12-year-old girl banned from wearing rosary necklace at school; she’s told it’s a gang symbol in her small Nebraska town

12-year-old girl banned from wearing rosary necklace at school; she’s told it’s a gang symbol in her small Nebraska town. We thought we had enough stupid teacher stuff last week, but they’re still at it and getting dumber by the minute! We guess Christianity will now be known as a gang instead of a religion.

CO2Insanity: Tired of the CO2 BS and all the other BS in the US and the world.

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  • *sighs*

    -A twelve year old is "little" or a child, that condescension, typical of one brain celled liberals, is pathetic.
    -If there is as gang using rosaries in order to identify themselves to one another, then something needs to be done about that by the authorities as well as the catholic church to make sure that the community knows what is what. However not to the point of panic when an innocent child wears it.
    -Rosaries CAN be worn when not "in use". Asian religions like Buddhism carry prayer beads as methods of prayer/meditation, they put them around their necks or their arms/wrists, again when not in used. It shouldn't "offend" anyone when they do it and if they decide to use it, they can because it is their right. The same should be for the girl.
    -Stories like these were people go into unnecessary lenghts to interrupt people's (even children's) first amendment rights, make me think that liberals are embolden by The Destroyer and their ilk. All I have to say is that people need to relax. It is just a rosary and she wasn't about to start a gang war. All that was needed was for the school to be told that for their protection they shouldn't wear rosaries that people can see it, however when they come to school to please keep that in mind as to not attract any unnecessary violence and work with the authorities to make sure that this gang is controlled.

  • As a middle school teacher, I have to make my first comment on this story. I am a faithful fan of IHTM, so please read all of my comment before giving me a thumbs up or down.

    While most of the time, I think Olivia has had too much of the unicorn kool-aid, she actually made a couple of reasonable points. The rosary necklace has indeed become a gang symbol in many communities. Our security officers monitor these things and keep us informed. In school, our first obligation as teachers is for the safety of our students. Gang symbols are often used to intimidate and bully students. We are obligated to protect our students from this. I think it is sad that gangs have chosen a Christian symbol to do this, but I cannot change this fact.

    I also realize that Elizabeth is not your typical gang banger, but can you imagine the uproar from the left if I told Elizabeth that it was O.K. for her to wear this and then turned around and told an inner city boy that he could not? Common sense or not, I would be sued. Welcome to my world.

    The other point in question is the rosary itself. While Christian, i am not Catholic. I have discussed this issue with Catholic teachers, and they have told me that the rosary is never worn as jewelry. They see it as an affront to their faith ( although they are not unreasonable or rude about it). The rosary is for prayer, not adorning the body. I choose to support their views, even though they don't line up exactly with mine.

    The final, and possibly most interesting point is that the necklace "closely resembled" a rosary. Sorry, but that is too vague to make a decision. Was it a rosary? The picture showed only a portion of it, but I don't think it was actually a rosary. If this is the case, the school overstepped its bounds. Looking like something is not the same as being it. That's like me being fired for drinking a strawberry smoothie at school because someone thought it was a strawberry daiquiri!

    • …….While most of the time, I think Olivia has had too much of the unicorn kool-aid, she actually made a couple of reasonable points.

      While I agree with you that every now and then miss Olivia hits on something (by accident, but you throw enough bean bags your bound to hit the target once in a while) She always throws in the insult to make it perfectly clear we are just a bunch of dumb morons that can’t think for ourselves.

      In this case, throwing a verse taken completely out of context thereby demonstrating she cut and pasted the thing from some Bible verse web site. It is why no one here takes her seriously.

      Your comment, on the other hand, while it may not garner agreement from a lot people who post here is well thought out, and substantiated with real life experience without the insults. Makes for an actual debate based upon ideas rather than simplistic insults.

      • You're playing right into one of troll's traps. She never does this without dirt in her hands ready to toss it at someone. Never.

          • Sorry, I missed the tread position, but you indicate our troll by name to start the comment. Hence my ( ? ) confusion? Now I'm really confused. Troll name + unicorn kool-aid, but directing to different poster? Heck, it might be another persona, but seems less offensive than her others. The claim of being a fan of IHTM isn't disinformation either, since all of troll's posts indicate it is true. Who knows?

          • Yeah, I probably could have started that one off a bit better.....tnteacher actually appears intelligent....something Miss britches ain't never possessed.

          • Thank you. I appreciate people who look at the whole picture, not just the hot points that fire them up.

          • No way. She wrote a reasonably intelligent post, even if I don't agree with every single thing she said.

          • Couldn't be.... She didn't copy and paste anything in the post, and shes not smart enough to completely shift away from her format to try n fool us

    • Well TNTEACHER, I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with you on one major point.
      Your first obligation as a teacher is to teach, anything else is extra and not in your job description.

      • well therein lies the problem... It SHOULDNT be their problem but because of the "Nanny State" of our school system, everyone needs to be watched all the time... Not enough to have armed officers in schools.. Gotta make sure noones feelings get hurt. The MAJOR thing I dont understand is why it cant go on a case by case basis.... I remember being a kid and coming home and telling my father I was getting bullied in school, that afternoon I learned how to fight. Police and especially teachers are not a substitute for parenting and standing up for yourself! (Not completely related to the original article but I still think its valid)

        • School districts get money for every student behind in a chair each day. SO no one gets tossed ut for being a problem. In the 50's and 60's , those kids who were constant screw ups either dropped out or were thrown out. Now they put them in "in school suspensions" alternate school campuses, anything to keep the money coming in. And many courts used to give kids a choice between jail for low level crimes or the military. In many cases, the military straightened themout,gave themthe structure and consequences they needed and they went on to be productive citizens. No more.

    • That is exactly what I said earlier. And the picture did indeed show a rosary. I am not sure if that was the necklace in question, however.

  • My grandsons live in San Jose and are Sharks hockey fans. Unfortunately local gangs have decided to employ the Sharks teal color as their gang color. My daughter will only allow them to wear their Sharks jerseys when going to the hockey games.
    I am so tired of the hijacking of innocent emblems, colors etc. One of God's most beautiful gifts to everyone of us is the rainbow. Put one on your car and you're labeled a lesbian. "Gay" doesn't mean happy any more. Possibly the opposite. Strange days indeed.....

  • Wow all this over a rosary. No we don't want gangbangers in "Kalifornia" thanks. It is very sad that our freedoms have eroded to such a state that these converstations are now the norm. Olivia is correct in that Jesus does teach us to pray in private, an admirable quality, but the "little girl" should, in this country anyway, have the right to express herself with the display of symbols of her faith although the rosary itself should be respected for what it is and is not(an adornment) . The rosary should never be seen as a symbol of intimidation and if in fact it is, as stated above, the wearer and the way it is worn would be obvious enough to be distinguished as gang affiliated or not and punished appropriately. I live in "Kalifornia" and sadly too many rules and ordinances here are put in place as result of the behaviors of the few "gangbangers" taking away our freedoms. How about legislating with some balls and get rid of the gangs and the aclu. Let's be a free society again.

    • "How about legislating with some balls and get rid of the gangs and the aclu. Let’s be a free society again."

      Hey Kalifornia, You may recall in San Jose, I believe back during the 70's when a station wagon with an out of town family inside, drove down the wrong street and were murdered by gang members. I was living there at the time. We knew what streets and neighborhoods to avoid. The San Jose police knew then, and know today where the guns and problem makers are but won't do anything about it. Protect and Serve... my ass. Don't get me wrong I'm pro-cop for the most part. An organized SWAT team could eliminate gangs in San Jose and complete the task within six months. Instead they are allowed to exist. Just as the feds will not enforce our immigration laws, local law enforcement won't go after known gang bangers. They don't want the fallout. Same goes for pretty much every city in the US.

      • I reiterate, How about legislating with some balls and get rid of the gangs and the aclu. Let’s be a free society again. Sounds like you were fortuante enough to leave our slovenly sanctuary state.
        Recently in SF a father and his sons were shot to death at an intersection while in their car by an illegal alien who had been released several times from jail for violent crimes (never deported) and had only within days been released awaiting trial for still another assault and possession of a firearm, his facial tattoos clearly marked him a member of the ms-13 , an extremely violent central amercan gang. So I believe the police in fact try to enforce laws, it is the wishes of the uber-libs of "Kali" who cut these killers loose! Of the police I am acquainted with they to a man all express frustration with our courts and our lousy leadership.

      • If they were actually to fix the problems, then how would they justify their continued existence?

        • Oh there would still be lot's of crime. I do however get your point. We'd have to terminate the anti-gang units. Darn.... more jobs lost!

    • I like most of you post, I agree with many of your points, but I do object to one thing said.

      "Olivia is correct in that Jesus does teach us to pray in private, "
      First things first, Olivia is never correct when it comes to the teachings in the Bible. She has time and time again pointed to passages and used them out of their proper context to justify her progressive and liberal mantra. Once again she has done so here not to anyone's surprise. Here is the actual verse I believe is being referred to:
      Matthew 6:5-8 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
      The Lord's prayer then follows the above verses in Matthew 6:9-13.
      Now if we were to take the simple statement Jesus instructs us to pray alone out of context, then we are to assume that any and all prayer outside of our private quarters is in violation to this statement. But as FormerlyDeanH so eloquently put we are also instructed to gather together in fellowship and pray together. We are also told the Jesus is there with us.
      Matthew 18;19-20 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
      Take these two passage in context and we can see the difference in what is being said. The first passages referr to praying humbly, privately in communion with our God. As oppossed to the examples given of those who pray not for intimacy with God, but to be seen by other and to impress everyone with their "righteousness". We are also instructed not to chant or to repaet over and over hoping that the amount of words count towards the prayer, but rather to pray from our hearts since God knows our needs before we ask them. The following verses instruct more on praying together, with like minds in communion with God in the presence of Christ. This is one reason given as to why fellowship is important to Christians.
      Now with all that being said, I hope that within the proper context it is less confusing. As long as people continue to use the teachings of the Bible out of context, twisting and turing it to suit their agenda there will always be a need to put those contents back in their proper place. For all of the wisdom claimed to be had by Olivia, if she truly knew anything, she would not twist the Bible to make her points.

      • Sweetie, she twists EVERYTHING to make her point! But you are so right about taking passages out of context. Not only out of textual context, but out of context of the time in which they were written. Can lead you far off the narrow way.

      • You're right, Babydoll. Cut and paste doesn't work well often with the Scriptures. Sometimes it can, but often it doesn't. The spirit of the Scripture Olivia quotes is for us not to seek human glory through witnessing to our faith. It is not applied correctly when applied to a simple child, a 12-year-old sixth grader. She is not seeking human glory, she is witnessing to her belief in Jesus.

    • Isn't the praying privately thing sort of counter to fellowship and gathering to pray, which is also in the New Testament?

      Some aspects of Christianity are misconstrued through misunderstandings of Catholicism and several other churches dictates. The Messianic views and the trinitarian concepts are at odds with one another even though they all subscribe to the basic tenet of Christianity.

      We could go on and on over this and never resolve a thing, but all of it falls under the protection to worship as you wish. The only constraint that can be placed on that freedom is that you do not infringe on someone else's right to do the same. Blocking traffic and chanting in class are unacceptable. Wearing an icon of your belief, so long as it is not obscene or otherwise not intrusive should fall under protection as well.

  • Here's an idea. Ride the gangbangers like a ho in a Navy town. Use a full court press and harrass these wanna be gansters until they either A. Decide it ain't worth it B. Decide it's worth it, but move to Kalifornia where it is celebrated.

  • What did they think it was? Some new kind of Crips or Bloods BLING? God help the kid who wears a diabetis tag. He best hope he don't go hypoglycemic. Those folks in Nebraska must of been eating the wrong kind of corn. Maybe the nice Obamacare (BRIBE) package deal Obama made with them said to kill the Christians and sick kids too.

  • Actually, guys, this has been an issue here in Texas for a while. Any true Roman will tell you a rosary is not jewelry, and should not be worn as such. Gangs DO use rosaries as necklaces as gang ID's, sometimes using certain colors or types of rosary to identify a specific gang. Sorry, but that part is true. Now if she wanted to CARRY a rosary, or pray the rosary at lunch, or something like that, I'd be all for it. For her own safety, she should not wear rosaries as necklaces. Just a cross is fine. That should be allowed.

    • Exactly. My right pocket always has my little leather pouch with the Rosary I was given at my confirmation 53 years ago. My constant companion, it has seen me through more of life's tragedies than you can shake a stick at.

    • Rose, off subject a bit here. I saw a guy in front of me at a gas station on 281. He had his pants on inside out and backwards. I look down and immediately laughed out loud and asked him if he lost a bet or something. He gave me the eat death look! I look up and the cashier is about to crap his pants. The guy pays, turns and again gives me the stink eye and leaves the store. The cashier tells I was lucky I didn't get everyone in the store killed and that he thought he was sure the guy was about to rob the store. Turns out the pants were his gang colors and the gang was supposedly responsible for a lot of bad things going on in SA at the time!

      • And there you have it. Gang members are notoriously unpredictable, and have no moral compunction about killing anyone. I have long thought that the saggy pant bit should not be allowed for the same reason. I hear one mayor has passes an ordinance and is fining guys for saggy pants!

        • That's one thing about idiot gang bangers; they should all be eliminated with maximum prejudice.

          • I've said before that the general state of living in the world would be vastly improved if all gang members were to just gently >Poof< out of existence. I don't really care whether they leave clouds of rainbow glitter or greasy spots on the ground when they go.

            I challenge anyone to tell me one single positive thing that ANY gang member has ever done for society at large.

    • I Can understand the concern, but I base my objection on principle: when we alter behavioral standards to conform to the norms projected by criminals then we have lost something morally (I'm sure there are plenty of examples where we have already lost). I know it not an as easy battle heck where could you even start? So the safe course is readily available (and it has the added bonus of lower risk) and folks will naturally accept erring on the side of caution...
      It still bothers me though

  • Here the thing - when did we turn this corner on "some bad people do it"-so-no-one-can-do-it anymore nation? I understand this started with red and blue being Blood and Crip colors, but have we slid down the slippery slope THAT far to include frickin' Rosary Beads.....

    Have people simply abdicated common sense in favor of govt regulation?

    • when did we turn this corner on “some bad people do it”-so-no-one-can-do-it anymore nation?

      Good point! Some hookers wear nurses uniforms, so then should all nurses be kept from wearing uniforms?
      Some murderers have worn scrubs, so now no hospital personnel can wear scrubs?

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