T-shirt Controversy at Local High School

RAVENA -- T-shirts handed out by a National Guard recruiter at a local high school have caused heated debate among parents, students and the school district. The Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk superintendent says the shirts are not appropriate for students to be wearing in school. The t-shirts in question say "National Guard" across the top and then show the silhouette of a solider holding a gun in front of the American Flag. The School District says it has a very strict policy forbidding students from wearing any clothing that has a weapon on it. Jennifer Delisle has a number of children in the district and was outraged when the recruiter, who was at the High School on Friday, was asked to stop passing out the shirts and the students who had already put them on were asked to take them off, "the way I see it, the men and women who serve and protect us, they don't walk around without weapons, unfortunately they don't and there's a big difference between violent crime and people who serve us and keep us safe and keep our freedom," she tells CBS6. Superintendent of RCS Schools, Alan McCartney says rules are rules and if an exception is made for one shirt with a gun on it, where do you draw the line? "One of the problems you have in school during this period in our history is that the weapon becomes the focal point for some people," McCartney says. He, the High School Principal, the Recruiter and some of the students involved met on Tuesday morning to discuss the situation, "this has nothing to do with patriotism, nothing to do with anybody disliking the military, it has nothing to do with the recruiter himself, it just has to do with the fact that there was a weapon on the shirt and that just doesn't have a place in a high school," he says. T-shirts and materials handed out by Colleges, Trade Schools and branches of the Military during recruitment at the high school are not usually vetted beforehand however the superintendent says the High School principal will begin to look over them in order to prevent any confusion in the future. Col. Rochard Goldenberg of the National Guard tells CBS6 that these t-shirts are used in the recruitment process at schools around the country. They have heard from other school districts that don't support the image of a gun on them. The National Guard will replace the t-shirts issued on Friday at RCS with a new version that follows the school's dress code and does not have the image of a weapon on it. "As a mother, when I first saw the shirt, I saw the American flag, the silhouette of the solider, I didn't even notice the gun and the children I've talked to said it had nothing to do with the gun being on it, it had to do with the honor and respect to the National Guard," DeLisle says. A number of students refused to take the shirts off on Friday, saying that they felt the policy was disrespectful to the recruiter who is an active member of the National Guard. After a meeting today with him and the district, the students agreed to help maintain the 9/11 memorial on school grounds as a sign of their patriotism and respect to servicemen and women.