Should a photo of an armed Marine be posted at a school?

[thedrifter]

Should a photo of an armed Marine be posted at a school?

http://www.katu.com/news/images/story2005/050329marine3.jpg

By Shellie Bailey-Shah
and KATU Web Staff
Salem, Ore. - A picture of a Marine holding an assault rifle has sparked a wave of controversy at a Salem high school.

The problem began when the Marine's sister brought the picture to McKay High School to post on a classroom bulletin board.

The assignment was to show McKay graduates at work.

However, the principal of the school, Cynthia Richardson, would not allow the picture to go up because of the school's zero tolerance policy on weapons.

"What message am I sending to my students if I post that picture?" she asked.

All it takes is one look around the school to see that there may be a problem with that logic, considering that the school mascot is seen carrying a sword.

http://www.katu.com/news/images/story2005/050329mascot_422.jpg

"He has a sword. (That is) so true. We might have to revisit that," said Richardson when KATU News asked her about the mascot's imagery.

If you look at the school policy pertaining to weapons, there is no word about pictures of weapons.

Richardson says she made the best decision she could at the time and still stands by her belief that the picture should not go up at the school.

The school has offered to post the picture with the guns digitally removed, but the soldier and his family say that is not enough to put the issue to rest.

"It's not just a picture in dress blues. It is a picture of real life and there are guns. And he just wants everyone to know that the war is still going on and it's real life," said Shea Riecke, the soldier's sister.

"We're very proud of him," said Connie Riecke, the soldier's mother. "We're proud every day."



What do you think?


Ellie

[Arlene Horton]

That principal needs a brain replacement!!! Obviously she can't get it through that block of cement on her neck that those Marines have weapons because we are at war with a bunch of murderous thugs and those weapons are for use in a hostile environment. Granted, there have been weapons used by sick kids in this country and they certainly weren't influenced by pictures of our heroic troops trying to help the Iraquis establish a democracy. Maybe she needs to spend some time assessing her fears and learning about what it means to have a family member proudly serving his or her country. Semper Fi to the young lady's brother.

[Osotogary]

It seems that, based on what the assignment was, showing graduates at work and with no suggestions made as to restrictions made on what the presentations could or shouldn't show, the Marines' sister looks like she completed the assignment per se. It seems as though the principle didn't understand the assignment therefore she gets an incomplete/unsatisfatory appraisal. This should automatically disqualify her for future promotions. Send her to Iraq.

[mrbsox]

Don't schools teach "CURRENT EVENTS" any more ??

The pic looks calmer than what you may see on "The news at 6"

[yellowwing]

Compromise Reached Over Marine Photograph
By Shellie Bailey-Shah
KATU Web Staff, March 30, 2005 (http://www.katu.com/salem/story.asp?ID=76121)
Salem, Ore, - After a Salem high school student was told she could not post a photograph of her Marine brother holding a weapon in a classroom, school district officials have now come up with a compromise that is agreeable to both sides.

The controversy began when Shea Riecke brought a picture to McKay High School for an assignment showing the school's graduates at work.

However, the principal would not allow the picture to go up because two of the soldiers in the photograph are seen holding assault rifles.

Principal Cynthia Richardson cited the school's zero tolerance policy on weapons as a reason for her decision.
That decision sparked a wave of controversy over whether the imagery in the photograph was appropriate material to be displayed in a school setting.

Now school district officials have approved the display of another picture of her brother that shows him holding a weapon, but has a focal point of a young Iraqi boy wearing a Marine t-shirt.

"It may be that the picture has a gun in it, but it is not the most prominent piece of that picture," explains Kay Baker, Superintendent for the Salem-Keizer School District.

"I'm really surprised, actually," Riecke says about the school's decision to allow her to use a different photograph. "I thought they were going to hold to their decision, but they didn't, so I'm happy."

As for why the school district decided to stick to their guns about the original photograph in question, but allow a different one, the teenager's mother, Connie Riecke, says she thinks it was the reaction the story generated.

"I think it was the people in our community who responded," she says.

The school's principal will have the final say on the new picture, but assuming it is approved, the photograph will hang next to pictures of other McKay graduates at work.

[CHOPPER7199]

I BELIEVE THE PRINCIPAL, NEEDS MORE EDUCATION.

[geeze]

Oh for Gods sake!!!
If a police officer was shown with his weapon, would they allow that? Its his weapon that he works with. Zero tollerance my butt. Just another anti military education system in Oregon.
Sure am glad I got out of school when I did, cause it does'nt seem like there's too much learning going on, just PC!!!

[barryjh]

SEMPER FI to the family for their support and pride in their MARINEso sorry the tools of the trade used to bring the young MARINE home after defending the teachers right to vote,receive equal pay, and the right to bull__t decisions like that offend her. bet the kids don't know MARINES go to war armed. must have been quite a shock to them. Can you believe it????SEMPER FI

[kentmitchell]

Re Brain replacement

You can't replace something that isn't there.
And that's the group of people supposedly educating our kids.
They're not all like that, though.
I've associated with a bunch of good ones while covering sporting events for the Atlanta newspapers.
And my daughter is a Grade A, No. 1 educator that parents would pay extra to get if such a thing was allowed.

[grayshade]

The only thing at question here is the principal at Mckay high. Not the ethics of educators, or the showing of service men with weaponry, not even the fact the topic was 'Mckay graduates at work'. The principal has her own personal opinion and sadly it sounds like it carried into her professional life. I respect the fact that she does not want her students to be subjected to violence and/or weapons at school, considering what has happened in Americas schools in the past. But they are subjected to it everyday out of school, in the public as well as at home, ie. newspapers or television to name a few. And point of fact is that being a Marine is a profession, a job, one where carrying a weapon is part of the job. And let's face facts here people, we are at war with terrorism, and all that it implies. With insurgents in a country we have liberated, and all that it implies. We know it, our children know it, let's get a clue here Principal Richardson. :confused:

[USMC-FO]

There are SO F**KING many people out and about that have NOT a clue as to what is going on in the world that it never ceases to amaze me ! That coupled with an absolutely unwavering acceptance of PC has left me feeling from time to time that I am living in a nut house. I guess I am not surprised this all bubbled up in Oregon--America's ultimate soft suburb--but I think we also know it could have been anywhere in the US too.

As a side note I was bothered by the reporters comments on this story by refering to this Marine as the "soldier"

[thedrifter]

Too much like war


A young man graduates from high school and decides to serve his country. He joins the Marine Corps, goes through boot camp, and, as so many of his current fellow few and proud, he is sent to duty in Iraq.

His sister is proud of him, too. As a show of that pride, she decides to include him in a school project wherein graduates of the school are shown at work. She gets a picture of him and a couple of fellow Marines posing in Iraq.

They are armed.

The school's principal, citing a zero-tolerance weapons policy, determines that the depiction is not an appropriate one for her school.

This has happened in Salem, Ore., at McKay High School. The student involved is Shea Riecke; the principal is Cynthia Richardson.

Were this just an extreme example of care being shown by a school official during frightening times -- an era of security guards, metal detectors and, tragically, occasional deadly shootings -- we might let the matter slide.

However, it's worth noting that we believe many of the graduates of the school, as any other school anywhere, have included a share of veterans. Perhaps some have died in past wars. Perhaps some are serving now.

Military service almost directly implies the use of armed force. To censor what is an almost irreducible element of the job description of a Marine is to do a disservice to the individual and the organization.

Perhaps, if this were all of the story, we would have, uneasily, suggested that a photo of her unarmed brother in camp in Iraq or in his dress uniform would have been sufficient to demonstrate what he's doing now without running afoul of concerns, however misguided, over student safety.

A story posted on the KATU television Web site quotes Richardson as saying, "What message am I sending to my students if I post that picture?"

There is, however, the rest of the story, to pirate Paul Harvey.

The McKay High School Web site is typical of school Web sites nationwide. It has links to various organizations to be found within the institution of learning, among them athletics.

And that's where this story gets interesting, where Richardson's decision begins to smack more of a political statement than one of policy.

One can learn, by perusing the site, that its mascot is the Royal Scots. One can find, on the high-school baseball team's site, a depiction of mascot himself -- a regal Scot, clad in a blue kilt, boots with spats and a feathered cap. In his left hand he clasps a shield with the letter M on it. In his right hand, held across his body, is a sword.

A depiction of an armed foreigner has been used as this school's mascot and therefore must be considered as appropriate. A picture of a graduate of the school, a former Royal Scot, if you will -- an American -- armed and in service to his country, is not.

The KATU article noted that this schism in thought was pointed out to Richardson, who stated that the issue of the mascot's accoutrements might need to be looked at somewhere along the line.

We suggest that Richardson instead revisit the district's weapons policy, which logically states that none are allowed on the campus but says nothing about depictions of weapons in artwork or on film.

One more irony before we shake our heads and bring down the curtain on this inexplicable story: In November, the school's theater department performed the play "The Diary of Anne Frank." Seems a little on-the-edge for a school administrator who can't manage to allow a girl to honor her older brother, the American Marine, doesn't it?


Ellie

[jo1753]

This is just plain weird..........QUOTE principal Cynthia Richardson "What message am I sending to my students if I post that picture?" END QUOTE.

Maybe principle Richardson would be proud of her former students. If they had jobs as drug pushers. People who waits till kids get out of school to sell them drugs.

If an armed officer of the law were to go into the school on business.............Or were asked to speak at the school. I wonder if principle Richardson............would ask him/her to check their weapon at the door...?????????I'd rather doubt it....!!!

When I worked at MEPS in OKC the officers on duty wouldn't surrender their weapons....and that was a federal building.

Look it's not like.............this girl wanted to bring her brothers M16 in to school for show-and-tell..........LOL I wonder if someone were to look thru that schools library, If you'd find pictures of weapon......???

Semper-Fi

God Bless the Corps

[Lock-n-Load]

:marine: is WRONG with this PC generation of apologists and yellowbellies...the IWO/JIMA flag pic was with armed Marines, of course, it was a war zone....same as with these FMF Marines in the above pic...Iraq is a war zone...hey lady/Principal wake the -uc- up...A Marine without his weapon, Com'on...those weapons you wimps see are what freedom in the USA is all about...the pic stands....get some stones, lady, will ya??...You cheap-shlt-civilian!!...Semper Fi, Mac:marine:

[Francie]

A policeman has his gun, a surgeon has his scalpel, a judge has his gavel. Any one of these could be a potential weapon, should we then not have pictures of graduates who became policemen, surgeons and judges in our schools?

I have a better idea, how about if the parents teach their kids that violence is unacceptable. Of course then parents would actually have to take responsibility for their children's actions. Heaven forbid.

My son is in bootcamp right now. I taught him that violence was not the way to settle a dispute, but I was refering to the playground, on the street or at home.....not in a war zone. In that case I would hope that if someone threatened him, he'd blow them to kingdom come.

That principal needs to take a good hard look at what's going on in the world and realize that if it weren't for people like that young man, and so many others, she wouldn't have the freedom to decide what pictures get hung. There would be some dictator telling her.

[boham]

As stupid as this issue and decision may be, the principal is covering her rear end. There are some pretty screwed up organizations that I won't mention (ahem....ACLU...blaaugh) that would have a hay day with this. Being Marines, we use common cense when viewing everyday life. It's those freaking bastard organizations that have no common cense toward the world outside thier office desk while they plot on sticking their noses in another persons business. I don't agree with the decision, but I do understand why it was made.

EDIT: I do beleive the principal and anyone who agrees with her should receive a swift kick in the @$$.