# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/121 "2015-03-29T18:31:45Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > …And who cares if there was a complaint? That’s how policies get enforced, only if some bitchy white lady calls up and complains? (I don’t know if the mom’s white, but she sure sounds white.) Isn’t there enough emotion in this thread without playing the race card? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/122 "2015-03-29T18:40:21Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Show me a way in which his wearing the jacket actually harms anyone else–not just some stupid “it dilutes their accomplishment” nonstarter of an argument–and I’ll reconsider. It’s not a completely ridiculous argument. If someone puts on their college application that they won a varsity letter and the guy evaluating knows that particular school hands them out to everyone, it dilutes his accomplishment. I’m sure you don’t care but that only makes it a non-starter for yourself. ---
**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 29, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/123 "2015-03-29T18:42:14Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > It’s not a completely ridiculous argument. If someone puts on their college application that they won a varsity letter and the guy evaluating knows that particular school hands them out to everyone, it dilutes his accomplishment. I’m sure you don’t care but that only makes it a non-starter for yourself. Okay, again: THE SCHOOL DID NOT HAND OUT THE LETTER. I want to be very clear. I AM NOT SAYING THE SCHOOL SHOULD HAND OUT LETTERS TO EVERYONE. What I am saying is that if a kid wears a jacket with a letter on it he did not earn, that is not the school’s business. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/124 "2015-03-29T18:44:00Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Okay, again: THE SCHOOL DID NOT HAND OUT THE LETTER. > > I want to be very clear. I AM NOT SAYING THE SCHOOL SHOULD HAND OUT LETTERS TO EVERYONE. It’s the protesting mother’s wish that they do. ---
**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 29, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/125 "2015-03-29T18:53:17Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > It’s the protesting mother’s wish that they do. I see no sign that it is. But let’s take that as a separate argument: if you’re saying the school should not literally hand out letters to everyone, then I’m fine with that argument. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/126 "2015-03-29T18:53:22Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I keep hearing people mention the need to earn such a honor. Am I undertsanding this right, that the only reason this activity doesn’t merit a letter is because the school or the district has decreed it so? I realize the same could be said of any letter-worthy activity, but is there some reason or criteria that would make clear why this kid’s activity doesn’t make the cut? Because it sounds to me as if he “earned” one as much as anyone else, save for the school’s decree that this one doesn’t count. I can buy this argument to some extent maybe. But I think then the argument should be taken to the source; such as the board that determines what sports can have a letter grade. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/127 "2015-03-29T18:55:11Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Resolved: That any student should be allowed to wear varsity letter jackets. > > [Story here.](http://kfor.com/2015/03/27/mother-special-needs-teen-told-he-couldnt-wear-varsity-letters-on-jacket/) > > A special needs student has been told by his school that he is not allowed to wear the letter jacket that his mother purchased for him because although he plays “special needs” basketball, it is not a sport in which one can earn a letter. Therefore, he is not entitled to wear the letter on his jacket. I believe that the school policy is wrong for the following reasons. > > 1. Although schools are given a great deal of latitude in determining appropriate dress codes for students, in every case of which I am aware, the clothing objected to was controversial or distracting to other students. In this case, the clothing itself is not being objected to since other students are allowed to wear it. > > 2. The clothing was paid for by the parents. Unless it is distracting, it should be allowed. To deny the student the opportunity to wear the letter jacket limits his right to freedom of expression without a legitimate societal benefit. Students having “earned” the letter are not having their rights curtailed. > > 3. No one is harmed by allowing the student to wear the jacket. It does not diminish the recognition of those that “earned” their letters. No one will confuse the effort and ability of the special needs student with those of the varsity team. > > Unrelated to the reasons above, as a parent, I can’t imagine complaining to the school that a special needs student was wearing a letter jacket that they didn’t “earn”. Shame on them. I’ll refrain from further comment since this isn’t the Pit. This particular brouhaha is over the wearing of a _varsity letter_ by someone who had not earned the right to wear it. It’s not about the jacket except that the varsity letter is attacked to the jacket. The school policy is the school policy. The school had previously considered changing their policy and decided against it. That doesn’t mean that the school could not change their policy in the future. _Kelley is not a varsity athlete but participates in extra-curricular special needs basketball. His family purchased him a varsity letter to wear on a jacket, like a lot of other students have on their jackets._ It appears that Mom Kelley doesn’t really care what the other parents, or students think, or what the rules are. She is above all that. \*…Kelley says she understands that each school can make their own rules, but wants to see a change. “It’s not just my son. It’s every student that was out there last night. It’s every student that’s there on Fridays, that plays their hardest and to the best of their capability, regardless what that is,” she said.\* It’s also apparent that Mom Kelley doesn’t speak for every student out there, or there wouldn’t be a controversy. She only wants people to believe that she does. ---
**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 29, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/128 "2015-03-29T18:58:06Z")
There are several different questions here, and I think that it’s important to be clear on what they are, because people might answer them differently: 1. Should the school award varsity letters to anyone who wants one? I don’t have a strong opinion on that, but to the extent that I have any opinion, I think that’s not a great idea. 2. Should the school sanction someone who wears a varsity letter they didn’t personally earn? I think that’s a terrible idea. 3. Should the school offer varsity letters to EC students who compete in alternative sports challenges? Absogoddamnlutely. 4. Should the mom deal with the school’s failure at #3 by buying her son a letter when he expresses a desire for one? Sure, why not? 5. Should a mom do the same for a kid who was eligible for a letter but just didn’t earn one? I’d advise against it, but see point #2. 6. Should letter wearers mock or complain about the kid in #5 who shows up with a letter she didn’t earn? Yeah, I’d probably consider that mockery fair game. 7. Should letter wearers mock or complain about the kid in #4 who shows up with a letter he didn’t earn? Fuck no, buncha douchebags need to keep their pieholes shut. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/129 "2015-03-29T19:03:01Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > No, princess, what is pathetic is the scorn you are heaping on kids who put a lot of effort into becoming good at something. Something that will help many of them pay for a college education. Something that they find rewarding. My guess is you don’t have this same attitude towards band and the playing of musical instruments, though those things are nothing more than entertainment. This’ll earn a warning, too. If you can’t keep it civil and not call names take it to the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/130 "2015-03-29T19:04:43Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Show me a way in which his wearing the jacket actually harms anyone else–not just some stupid “it dilutes their accomplishment” nonstarter of an argument–and I’ll reconsider. The argument is stupid to you only because a Varsity letter has no meaning for you personally. For the record, it doesn’t to me personally either, but it does have tremendous meaning for other people, it means to them that they are part of a special, accomplished club. If you let someone in who has not met the predetermined criteria, then it is no longer so special. I kind of think of it this way, when Bush got elected to office, it didn’t exactly lead more people to perceive of Yale as a merit based institute if serious learning. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/131 "2015-03-29T19:08:28Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > No. But if the kid tells someone in the hallway that he got A’s, was put on the dean’s list, and was given entrance to Yale, he doesn’t need to be sent home until he admits otherwise. Good counterpoint BTW. IMHO. ---
**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 29, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/132 "2015-03-29T19:09:37Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > The argument is stupid to you only because a Varsity letter has no meaning for you personally. For the record, it doesn’t to me personally either, but it does have tremendous meaning for other people, it means to them that they are part of a special, accomplished club. If you let someone in who has not met the predetermined criteria, then it is no longer so special. That’s almost precisely the argument used to prohibit same-sex marriage, isn’t it? I hope you’ll reread post #123. There’s an important distinction I’m drawing there. Edit: and then I see the follow-up post you made, and you acknowledge that distinction, so we’re good! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/133 "2015-03-29T19:10:33Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I see no sign that it is. I hope you just didn’t finish the article rather being ridiculously pedantic. No, not literally _everyone_ at school but she said “It’s not just my son. It’s every student that was out there last night. It’s every student that’s there on Fridays, that plays their hardest and to the best of their capability, regardless what that is,”. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/134 "2015-03-29T19:14:34Z")
I can’t believe there isn’t some way to reconcile this. Can’t they hand out letters to everyone who participates in extra-curriculars, but make the competitive ones have a distinctive border, and give sleeve stripes for years in the competitive organization? I’m sure the school loves selling letterman’s jackets, and they’d make a lot more money if they gave more letters. That way they could recognize everyone who participates, without devaluing the competitive sports (debate clubs, academic bowls, whatever). It might even motivate more people to participate in extra curriculars. I would have loved having a letter for drama, and would have shelled out for the jacket, even if my letter looked different from the sports letters-- at least I could have had four sleeve stripes for four years participation. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/135 "2015-03-29T19:16:14Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > This will probably be surprising to you - but there actually are school systems which don’t issue diplomas to students who don’t meet specific requirements and which issue some other sort of credential to special ed students who are unable to meet the requirements. Some school systems do that without checking whether the students who couldn’t meet the requirements were special ed, even. The whole thing is pretty alien to me, but what I don’t understand, in this and in many other cases, is these people who apparently believe that the first step in changing a rule they don’t like is breaking it, followed by whinning to the press. Are they so antagonic in every other activity? Do they think the world owes them, or that anybody who isn’t ra-rah-ing them is their enemy? 😕 ---
**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 29, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/136 "2015-03-29T19:21:22Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I hope you just didn’t finish the article rather being ridiculously pedantic. No, not literally _everyone_ at school but she said “It’s not just my son. It’s every student that was out there last night. It’s every student that’s there on Fridays, that plays their hardest and to the best of their capability, regardless what that is,”. I’m not sure what she means by “last night”: was that specifically the special-needs game? If so, that’s a long fuckin way from “everybody,” and it’s not pedantry to say that. If her proposal is that all kids who play in the special-needs league get a jacket, it’s not an insane proposal. Look at post 128 for some of the issues involved; it might be helpful for you to say where you come down on these different questions. > [@Nava](#): > > Do they think the world owes them, or that anybody who isn’t ra-rah-ing them is their enemy? 😕 If she were suing the school because they didn’t give her son a letter, that’s be closer to thinking the world owes them. Instead she’s complaining because her son was sent home for wearing the jacket. ALl she’s saying the world owes her son is to leave him the fuck alone about his jacket. And yeah, I agree the world owes her son that much, or at least the school administration owes her son that much. ---
**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 29, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/137 "2015-03-29T19:23:59Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Can’t they hand out letters to everyone who participates in extra-curriculars, but make the competitive ones have a distinctive border, and give sleeve stripes for years in the competitive organization? Won’t the mom in question do all she can to acquire that border and those stripes? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/138 "2015-03-29T19:27:25Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If she were suing the school because they didn’t give her son a letter, that’s be closer to thinking the world owes them. Instead she’s complaining because her son was sent home for wearing the jacket. ALl she’s saying the world owes her son is to leave him the fuck alone about his jacket. And yeah, I agree the world owes her son that much, or at least the school administration owes her son that much. But why not start by trying to get the rule changed? That’s what I don’t get. ---
**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 29, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/139 "2015-03-29T19:30:06Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > But why not start by trying to get the rule changed? That’s what I don’t get. Do we know for sure she didn’t? If she didn’t, then she probably should have. But that doesn’t affect what the school should have done in response to her actions. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170/140 "2015-03-29T19:34:55Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > In your opinion, should the kid also be given A’s, put on the dean’s list and given entrance to Yale? > > It does not help to think of him as wearing a t-shirt; what would help is giving him a t-shirt instead and accept him as he is instead of pretending that he is something he is not and and can accomplish things he can not. > > Where will the ridiculousness of this logic end? I had a bad knee in high school; I worked really hard, but could not make the track team - should people like me also get a free letter too? This post makes me sad because I think in our society we’ve gotten so far from being able to separate the value of people from the value of accomplishments that this nonsense actually resonates with a fair number of people. The difference between your knee and the kid with Downs is that you have a lot more options than he will likely ever have. You’re far more likely to attend a collage, live on your own, marry, and father your own children. You’re far more likely to be able to participate in a discussion like this than a person with Downs. If you can’t look at your own life opportunities and the life opportunities of a person with a sever intellectual disability, and conclude, “Let him wear the letter. Let him have that,” then I don’t think you and I can understand one another. The “straight A’s, Dean’s list, Yale,” argument doesn’t hold water because no one is gifting this kid with any actual status symbol or resources. In a way, he’s basically cosplaying. It makes him feel good, and it hurts no one. Let him. A closer analogy - I was an artist in school, not a great one, but good enough to enter a small contest and place third. Now, I was proud of my third place ribbon. Had the awards ceremony had a little addendum where a Special Needs kid was awarded an honorary “Special First Place” ribbon for their art, I would have applauded, not taken offense. Everyone there knows what “Special First Place” means. It doesn’t make that kid’s art better than mine. It doesn’t take away from my accomplishment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170.md?page=8)