Sypniewski: Statement of Adrianne Perez

My name is Adrianne Perez and I just want to add a little bit to what Tom and his mother said. I know the school says Tom’s T-shirt is offensive and could cause trouble, but all the kids at the school know that’s ridiculous. That Jeff Foxworthy shirt is meant to be funny and it is funny. Jeff Foxworthy is really popular in our town, and I don’t know anyone who’s offended by his redneck jokes. And I can tell you no one was ever offended by Tom’s shirt or complained about it – that is until Mr. Griffith got all upset. Besides, anyone who knows Tom knows that, if he’s making fun of anyone with that shirt, he’s making fun of himself.

Did Vice Principal Griffith and the people on the school board even bother to read the whole shirt? I doubt it, because they would have seen that those “Top 10 Reasons” are not racist in any way I can see. They don’t even have anything to do with what race you are. What the school says doesn’t even make sense, because if anyone was going to be offended by Tom’s shirt, it would be a redneck, not the minorities the school claims it’s trying to protect.

I read the Dress Code and it only applies to clothing that can cause disruption in school. Tom has worn that T-shirt many times before and it’s never disrupted anything. It’s just silly to think it could disrupt anything. Don’t they have something more important to worry about?

It’s gotten to the point where we don’t know what we’re allowed to wear to school. Kids have worn T-shirts you might find really rude and yet they don’t get in trouble. But then Tom gets in trouble for his harmless shirt. I guess now we have to worry about what sort of mood the principal and vice principals are in if we wear a T-shirt to school. The only safe thing is to wear a plain shirt and keep our opinions to ourselves. But being forced to do that is not what this country is all about. Thank you.