Was a Florida principal really try to "protect" a young man from bullying when he brought the student into his office and ordered him to remove the high heeled shoes he had been wearing to school?
According to Fox News, the high schooler in Tampa, Florida felt "proud of who he is" and simply wore high heels because he felt comfortable in them. But teachers and the principal of the school declared it a distraction, and ordered him to stop.
A teacher called the principal's office. That teacher said the boy's shoes were disrupting the classroom. Principal Bob Heilmann says there was name calling. He asked the student to take off the heels.
"As a principal of a high school, I have to take the paternal side and make sure he's going to be okay," said Heilmann, afraid the boy would be bullied. "Anytime anyone goes out from, quote, 'the norm' or anytime anyone wants to make a statement, you have to be willing to take what comes with it."
Riverview students we talked to believe most at the school are accepting of students expressing themselves however they want, and don't care who wears high heels -- even if they don't like it.
The student in question told a friend he never felt any sort of shame...that is, until the principal got involved. And when a small protest broke out at the school, with one boy choosing to wear a dress to show his support of his high heeled friend, the principal also called him into the office and talked him into heading home to change his clothes, saying he was "concerned about [the student's] safety."
If most of the students didn't care, and the high heeled student didn't feel he was being bothered, why does the principal keep worrying so much about the potential bullying and threats to "safety" that he keeps sending students home to change? Unless maybe it is the principal with the problem?
No comments:
Post a Comment