Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
this is absolute bullshit
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/05/eve-samples-these-three-numbers-are-too-for-high/
Eve Samples: These three numbers are too offensive for Martin County high schools
By Eve Samples
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Sneakers in every color of the rainbow line the wall at Teak Leasor's skate shop across from the Martin County Courthouse.
There are red Nikes with teal swooshes, dark blue Adidas with light blue stripes.
Nearby, a rack of Made in the U.S.A. T-shirts are emblazoned with the name of Leasor's store, Five Six One Skateboarding.
The apparel is popular with parts of the high school set in Martin County — but teenagers had better not try to wear the shirts to school.
Ginger Cullere's son, Cole, made that mistake last month.
When the sophomore at Martin County High showed up for class wearing a T-shirt bearing the skate shop's name, he was promptly instructed to turn it inside-out. When that didn't appease school officials, he had to remove the offending shirt and wear a school-issued replacement for the remainder of the day.
"I could see if it had a pot leaf," Ginger Cullere said.
But just three numerals were printed on it: 561.
Most of us know them as the area code for Palm Beach County. A decade ago, 561 also was the area code on the Treasure Coast — and that's why Leasor named his business Five Six One Skateboarding when he opened it 11 years ago.
He had no idea the numbers would become linked to gangs based in Palm Beach County, namely Top 6 and 561 Boyz.
"I thought it would be easy to catch on and not too pretentious," Leasor told me.
He was thinking like an entrepreneur. Silly him.
Leasor is not one to raise a ruckus or attend school board meetings (he didn't contact me for this story — I called him), but the ban has definitely cut into sales.
At least 30 percent of his customers are high school students, he estimated.
"I've had multiple kids tell me that they're not allowed to wear the shirts, so they're not going to purchase one for school," Leasor said.
The student handbook for Martin County High doesn't explicitly prohibit apparel with 561 or other area codes on it.
It states "no messages, pictures, symbols or clothing may be worn or displayed which portray ideas that are harmful to the health, safety and welfare of students, e.g., messages which relate to drugs, smoking, alcohol, sex, gangs, profanity or violence."
Jensen Beach High School and South Fork High School have similar prohibitions.
When I asked Martin County School District officials for their take on the matter, spokeswoman Cathy Brennan sent me this statement:
"Our schools work collaboratively with the Martin County Sheriff's Office to monitor items that are known to be commonly used as gang identifiers. Our priority is always student safety and we want to prevent issues on our campuses in which these items could be misconstrued as being gang-related."
She also emailed me the link to a YouTube video in which a Top 6 gang member briefly appears wearing a hat with 561 printed on it.
Ginger Cullere thinks the district is taking its enforcement of the dress code too far.
She said her son is a "good kid" who takes pride in his appearance. Cole doesn't wear saggy pants. He won't go to school in a wrinkled shirt.
He's certainly not in a gang.
"He takes so much pride in his clothes, and he can't wear them," she said.
Nor can he carry his backpack, which he bought from Leasor's store, to school.
Ginger Cullere pointed out that members of the notorious Bloods gang are known to wear red. Crips wear blue.
"So if you wear a solid red shirt or solid blue, you're a gang member?" she asked.
Of course not.
Nor are you automatically promoting a gang if you wear the numbers 561.
So far, Leasor's shop has weathered the recession relatively well. He's one of the lucky small business owners who have seen sales increase during the last two years.
The ban on wearing his gear at public high schools probably won't break him, but that doesn't make it right."I'm pretty baffled by it," Leasor said.
It would be one thing if the school required uniforms. Then, there would be no debating what's allowed or what's not.
As the rules stand now, there's too much room for interpretation.
As Cole's case illustrates, it's a distraction for students, teachers and administrators.
Eve Samples: These three numbers are too offensive for Martin County high schools
By Eve Samples
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Sneakers in every color of the rainbow line the wall at Teak Leasor's skate shop across from the Martin County Courthouse.
There are red Nikes with teal swooshes, dark blue Adidas with light blue stripes.
Nearby, a rack of Made in the U.S.A. T-shirts are emblazoned with the name of Leasor's store, Five Six One Skateboarding.
The apparel is popular with parts of the high school set in Martin County — but teenagers had better not try to wear the shirts to school.
Ginger Cullere's son, Cole, made that mistake last month.
When the sophomore at Martin County High showed up for class wearing a T-shirt bearing the skate shop's name, he was promptly instructed to turn it inside-out. When that didn't appease school officials, he had to remove the offending shirt and wear a school-issued replacement for the remainder of the day.
"I could see if it had a pot leaf," Ginger Cullere said.
But just three numerals were printed on it: 561.
Most of us know them as the area code for Palm Beach County. A decade ago, 561 also was the area code on the Treasure Coast — and that's why Leasor named his business Five Six One Skateboarding when he opened it 11 years ago.
He had no idea the numbers would become linked to gangs based in Palm Beach County, namely Top 6 and 561 Boyz.
"I thought it would be easy to catch on and not too pretentious," Leasor told me.
He was thinking like an entrepreneur. Silly him.
Leasor is not one to raise a ruckus or attend school board meetings (he didn't contact me for this story — I called him), but the ban has definitely cut into sales.
At least 30 percent of his customers are high school students, he estimated.
"I've had multiple kids tell me that they're not allowed to wear the shirts, so they're not going to purchase one for school," Leasor said.
The student handbook for Martin County High doesn't explicitly prohibit apparel with 561 or other area codes on it.
It states "no messages, pictures, symbols or clothing may be worn or displayed which portray ideas that are harmful to the health, safety and welfare of students, e.g., messages which relate to drugs, smoking, alcohol, sex, gangs, profanity or violence."
Jensen Beach High School and South Fork High School have similar prohibitions.
When I asked Martin County School District officials for their take on the matter, spokeswoman Cathy Brennan sent me this statement:
"Our schools work collaboratively with the Martin County Sheriff's Office to monitor items that are known to be commonly used as gang identifiers. Our priority is always student safety and we want to prevent issues on our campuses in which these items could be misconstrued as being gang-related."
She also emailed me the link to a YouTube video in which a Top 6 gang member briefly appears wearing a hat with 561 printed on it.
Ginger Cullere thinks the district is taking its enforcement of the dress code too far.
She said her son is a "good kid" who takes pride in his appearance. Cole doesn't wear saggy pants. He won't go to school in a wrinkled shirt.
He's certainly not in a gang.
"He takes so much pride in his clothes, and he can't wear them," she said.
Nor can he carry his backpack, which he bought from Leasor's store, to school.
Ginger Cullere pointed out that members of the notorious Bloods gang are known to wear red. Crips wear blue.
"So if you wear a solid red shirt or solid blue, you're a gang member?" she asked.
Of course not.
Nor are you automatically promoting a gang if you wear the numbers 561.
So far, Leasor's shop has weathered the recession relatively well. He's one of the lucky small business owners who have seen sales increase during the last two years.
The ban on wearing his gear at public high schools probably won't break him, but that doesn't make it right."I'm pretty baffled by it," Leasor said.
It would be one thing if the school required uniforms. Then, there would be no debating what's allowed or what's not.
As the rules stand now, there's too much room for interpretation.
As Cole's case illustrates, it's a distraction for students, teachers and administrators.
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