8th grader suspended, arrested for wearing NRA shirt

Another fine product of our public school system, I suppose. On Thursday, there was a bit of a dust-up at Logan Middle School in Logan, West Virginia, which was probably overshadowed by all the other news taking place. 14 year old Jared Marcum went to school that day as usual, but things quickly took a turn for the worse.

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When 8th grade Jared Marcum got dressed for school on Thursday he says he had no idea that his pro-Second Amendment shirt would initiate what he calls a fight over his First Amendment rights.

“I never thought it would go this far because honestly I don’t see a problem with this, there shouldn’t be a problem with this,” Jared said.

It was the image of a gun printed on Jared’s t-shirt that sparked a dispute between a Logan Middle School teacher and Jared, that ended with Jared suspended, arrested and facing two charges, obstruction and disturbing the education process, on his otherwise spotless record.

Let’s take a look at the horrible, offensive shirt which caused such a disruption.

NRAtshirt

It’s a rifle and an NRA logo. As the article goes on to point out, school dress code policy has restrictions on clothing with images of violence, racism and the usual list of prohibitions, but there is nothing about images of guns. His father, Allen Lardieri, had to leave work to rush over and pick his son up and is now trying to figure out how a kid with a perfectly clean record is suddenly facing criminal charges over a shirt. Meanwhile, after three days passed, the school still has nothing to say.

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From the moment 13 News first broke this story on 13 News at 11 on Thursday, emails, Facebook posts and phone calls from people all across the country have been pouring in. Despite all of the attention, Jared Marcum and his family say they’re no closer to a resolution than they were when it all began…

Lardieri says his questions for the school district remain unanswered.

“I’m still confused, thoroughly confused,” he said. “They school didn’t even make a statement to the news agencies, much less myself.”

After several attempts the only comment 13 News received from the Logan County School District was no comment.

“They gave me no paperwork, all they said to my mother was not to bring me back to school the next day,” Jared said.

I wouldn’t be terribly shocked to see this story if it were taking place in New York, Connecticut or San Francisco, but this is all unfolding in West Virginia. Something has gone pretty seriously off the beam here, and it looks like the problem is coming from their school district. Obviously, gun control and Second Amendment rights are an important and current topic in the country and if schools aren’t going to foster an environment where students can learn about both sides of a constitutional question, what sort of education are they receiving?

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The family plans to work with their attorney to get the criminal charges dismissed and off the boy’s record and then may pursue a civil suit against the school if appropriate. Of course, it would be nice if the school could at least say something to let the parents know what’s going on rather than going in to radio silence.

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