Zero Tolerance for Ren Fest Lovers

[DarkHeartedDemoness]

Rhode Island teen who loves Middle Ages fights for yearbook photo featuring armor, sword
By Justin M. Norton
ASSOCIATED PRESS

4:14 a.m. January 13, 2007

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. – Seventeen-year-old Patrick Agin often spends a week whittling a single arrow, and he's learning to make chain mail armor by hand. So when it came time to submit a senior yearbook photo, he selected a snapshot of himself wearing chain mail and slinging a prop sword over his shoulder.

Portsmouth High School rejected the photo, citing a “zero tolerance policy” for weapons, and Agin and his family sued, claiming the school was violating his right to free speech.

But Agin and others who spend their free time sword fighting and feasting on medieval-style meals also wonder why the school would discourage his passion for a hobby they say offers tens of thousands of people a way to learn about history through hands-on experience.

“It's no different from wanting to appear in a Boy Scout uniform,” said Tamara Griggs, a spokeswoman for the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group of 35,000 dues-paying members that stage mock battles, learn arts like calligraphy and conduct demonstrations in shopping malls. Agin belongs to the organization.

During the winter, the society holds one-on-one combat events at churches and schools. In better weather, regional groups called “kingdoms” rent campgrounds and stage epic battles with as many as 1,000 soldiers per side.

Portsmouth Principal Robert Littlefield said allowing a student to brandish a weapon in his senior portrait was against school policies. The school isn't obligated to provide a forum for every student's outside interests, he said.

“I don't see our action as discouraging anyone's hobby,” Littlefield said. “I don't see our yearbook as a vehicle where we guarantee everyone an opportunity to broadcast their hobby to our audience.”

The ACLU, which filed the suit in federal court in December, calls the zero tolerance policy inconsistent. It points out that the school's mascot, a patriot, is sometimes shown carrying a weapon.

A federal judge asked the state education commissioner to offer a recommendation in the case. He is expected to do so within weeks.

Agin came to the society through his mother, Heidi Farrington, who sews and sells re-enactment clothing to medieval fans.

“They really appreciate people researching things, whether it's textiles or armor or food or any of the skills that would have been applicable,” Farrington said. She said she learned to spin wool through the organization.

She said the high school's decision sends a bad message about free thinking and individuality and could conceivably lead the school to ban masterpieces like Shakespeare's “Macbeth,” which depicts a fatal stabbing.

“The schools have gotten so into standardization that they are starting to push it on the kids,” she said.

Ed Morrill of New York, a regional director whose society alter ego is Viscount Edward Zifran of Gendy, called the group “a very good place for someone to come and learn something new.”

Morrill, who began attending society events in 1973, said a lot of people don't understand the group's appeal, but he does: “It's not your father's organization. It's something that's different but something that's socially acceptable.”

Society member Nicole Toscano understands the passion that would make someone pose for the yearbook in armor. The student at Simmons College in Boston joined the society at age 7 and works out to keep fit for mock sword fights.

“It's just like any other sport or any martial art. I enjoy doing it just like I was playing football,” said Toscano, who also practices calligraphy.

Agin, who is considering joining the military after graduating this year, said he'll likely opt for a pink tuxedo, not armor, to wear to his senior prom.

In the meantime, he plans to take part in more re-enactments.

“I've actually been talking to a knight to become a squire,” he said.

On the Net:
Society for Creative Anachronism: www.sca.org

Source

[deathbecomesme]

Well i have to agree with the kid, I personally go to the Texas Ren Fest every year and i love it. This is a violation of his freedom of speech and expression. I really see nothing wrong with a photo with a sword in it.

[DarkHeartedDemoness]

I can't believe that taking a picture with a sword can fall under the "zero tolerance for weapons" rule. Does that mean that if the drama club does a play with swordplay in it, the yearbook would exclude that as well?

God help the poor kid who accidentally brings a plastic knife to that school.

[thedoll]

just to play devil's advocate...

why would you test a school policy like that? if he had all these other interests then why not represent those? or why bring the sword at all if he was posing in the chainmail? was the prop really neccesary to commemorate that particular activity?

[DarkHeartedDemoness]

What do you mean by "all these other interests"?

I assume he thought the sword was cool, and it wasn't until AFTER the picture was taken that the administration saw a problem.

That's just speculation, though.

I just don't see a kid thinking, "Hmm, if I take a picture of myself with a sword, will it fall under the 'weapons in school' policy?"

[thedoll]

“It's just like any other sport or any martial art. I enjoy doing it just like I was playing football,” said Toscano, who also practices calligraphy.

^ in reference to other his other interests *although i misread and thought he said he took part in martial arts and other sports, not just football and calligraphy*

I may be wrong, but arent the pictures typically taken on campus where now even jokingly saying im gonna kill you can get you a meeting with a school official?

being in highschool now and seeing how extreme everything has gotten with the zero tolerance policy (although i dont agree with it) you still have to play by their rules. A friend got suspended because he had a brass knuckles belt buckle, somebody had a prop from a play that happened to be a plastic knife in their car and they too suspended her, being a renny i often have my performance blades *i dance with swords* in my car after a weekend at ren faire and have been in trouble once or twice.

[DarkHeartedDemoness]

It's getting a little ridiculous, then.

[asta_tintora]

Eh, he might try getting his picture taken with a weighted foam boffer(?) that they use for practice. I assume big foam things are still against policy, as I recall someone being suspended a few years back for having a three inch chain on an article of clothing.

[Clockwork]

That's a stupid reason to exclude his picture; the sword represents his hobby. If it were a rifle, now, that'd be different. Yet it's also a stupid reason to sue. Even small bickering has to be made a case nowadays -_-

Oh, and I didn't know these medieval-whatever organizations existed. I wonder if there's something like that around here...

[DarkHeartedDemoness]

Wait-- a sword as a representation of his hobby is ok, but a rifle isn't? My cousin Brandon has won awards for bowhunting. It pretty much consumes his life right now. If he had wanted to take a picture with his weapon for his senior photo, that wouldn't be too much different from this guy with a sword... Except that he'd have a longer range, you know, while he had the weapon in his hands. What if Brandon hunted primarily with a rifle, and won the awards for marksmanship with a rifle? Why would that be bad?

It's a picture. I get that they don't want weapons on school property, and in that case, he should have been prevented from having the picture taken in the first place. The fact that the picture was taken changes the situation, in my opinion. He's not "brandishing" the sword, it was slung over his shoulder. He's not threatening to hurt anyone with it. The picture is not a threat.

[Cyntrox]

I've been caught with a knife at school once. Not cool.

These weapon laws are just ridiculous anyways. I mean, if I wanted to kill someone, I wouldn't do it at school - heck, I could blow up the whole school if I wanted, yet I can be arrested for having a baseball bat.

[Pyre]

I understand the point they're trying to make, though. They don't want to advocate the use of a weapon, regardless of the situation.

My school, however, has allowed students to be pictured in their fencing gear with their fencing sword, so I bet I would be allowed to wield a sword in a picture if I tried. If not, I would have something to argue their point with: previous yearbooks

[thedoll]

Originally Posted by DarkHeartedDemoness

It's a picture. I get that they don't want weapons on school property, and in that case, he should have been prevented from having the picture taken in the first place. The fact that the picture was taken changes the situation, in my opinion. He's not "brandishing" the sword, it was slung over his shoulder. He's not threatening to hurt anyone with it. The picture is not a threat.

amen *shakes hand*

[Pyre]

You guys obviously don't understand the text, OR how yearbook photos work.

he selected a snapshot of himself wearing chain mail and slinging a prop sword over his shoulder.

This means that he already had a snapshot of himself, and that he chose it to add.

In my high school seniors have the option of buying space to put personal photos in. These photos are, as I said, PERSONAL photos, and were not taken by the school, unless the senior decides to use one of their senior portraits.

NOWHERE does it say anything about this kid getting his photo taken on campus, and you will note that it says "snapshot." That should give it away, as snapshots are unprofessional photographs, such as when someone is taking a picture of their family and friends.

So to all of you arguing about his getting his picture taken, maybe now you will understand that his picture was NOT taken on campus, NOR was it taken FOR the yearbook, but was a picture he already had from likely an event in which he attended in his costume.

[DarkHeartedDemoness]

My senior pictures were mandatorily taken at a specific studio.

Every school has its own policy.

[Pyre]

Those are senior pictures. They weren't talking about THOSE kind, they were talking about something extra. Had they meant he had his picture taken in his costume, they would have said it as such, and not said "he selected a snapshot." That means he chose something he had already. There is no way they would have let him take a picture in a costume, regardless of weapon or not, had it been an actual senior photo.

[DarkHeartedDemoness]

I guess.

I must have misunderstood a few points in the article, then.

[Encaitare]

Wait-- a sword as a representation of his hobby is ok, but a rifle isn't?

My high school had a rifle team... I don't have my yearbook on hand so I can't check, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had a rifle or at least an image of one with them in their team photo.

[Clockwork]

Meh, I suppose the rifle might have been a bad example - but more killing sprees have been done in schools with guns than swords. The sword is obscure, and easier to associate with that medieval club than say, Columbine.

[Momento Mori]

I held a rifle in my yearbook pic. I was on the team, and the rifle was a .22 bull-barreled target shooting model.

Someone forgot why we're not British. Can't bear Britain...