# So a kid showed up at school today dressed as Hitler... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 31, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795 "2009-10-31T00:56:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/81 "2009-10-31T17:13:15Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Is there a Sexy Hitler costume for the girls? :eek: Gonna go with **C K** and what I wrote previously on this one: The real estate phrase “location, location, location” comes to mind. As does “timing”. Devil’s Advocate question: Would you allow a child to dress up as Jeff Dunham’s “Achmed, The Dead Terrorist”? Q ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/82 "2009-10-31T17:24:10Z")
**Teacher** Ohhh… crap. Now I gotta deal with this. **Principal** Ohhh… crap. Now I gotta deal with this. **Parent who had learned about this.** I’d ask my kid what kind of shitstorm came out of it. Who would raise an eyebrow if this kid had come to school dressed as Stalin? Idi Amin? Pol Pot? Actually they might, because they’d probably be wondering “Who are you supposed to be?” The thing is, Hitler is demonized the way that the word “nigger” is demonized. Both deserve scorn for what they represent (genocide and human subjugation, respectively), but both got swept up in a nth-level unpeakable zeitgeist that gives these things additional power that they didn’t have before (which is kind of the opposite of what we want, right?) If I were the parent, I’d try to steer the child away from it not because it’s inherently wrong, but because it would stir up a shitstorm and the school is probably the one — whichever decision they make — who is going to lose in the end. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/83 "2009-10-31T17:47:30Z")
I am, as always, shocked by how much people apparently care about stuff like this. Hitler for Halloween? So what? Fer cryin’ out loud, it’s a damn costume! Nobody’s getting hurt, and, I dunno about you guys, but at my school, nobody’s gonna go beating people up over their costumes, so the whole ‘I’m doing it for his own good’ argument falls short to me. Kids don’t get all offenderati like their parents apparently do. Besides, Hitler is _hilarious_. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/84 "2009-10-31T17:53:58Z")
This is ridiculous, peeps. Hitler is certainly not a historic figure , he’s a current, modern influence in many, many anti-semitic groups around this country. (Anyone ever been to Venice, CA? I’ve been given Skinhead propaganda twice in my ten visits, and this was when I was parking my car.) Dressing like Hitler is not just offensive, it could be viewed as showing support for your local Aryan shit heads. The parents deserve an ass-chewing, maybe a search warrant to see how many Nazi flags are in their living room. Sick, sick, sick. And the same goes for blackface. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/85 "2009-10-31T17:55:53Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Just what does this mean, exactly, mswas? And what does it have to do with the discussion at hand? It means that Jews had better marketing than Russian Kulaks. Thus Hitler is more evil in the American mind than Stalin. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/86 "2009-10-31T17:56:57Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Right, because Che and Hitler are equivalent. I can see you’ve thought the whole thing through with your typical profundity. So your problem isn’t mass-murder then. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/87 "2009-10-31T17:59:45Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Dressing like Hitler is not just offensive, it could be viewed as showing support for your local Aryan shit heads. Which is why the kid would get bounced from my room instantly. The default would be that he is an Aryan, and I have less-than-zero tolerance for that shit in my classroom. If the kid honestly didn’t think of that, then he should be suspended for being **too fucking stoopid**! ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/88 "2009-10-31T18:00:59Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > This isn’t an issue of good taste or political correctness. It just wasn’t a good idea for the kid to dress like that, period. It very easily could have contributed to a chaotic or even violent classroom or campus situation and then perhaps even a lawsuit if the boy got beaten up. These are the very things every teacher or administrator wants to avoid. I probably would have not sent him to the principal if he agreed to take off the moustache and swastika. He could just wear the rest and say he was a soldier, or something. If he refused he would have gone to the principal’s office, end of story. I would also like to punish him for being an attention-seeking teenage dumbass out to shock people on purpose, but I don’t know if a lowly teacher has that authority. > > Hitler has gone from being an historical figure to being the worldwide synonym for “evil,” everyone knows who he was, everyone knows he was bad, everyone knows they shouldn’t dress up like him. But the issue is keeping the classroom, campus, and school safe. Dressing up as Stalin or Idi Amin probably wouldn’t be as big as deal since not many kids know who they were (“Dude, why’d you dress up like the Notorious B.I.G in an army uniform?”) and wouldn’t be apt to beat the shit out of a kid dressed up like that or be offended by it since they either know nothing about those people, know very little about them, or don’t care about them. I dressed up as Napoleon once when for Halloween when I was a kid and everyone said my “pirate costume” was cool. But Political Correctness is the ONLY reason not to dress like Hitler. Political Correctness (Known as etiquette in more civilized times) is specifically for all the things you described. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/89 "2009-10-31T18:06:54Z")
Could the kid do, word, for word, the “Downfall” bunker scene? If he could, that would be pretty awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/90 "2009-10-31T18:24:33Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > But Political Correctness is the ONLY reason not to dress like Hitler. Political Correctness (Known as etiquette in more civilized times) is specifically for all the things you described. You seem hell bent on arguing that there is nothing wrong with dressing as Hitler for a costume. That is not what the OP asked. If you honestly think there is nothing wrong with a 14 yr old kid wearing it TO SCHOOL, well you’re entitled to your opinion. As I, CK, and others have pointed out, it is the context and location that makes this inappropriate. Change the word “appropriate” to “disruptive.” Would it be disruptive for a 14 yr old to show up AT SCHOOL dressed like Hitler? Of course it is, and in that kind of environment it is the duty of teachers and administrators to remove the disruptive element. I said up thread I couldn’t find anything funny about dressing as Hitler. I stand corrected. Zombie Hitler with a bullet hole in his head is pretty funny. When is the OP going to come back and tell us the details of what actually happened? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/91 "2009-10-31T18:25:16Z")
I may be one of the least “politically correct” people around, and I’m certainly not a fan of bureaucracy, but people–_this is what policy is for_. If the school allows kids to dress as devils, demons, mass-murderers, rapists, pirates, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Ghengis Khan, Vlad the Impaler, Jack the Ripper, and so forth, then they should allow Hitler, too. I understand that location is everything. If there’s an active neo-Nazi movement in that town, then set a policy prohibiting swastikas and other white supremacist symbols in the school. If the kid shows up as Hitler, you have a clear-cut _reason_ to send him home. Some of the costumes I can remember kids wearing when I was in high school include Heinrich Himmler (probably more racist even than Hitler himself), Torquemada, the Marquis de Sade, and Charles Manson. None of them were sent home. Can this really be the first time in the history of that school that someone’s worn an “inappropriate” costume? The first time that anyone in administration has ever thought there might be a potential problem? If they have no policy in place, it’s their own fault, and they should not punish the student. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/92 "2009-10-31T18:26:36Z")
I had a difficult childhood at age 11 till 15, because I didn’t _always_ speak “American English” (**Y’all:)**). I now speak just like you, because it was “forced” on me. When we first arrived in the States in 1960, I spoke English with a _very_ heavy (and some say _arrogant_) German accent, and this caused me all kinds of trouble with my school-mates. I was called “Adolf”, “Nazi” (remember, this was 1960!) and swastikas were painted on my books, and one Halloween, spray-painted on the side of my house. Being “German-American”, I had “trouble” deciding which one of my countries did the worst to other people: America with the slavery, or Germany with what they did to the Jews. Because I still have such strong ties to my homeland, I chose the latter, but did my best to understand the former. I finally came to the conclusion that _none_ of us are innocent, and we \*\*all \*\*need to embrace and “own” the guilt of hurting our brothers and sisters. This is why I chose to go with **C K’s** decision: if it _hurts_ or has the _capacity_ to hurt, then don’t do it. Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/93 "2009-10-31T18:28:22Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Since when is dressing as the devil not ok on Halloween? Good point. > [@](#): > > I guess Halloween’s purpose of exorcising demons has become completely inculturated and it’s just another excuse to get fat, fuck and act stupid. Who needs an excuse? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/94 "2009-10-31T18:29:29Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I grew up with such wondrous takes on WWII as _Dad’s Army_, _It Ain’t Half Hot Mum_, and _'Allo 'Allo_ (and _Raiders of the Lost Ark_). Hitler and the Nazis have long been presented as comedic figures to be ridiculed. > > Maybe that wasn’t completely appropriate even at the time, but I don’t think it should be considered completely off limits either. It was _totally_ appropriate at the time. Ridicule is a perfectly valid response to monsters (I know you know this **GuanoLad** ,not aimed at you). I suppose that some people dress up as Nazis because they agree with the ideology, others respond by reducing evil filth to caricature - it’s a Fuck You statement. No idea about this kid, obviously, but if it was in the spirit of this WWII ditty \*Hitler has only got one ball, Goering has two but very small, Himmler is something similar, and Goebells has no balls at all \* then good for him. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/95 "2009-10-31T18:35:29Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > A friend of mine in high school came to class as Hitler fit Halloween once. This was in '93 or '94. No one seemed to see it as a big deal. Of course, the bullet hole he put between his eyes probably helped contextualuze it. Heh, that’s the way to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/96 "2009-10-31T19:03:45Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > When is the OP going to come back and tell us the details of what actually happened? I agree. C’monnnnn _back_ **Quasimodal** , you jazz-playin’ rascal, and don’t keep us in _suspenders_ no more!🙂 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/97 "2009-10-31T19:05:59Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > So your problem isn’t mass-murder then. Unsurprisingly, you’re wrong. Your argument is akin to saying, “If the principal is carrying a $20 bill with a picture of a mass-murderer in his pocket, he has no grounds on which to object to a kid wearing a ‘Kill Injuns’ t-shirt.” It’s a ridiculous, stupid, and “oh, look at me, what a brave intellectual maverick!” argument I am. Sarah Palin wouldn’t use it, it’s so dumb. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/98 "2009-10-31T19:10:47Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > I assume this was in the U.S. somewhere, correct? That is only relevant because wouldn’t this be considered a crime in some countries? > > 1. Teacher - I would get him out of the class as soon as possible and sent off to the principle > > 2. Principle - I’d want to know why the kid thought that was an acceptable or "cool " outfit for halloween. I would then contact his parents and have them come get him. I’d want to know if they knew he left the house that way and if yes, find out why _ **they** _ thought it was an acceptable outfit. Was this unusual behavior for the kid? Was the teacher surprised or is this more of “here we go again?” I wouldn’t suspend the kid if this was just a wtf out of the blue moment but I would send him home for the day. If it is a pattern of racist behavior, then I’d probably suspend the kid and file a report with whoever the proper authorities would be. > > 3. Parent - is this an “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” scenario? If the parents are white supremecists I probably already have some inkling. I’d use it as an opportunity to discuss racism with my kid and get them to understand why this isn’t funny or cool behavior. If he dressed as Freddy in Friday the 13th movies would you think his parents are killing teenagers? I would ignore it. He may be daring someone to start trouble over a costume. I would not give the satisfaction. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/99 "2009-10-31T19:39:30Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > That is probably true, but it is a sad commentary on American education if a class of 14-year old kids doesn’t know what an evil man Hitler was and thinks it is “cool” to dress up like him. Not just American education. Back in late 2004 or early 2005, England’s Prince Harry, who was certainly older than 14 and probably better educated than most, thought it was a gas to wear a Nazi outfit. Cite: [http://www.infowars.com/articles/world/uk\_harry\_says\_sorry\_for\_nazi\_costume.htm](http://www.infowars.com/articles/world/uk_harry_says_sorry_for_nazi_costume.htm) ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795/100 "2009-10-31T21:50:58Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > (Anyone ever been to Venice, CA? I’ve been given Skinhead propaganda twice in my ten visits, and this was when I was parking my car.) I work in Venice and I’ve never encountered this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-kid-showed-up-at-school-today-dressed-as-hitler/515795.md?page=6)