Teen Suspended for Wearing “Inappropriate” T-Shirt

by James W. Harris

Hanna Smith, 18, a junior at Tift County High School in Tifton, Georgia received a one-day suspension on May 5 for wearing a T-shirt featuring a slogan the principal deemed inappropriate and disruptive.

Further, Principal Mike Duck told Hannah she would be suspended for the rest of the year if she wore the shirt again.

What was the offending slogan?

“Don’t drink and drive.”

What? One would think that the school would *encourage*, not discourage, a shirt with such a wholesome message.

Except for one thing. Principal Mike Duck was arrested six years ago for DUI and running a stop sign.

Duck told the press he could not comment on Hannah’s suspension.

“We can’t discuss children and their issues,” he said. “It’s a matter of privacy and protection of their rights.”

Hannah returned to school the day after her suspension wearing a different T-shirt. It read “Don’t Underestimate Individuality.”

The first letters of those words spell “DUI.”

(Source: Associated Press / First Amendment Center:

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=15233 )

Published in The Liberator Online, May 25, 2005 / Vol. 10, No. 10