# Special needs student can't wear varsity letter jacket. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 28, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170 "2015-03-28T00:55:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/21 "2015-03-28T02:55:43Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > The special needs student in question can’t earn the letter since the school does not have athletic teams for special needs students. Actually, in the video, you learn that the student does play “special needs” basketball but the school has unilaterally decided that the athletes may not letter in it. In the Wichita school district, this decision is made at the school level. Other schools within the district have less restrictive policies. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/22 "2015-03-28T03:03:01Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Actually, in the video, you learn that the student does play “special needs” basketball but the school has unilaterally decided that the athletes may not letter in it. In the Wichita school district, this decision is made at the school level. Other schools within the district have less restrictive policies. I didn’t watch the video, so thanks. All the more reason to let the kid have a letter, IMHO. It’s not like he’s a lazy slouch not doing anything for his school. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/23 "2015-03-28T03:06:39Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Actually, in the video, you learn that the student does play “special needs” basketball but the school has unilaterally decided that the athletes may not letter in it. In the Wichita school district, this decision is made at the school level. Other schools within the district have less restrictive policies. If the kids are playing against other schools, then earning a letter should be a part of it. if this is just afterschool athletics, no. I can’t imagine there’s enough special needs kids to populate full teams. However, there should be awards for participating, Most Improved, Most Valuable, etc. just like the school teams. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/24 "2015-03-28T03:09:10Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I agree with your logic, but there’s one consideration you left out: the letter is an honor with a long tradition. Just letting anybody wear it diminishes it, just like people wearing military medals they didn’t earn. Of course, the two issues are seperated by a huge difference of degree, but the concept is similar. The special needs student is not “just anybody”. He’s an athlete on one of his school’s teams. Other schools award letters to special needs athletic team members. In this case, the school’s policy regarding the team itself is incorrect as they’re denying the team an honor that does nothing to diminish a letter awarded to athletes on other teams. > [@](#): > > That being said, I do believe in free expression, so I don’t think actual disciplinary action should be taken against the student. But he shouldn’t let his feelings get hurt too bad if other kids remind him that he’s not actually a letterman. Of course, given that he’s special needs, the kids will hopefully just let him wear it and keep their thoughts among themselves. I think you’re misguided if you view this as an issue of free expression, even if that is the way media, schools, parents, and others are viewing it. The real jerks in this case are (a) the school for not having letters for this particular team’s members, and (b) the parents who called the school to complain about this student wearing a letterman’s jacket in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/25 "2015-03-28T03:11:31Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > The “honor” of it is diminished far more if it’s worn by some douchebag who won’t let a special needs athlete wear it than if it’s worn by the special needs athlete. From my reading of the article, the letter goes to teams, not athletes. It’s unclear exactly where the kid is playing basketball, but it doesn’t sound like it’s a team organized by the school. The organization which is organizing the basketball team would, presumably, be the one which should be issuing swag for its players. ---
**Author:** ![CaptainAmerica\_1987](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@CaptainAmerica\_1987](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptainAmerica_1987)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/26 "2015-03-28T03:11:56Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > The “honor” of it is diminished far more if it’s worn by some douchebag who won’t let a special needs athlete wear it than if it’s worn by the special needs athlete. +1 Billion on that! ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/27 "2015-03-28T03:15:18Z")
I ran track in high school with several special needs students who earned varsity letters…well before I did, in fact. I coached several special needs students in wrestling. One of them lettered. Our homecoming queen a couple years ago where i teach uses a wheelchair. Nobody bought those kids anything. They were all justifiably proud of themselves. These things are small, but they are important to kids of secondary school age. Adults, whom I suspect are still picking at old wounds, sneering here won’t change that. If a needs kid earns a letter or other honor, he should wear it with pride. If he didn’t earn it, he has no business wearing it. Mom should have put her time and energy into changing the school policy on special needs basketball if she wanted to do something to help. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/28 "2015-03-28T03:25:23Z")
I never cared enough about school sports when I was a student, so I don’t know all the “ins and outs” of getting a letter. It seems to me that if a school has a team, then the school should award letters. If the team is intramural, why not have “intramural” letters if there’s a need to distinguish? ---
**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:** [March 28, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/29 "2015-03-28T03:25:42Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Adults, whom I suspect are still picking at old wounds, sneering here won’t change that. :rolleyes: Because, yes, that’s the only reason to think that varsity athletes don’t need to have their feelings protected. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with thinking that signifiers of achievement are merely symbolic, and that substituting the symbol for the achievement in a exclusionary fashion is wrongheaded. No, we must be all sadfaced that we never lettered in all those sports I didn’t do. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/30 "2015-03-28T03:56:22Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > If the team is intramural, why not have “intramural” letters if there’s a need to distinguish? What, like lower-case ones? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/31 "2015-03-28T04:00:48Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > :rolleyes: Because, yes, that’s the only reason to think that varsity athletes don’t need to have their feelings protected. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with thinking that signifiers of achievement are merely symbolic, and that substituting the symbol for the achievement in a exclusionary fashion is wrongheaded. No, we must be all sadfaced that we never lettered in all those sports I didn’t do. So if a school doesn’t win a championship, should they raise a banner saying they did anyway? “Podunk High, National Football Champions 2015!” I think we’d all agree that a school CAN do that, but people would make fun of them. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/32 "2015-03-28T04:09:09Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > If the kids are playing against other schools, then earning a letter should be a part of it. if this is just afterschool athletics, no. > > I can’t imagine there’s enough special needs kids to populate full teams. > > However, there should be awards for participating, Most Improved, Most Valuable, etc. just like the school teams. The video is not 100% clear but it certainly looks to me that the school is playing other schools. The student in question clearly has a Wichita East uniform on. The other team appears to be wearing matching t-shirts but not necessarily complete uniforms like East. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/33 "2015-03-28T06:40:03Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > What, like lower-case ones? If that’s what it takes. A more sensible idea (given that one thinks “lettering” is that important) is to have the intramural letters be of a different color than the varsity. By the way, do JV teams get letters? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/34 "2015-03-28T07:17:38Z")
Yeah, is there a way to have a letter, but perhaps let it be a distinguishable from the regular letters? Perhaps that’s a solution they can agree on? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/35 "2015-03-28T09:12:03Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Yeah, is there a way to have a letter, but perhaps let it be a distinguishable from the regular letters? Perhaps that’s a solution they can agree on? So you’re advocating separate but equal? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/36 "2015-03-28T09:26:57Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > If that’s what it takes. A more sensible idea (given that one thinks “lettering” is that important) is to have the intramural letters be of a different color than the varsity. > > By the way, do JV teams get letters? Not at my HS (1970-74). Could be different these days, though. In my day, anyone who could buy the jacket could wear it _sans_ letter. They were really expensive, though, so very few people bought one, unless they at least anticipated getting a letter to sew on. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/37 "2015-03-28T10:05:55Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > If that’s what it takes. A more sensible idea (given that one thinks “lettering” is that important) is to have the intramural letters be of a different color than the varsity. > > By the way, do JV teams get letters? What I would ask is whether teams representing the school in non-academic competitions (chess teams, debate teams, etc.) get letters. Especially in this day and age, athletic competitions shouldn’t be privileged over intellectual competitions. If anything, it should be the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/38 "2015-03-28T11:46:53Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > In my day, anyone who could buy the jacket could wear it _sans_ letter. They were really expensive, though, so very few people bought one, unless they at least anticipated getting a letter to sew on. That’s how it was in my day, too. Anyone could wear the jacket, only those who had earned the privilege could wear the letter (girlfriends wearing their boyfriends’ jacket was an exception, but when a petit cheerleader puts on the football star’s oversized jacket it’s pretty clear it’s a borrowed coat). The letter went to the team, not the individual. If you were part of the team you got the letter even if you weren’t a star player but you had to be on the team. The year I couldn’t play due to a knee injury I was kept on the team and had other duties, like assisting the coach, setting up for practice drills, and stuff like that so I was still contributing to the group effort even if I wasn’t actually on the field. If there’s a spot on a varsity team for a special needs student the student should get the letter just like everyone else on the team, including those who maybe can’t play but are otherwise contributing to the group effort. If the student is _not_ on the varsity team then no, the student should not get the letter. False honors are no honor at all. In this day and age of a man who no natural feet of his own qualifying to run in the able-bodied Olympics people should not be excluded from the opportunity to play on varsity level teams if they are able to do so. Again, if a student can’t actually play at that level but can meaningfully contribute in other ways the student should likewise share in the team’s honors and awards. Otherwise, sorry, no - only a few students out of a school make that top team (in anything - as far as I’m concerned this applies to any other school team). Allowing just anyone to wear that letter makes the award meaningless. That said - wearing a varsity letter under false pretenses isn’t a felony or anything. I wouldn’t approve of draconian punishments for it, either. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/39 "2015-03-28T11:58:42Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > So you’re advocating separate but equal? That was over the top. She’s actually saying that they aren’t equal so they should have a different solution. What a shitty analogy anyway. As if Jim Crow is in any way comparible to this. When I was in Jr. High, I was in a school bowling league that met after school one day a week. It was presumably how a regular bowling league works with teams of two and handicaps and we played against a different team each week. All of the teams were in our same school. We never played against other schools. There were no coaches or instruction. It was just subsidized bowling once a week. Somehow the powers that decided that we should get a letter for this which I found out when one was mailed to me with my diploma. This was the epitome of not deserving the letter. I was amused as hell and tossed the thing in the trash. They really should let that kid wear the jacket. What’s the damn harm? Unlike me with the bowling, he really did work hard. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/40 "2015-03-28T12:14:55Z")
Which students can wear which participation trophies on a coat is a fundamentally trivial issue and public officials should not be wasting other people’s money on the matter. I don’t really think schools should be moderating student dress for truth anyways; basketball letters are either appropriate attire or they aren’t. If it’s a good enough rule for the freaking _Medal of Honor_ then it’s a good enough rule for a school’s participation trophy. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > What I would ask is whether teams representing the school in non-academic competitions (chess teams, debate teams, etc.) get letters. Especially in this day and age, athletic competitions shouldn’t be privileged over intellectual competitions. If anything, it should be the other way around. My high school gave one out for being on the honor roll, and there was also one for being in the band. There was only one non-academic team that competed in anything, IIRC (the quiz team), and even though I was on it I can’t remember if we got a letter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170.md?page=3)