Post »Bob_R_OathKeeper
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:28pmThis is a distraction? LOL, too many people in this country are spoiled and spoiled rotten. Getting bombed or shelled while you’re in the classroom, now that is a distraction. LOL @ the pansies in this country now.
Report Post »Bob_R_OathKeeper
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:43pmI admit bias on this one…..REDDIRTTEXAS does have a pretty good point though.
Report Post »deerfawn
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 1:33pmdistraction? please, I’ve seen more distraction coming from hanging pants past their rumps, and goofy hair cuts. This was all about the message.
Report Post »Dismayed Veteran
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 1:44pmI am in the group of parents who believes all slogan t-shirts should be banned. If one is allowed any can be allowed. I would not want my grandchild exposed to a t-shirt that says “Jesus is a myth”. Further, I believe sloganed t-shirts contribute to the “gang” ethos.
Finally, SARCASIM ON: who would want to look at those tiny Marine Corps testicles any way?”
Report Post »Mike Benton
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 1:48pmOK, air brush out the balls and what you have left is a bare rectum…is that OK or must it too be covered so as not to offend the gays?
Report Post »104thTimberwolves
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:38pmGet out of here with that distraction crap! I would bet half the students didn’t even noticed the shirt because the were to busy talking or texting on their cell phones. Talk about a distraction! Hell, they probably pulled the kid out of his sex education class to let him know the shirt was inappropriate! This PC crap has about run it’s course!
Report Post »MBA
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:08pmOh please, you have to be one of the liberal busybodies who can’t mind your own business, What someone else is wearing is none of your business, And if you don‘t like it don’t look at it. Geez–the kid’s body was covered–it wasn’t his genital hanging out–it wasn‘t even REAL dog genitals for pete’s sake. You know what, I am sick and tired of people who have to bitch about every nitpicking little thing that means nothing in life when there are bigger issues to worry about–like paying your bills and leaving everyone else alone to do the same. I’m sure not one of the busybody liberals are out there looking for a cure for cancer or anything else useful–all they can do is find “distractions”. Disgusting,.
Report Post »DJ in AZ
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 5:17pmI love the Marines. I love the military. I honor the men and woman serving our country. There‘s a Marine Corp Air Station and the Army’s Yuma Proving Ground here in Yuma, AZ where I’m from. I am glad they are part of my community and that I am part of their community. I am also glad this boy wanted to honor his family member in the Marines. That is wonderful.
That being said, I stand by what I said earlier. The purpose of school is to educate kids, and if this shirt was causing a distraction, the school has every right to tell the kid to wear something else so that everybody can get back to the chief purpose of getting an education. No, the shirt probably didn’t bother a majority of the students. Who cares how many it actually bothered – that’s not really the point anyways. Personally, I wouldn’t want my kid to wear that shirt, as I think it’s just crude and low humor. I would think that there are other shirts the kid could wear that would honor someone in the Marines. So, yes, the shirt could be a distraction for some, and if it is, the shirt needs to go. And you folks need to lighten up on the school and let them do their job. I seriously doubt the school was trying to defame the military by their decision.
Just because the P.C. Police go overboard way too often doesn‘t mean you and I need to be the ’Anything Goes’ Nazis. Let’s exercise a little restraint and judgement, OK?
Report Post »DissenterKnight
Posted on May 25, 2012 at 12:32pmI bought service pride gear at the NEX all the time, sent a good bit of it home to my kid sister as well. I was very proud of on t-shirt in particular (A Dozen Empty Missile Tubes, A Mushroom Cloud On The Horizon… It’s Miller Time!), but I’d never have sent it to her. Some things are soldier/sailor/Military Spouse appropriate, but not kid appropriate.
Still, I’m liking the shirt.
Report Post »Lonescrapper
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:45amRidiculous.
Report Post »Sirfoldallot
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:51amUniforms, kids r there 2 learn, not 2 advertise their feelings.
Report Post »Bob_R_OathKeeper
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:30pmYeah, let’s all be uniform, nice collective thinking there.
Report Post »Dismayed Veteran
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 1:35pmBob
Remeber zero week in boot camp? Remember how they took you from a quivering mass of civilian jello and began the process of making you into a common denominator called a recruit?
Report Post »CS_GUY
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:45amMr. Parker,
Would you like hand to hand or mortal combat?
Never mess with a Marine or his family………..Semper Fi
Start looking for another job…………..today.
Report Post »jingoistic.patriot
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:44amI‘m willing to bet that the same teacher who was ’so offended‘ by this Marine Corps shirt isn’t squeamish at ll when it comes to indoctrinating someone else’s children about queer sex being okay.
And yes I know I’m insensitive. I don’t care, get over it.
Report Post »copatriots
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 12:12pmOr mandating that kids learn Arabic.
Report Post »thegoldman
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:42amThats because the school’s superintendent doesn’t have any !
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:51amThat’s because the principal is following the President and is tired of the view, so he/she objects to a shirt that reminds him/her that they’re not a leader, but a follower.
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:42amHeard about this on Cam and Company last-night. Cam suggested sending this youngman t-shirts with the Marine logo (of any kind) to see if the school would still protest. I think this is a great idea! Anyone know where I can get an authentic Marine Corp. t-shirt?
Report Post »DissenterKnight
Posted on May 25, 2012 at 12:33pmI find a dozen sites in a 30 second internet search. The question is, do we know where to send them?
Report Post »DissenterKnight
Posted on May 25, 2012 at 12:41pmHow slowly must I type to avoid typos…
Report Post »LukeAppling
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:39amThis is an outrage! The military defends America and political correctness rules Mississippi.
Report Post »Best_Patriot
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 2:21pmShut up.
Report Post »CougarNick78
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:41pm@ BEST PATRIOT, how about YOU shut up, you horse’s arse?
Report Post »Best_Patriot
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:39amWho cares? It’s school, not a fashion show.
Report Post »CougarNick78
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:51pmSeriously, you add NOTHING to this site or the discussion. What are you, an Internet Tough Guy? I’d pay to see you act all hard when REAL PEOPLE come face to face with you and do not back down….. You’re a coward and a punk.
By the way, school? It’s not a school, it’s indoctrination, and you friggin know it. Liar.
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