# Violating my rights **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211 "2010-12-15T05:51:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/41 "2010-12-15T17:13:06Z")
When in high school, on St. Patrick’s day, I wore a shamrock shaped pin on which I had written ‘Eat me, I’m Irish’. It was confiscated for reasons still a mystery to me, and never returned. Oh well, fuck 'em if they can’t take a joke. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/42 "2010-12-15T17:13:46Z")
If we say it’s not offensive, how disappointed will you be? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/43 "2010-12-15T17:22:52Z")
[I think you should read this.](http://www.howtogetyourged.org/) ---
**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:** [December 15, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/44 "2010-12-15T17:26:06Z")
> [@Chillafrilla](#): > > I’m in California and it is my property don’t they need a warrant or something to confiscate something personal ? You’re being sarcastic, right? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/45 "2010-12-15T17:35:11Z")
> [@Chillafrilla](#): > > I really dint think it was offensive If you are sincere in stating this, then you are impressively clueless. But keep fighting the good fight and sticking it to the man! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/46 "2010-12-15T17:36:45Z")
> [@Chillafrilla](#): > > she said she Confiscated my shirt cause it was pornography She’s obviously into porn, she’s into keeping sexual souvenirs, and she gave you an afternoon off in connection with the above. Take the hint and get with the hot lunch program, Spunky. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/47 "2010-12-15T17:58:44Z")
I’d also like to comment that the OP was more lucid and literate than the average 18 year old I’ve met recently. Not all 18 year olds, but most. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/48 "2010-12-15T19:10:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’d also like to comment that the OP was more lucid and literate than the average 18 year old I’ve met recently. Not all 18 year olds, but most. Than you’ve been scraping bottom. My kids were more literate back when they first were learning to write, and would concoct stories in awkward looking scrawl. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/49 "2010-12-15T19:27:23Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’d also like to comment that the OP was more lucid and literate than the average 18 year old I’ve met recently. Not all 18 year olds, but most. If my kids wrote that poorly in grade school, I would have been extremely disappointed. Not too mention how distressed I would have been if they had been stupid enough to consider that shirt appropriate school attire. Having said that, my wife teaches at a community college, and regularly finds herself unable to assign any grade to written assignments because she simply cannot make out what they are trying to say. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/50 "2010-12-15T19:38:12Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > You’re being sarcastic, right? :rolleyes: I don’t think the OP knows what that word means. I don’t think the OP knows what most words mean. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/51 "2010-12-15T19:45:27Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > If we say it’s not offensive, how disappointed will you be? The only thing worse than offending the school administrators is _not_ offending the school administrators. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/52 "2010-12-15T19:54:46Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > The only thing worse than offending the school administrators is _not_ offending the school administrators. Oh ho ho ho hohohohohoohohohohahahahahahaahahahahahahahahaahaa! Very witty Wilde! ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/53 "2010-12-15T20:02:42Z")
You want to get good and depressed? Read the Supreme Court ruling in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier. As a result of that case, your civil rights pretty much disappear the moment you enter school. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/54 "2010-12-15T20:16:39Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Than you’ve been scraping bottom. My kids were more literate back when they first were learning to write, and would concoct stories in awkward looking scrawl. I’m glad your kids are not average. But sadly, I don’t think the OP represents the bottom of the scale. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/55 "2010-12-15T20:27:39Z")
**Chillafrilla** , your student handbook no doubt mentions not bringing pornographic material to school. A picture of a woman masturbating is, without question, porn. It was unreasonable of you to believe you would not end up getting your shirt taken away. Go back to your student handbook and look up the part about what happens to items that have been taken up by the principle and do whatever the book says is necessary to get your shirt back. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/56 "2010-12-15T20:39:30Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > **Chillafrilla** , your student handbook no doubt mentions not bringing pornographic material to school. A picture of a woman masturbating is, without question, porn. It was unreasonable of you to believe you would not end up getting your shirt taken away. Go back to your student handbook and look up the part about what happens to items that have been taken up by the principle and do whatever the book says is necessary to get your shirt back. The only picture in this thread of a woman masturbating is in your head. It may be that. It may be an underwear adjustment. It may be a woman, or even a thin man, scratching themselves. Nevertheless, some people will find it offensive. And the school probably DOES have the right to confiscate it, for a _limited_ time period. You need to discuss the terms under which it will be returned to you with the principal or someone in the administration. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/57 "2010-12-15T20:45:15Z")
Slight hijack here, but since the seriousness of the OP seems to be in question… I saw Aerosmith on their _Permanent Vacation_ tour, at the start of my senior year. The shirt I bought had “shit happens” scrawled across the back, made to look like graffiti on a wall. I proudly wore this shirt to school several times, and nobody even noticed it… until one day, as I was leaving my first period government class, the teacher saw it and got all pissy. This guy had a reputation for being an uppity asshole, and this was my first confrontation with him. He sent me to the office, and they sent me home to change my shirt. I remember well that the disciplinary officer I dealt with made it clear, without actually saying it, that the whole situation was insignificant, but he was sending me home to appease Mr. Uppity. Fine, whatever. From that point on, whenever I wore that shirt I made sure I always kept my flannel on in Mr. Uppity’s class. The following May, I arrived at school one morning and realized I was wearing the “forbidden shirt,” but since it was warm I’d left my flannel at home. Oops… oh well. When the bell rang ending first period, I was heading out the door and Mr. Uppity called me back, said he’d told me not to wear that shirt again, blah blah blah, and go to the office. The office was across the quad within sight of his classroom, so he stood outside and watched me until I’d entered. Now, I was a teacher’s aid during a later period, so I was in this office every day doing stuff like making copies and whatnot. I knew all of the administrators, and other workers, and they were used to seeing me roaming the back parts of the office, where students aren’t normally allowed unless they’re in trouble or something. So when I walked into the office that morning, I said hi to the secretary, waltzed right through the counter gate and down the hall, waved at various counselors and other administrators as I walked by, exited through the back door, and went on to my next class. I guess Mr. Uppity was satisfied that I had been disciplined, and didn’t bother to check with the office, because nothing further ever came of the incident. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/58 "2010-12-15T21:03:08Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > The only picture in this thread of a woman masturbating is in your head. It may be that. It may be an underwear adjustment. It may be a woman, or even a thin man, scratching themselves. > > Nevertheless, some people will find it offensive. And the school probably DOES have the right to confiscate it, for a _limited_ time period. You need to discuss the terms under which it will be returned to you with the principal or someone in the administration. Any shirt with that picture on it referred to as a “do it yourself” is not talking about adjusting your own underpants. Even if it was that would still be an inappropriate image for a shirt worn in a public high school. It is obviously meant to be a masturbatory image. [This](http://media.photobucket.com/image/lamp%20looks%20like%20legs/rockyrk/xzvybjyos9uwvxcw94.jpg) and [this](http://chaostshirts.com/contents/media/Tool%20T-Shirt.jpg) manage to allude to something sexual without actually showing a sexual image and that would be a totally different thing and yet still potentially able to be taken up by the principal for being a distraction. The shirt shown in the OP is very much borderline pornographic picture. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/59 "2010-12-15T21:10:50Z")
I went to high school in the heydey of the “Big Johnson” t-shirt fad. I had one that I’d gotten from my grandmother, who lived in Myrtle Beach and found them hilarious (yes, my grandma is weird). Then they got banned at my school as being “offensive to women.” Now, I’m a woman, and I’m not sure why bad big dick jokes are offensive to me, but whatevs. I continued wearing my banned shirt and never once got in trouble for it. Hello, double standards. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211/60 "2010-12-15T21:11:52Z")
Hmm… now it’s ‘borderline’ porn. In your last post it was porn ‘wthout question’. Progress! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/violating-my-rights/564211.md?page=4)