In the course of the day, in a busy school building (trust me, there is not enough time!), there was not enough adequate time to notify all the personnel and students in the building about the 'true' meaning of a swastika, and why this student was thrown out for the day. That person will be back tomorrow, assuming, and eventually everything will die down. The reason for the extra attention is to counsel or prevent the student from causing harm to themselves or others. Without speaking to the child, one cannot know the true nature of what the symbol was implied to mean.
One of the major events of the 20th century...the rise of the Nazi Party.....surely this is something that is taught in the context of history....it only takes a single lesson, to explain the positive origins of the symbol, and how it was misused. The Student has not been given fair time to defend his reason of the Swastica, not even to the head, he was just thrown out of class, had they of spoken to him, he would have explained its significance, especially as its well known about his hobby(he runs a little group doing it, apparently some students like it).
The student was not thrown out because he/she had a swaztika printed on a notebook. The student was thrown out for the mere protection of the rights of the school children. Weapons, gang colors, drug/alcohol clothing, and even religious symbols are not allowed in schools, therefore the swastika must follow, no matter the intention.
Well now thats not an issue here, i must say, Weapons obviously, Drug/Alcohol defo, but the area of the UK i'm in, gang colours are not an issue, religious symbols, clothing is not only allowed, its encouraged. The Swastica is not only part of his study/hobby, but also part of his heritage.
Lets say that student comes to school in gang color apperal. Hypothetically, that student meant no harm, but suppose those colors were representative of a religious ceremony or event. Even though the colors were used innocently and even praising one's religion, it is still seen as gang 'warfare' and is therefore not acceptable in school. In the public forum, people must deal with an amount of compliance for the rules.
Again, this point, though i see it, islost here as we dont have that issue. Religious events, ceremonies are encouraged, and gang colours arent an issue. There are symbols that have as much connection to a sinister history that are allowed, BECAUSE they have had there history given and the context....What i'm saying is, this Student shouldnt have been singled out and thrown out, there is every opportunity to tell the kid to place the book in his bag if its offensive, or even allow him to simply state why he thinks its acceptible for him to have it....like i say, he is known for his hobby.
* and the answer to your thread question is: YES. Until the world is educated (and believe me it will probably never happen), this symbol is to be dealt with very sternly. It was the annihalation of people just for the power thrill of it. There are many symbols that mean the same that are dealt with the same severe thoughts: KKK, Rwanda genocide, Thanksgiving....
But the point is, it is quite simple to educate. Ok i'm not a teacher, but if you tell someone who is learning about the history of that area, then telling them the origins of a symbol is part of that...
Ok...take this example......the US have just recently invaded Iraq...no genuine reason, just power politics........what if during the fight back, Iraq won......in 60 years Time the American Flag is demonised in the same way.....what would you do...explain to people its significance from the Days of Washington, or simply cast it aside and allow the rest of the world to demonise it...
Now the relevance here is that in the attacks on Iraq, the US Government(along with allies) killed many innocent civilians, and even the Iraqi government proved no threat to the US or any country.....BUT you(i dont mean you personally-i'm on about the allied government) believed you were doing it for the betterment of those people, NOW i dont try and justify these acts or the acts of the Nazi party, what i'm saying is that you would educate on the entire history of something, not just one point in time....ESPECIALLY 60 years after the incident ended....
This is conjecture - but I think today people in that position (teachers/administrators) are just plain scared. They don't want to do nothing and then have something horrible happen on their watch. So they overcompensate.
Thats an entirely fair point.....but my stance isnt that it should be ignored and let the child keep on showing the symbol....my problme is with the overaction woth lack of education......
