Patriotic photo refused Student planning military career prohibited from showing cap, flag
By Ray Duckler
Monitor columnist
October 31, 2009
LINK(excerpt)
At Merrimack Valley High, the yearbook policy prohibits photos like the one Jordan Westgate submitted. He's wearing his army combat hat, and he's standing in front of the American flag. What's the problem? asks Jordan, a senior who completed the Army's basic training last summer.
He's showing no disrespect. No disrespect at all. No hats and no props? Well, okay, for the most part. But shouldn't exceptions be made, especially these days, when we're fighting two wars simultaneously?
In fact Westgate, who will become a full-time soldier after graduation, believes he's showing more respect than anyone else in his class.
Where's the beef?
"I think it's disrespectful to disassemble the uniform," says Westgate, sitting in his kitchen with his mom, Dee, nearby. "It's disrespectful to the men and women who have fought and died before me."
Jordan and Dee want the issue in the open. They feel passionate about their cause. The MV administration, meanwhile, has dug in and stuck to the letter of its law.
The rule debuted four years ago, after students began submitting their own digitally snapped photos, often casual, posed, full-length and, the administration believed, inappropriate for the formal flavor sought in the student's portrait section.
Therein lies the seeds of our feud. It's lasted the better part of two months. Jordan will have his yearbook photo taken by a fellow student and her digital camera, but the residual effects linger with the family.
It certainly didn't help when Dee, anticipating a fight and searching for ammunition, found a picture of a Muslim girl who covered her head with a traditional scarf in the 2007 yearbook's junior class section.
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Un-
-believeable.
