I'd seen this story a couple days ago and raged at the television (and anyone in earshot) about the idiocy of such a stand taken by the school district. But I seem to be a little late to the story in this thread. Here's my take on it.
A little background first. My eldest son is deaf. I've been involved, though not immersed in Deaf Culture for 25 years. I'm slow but functionally fluent in sign language. I've dealt with school administrators and teachers and other employees for many years. I've been helped by and hindered by various policies at various times.
Good grief.
All of the comments above indicating disdain for "zero tolerance" policies are right on target as far as I'm concerned. Every one of them is just a bureaucratic fig leaf for "zero judgement". Of course I don't want violence in my kids' school. Of course I don't want weapons in my kids' schools. Of course I don't want drugs in my kids' schools. But each of these, and practically any other fairly wide category, has exceptions that are acceptable. And there are endless examples of specific objects or actions that, in context, are perfectly acceptable, but could, in a different context, run afoul of some "zero tolerance" definition. This story is a perfect example.
The problem is not his name. Nor his name sign. Nor is it a policy that restricts weapons.
The problem is very stupid people opening their mouths and letting the stupid out. I scanned around a bit and found examples of his family signing his name sign. There's No. Way. In. Hell. that it's anything like a threat. In the video at the link I've included here are a couple scenes where the sign is made. Watch it, judge for yourself. It's not a threat and it's not a violation of anything. It's the kid's name for fucking fuck's sake. That's my factual refutation of the stupid that leaked out of the stupid people.
...
My other more emotional reactions to this story make me glad I'm not closer to Grand Island, Nebraska. I'd like to be at that PTA meeting or School District meeting to tell everyone in the room how I feel about it. There might be some of these stupid people in the room, but I doubt they'd get it. His sign isn't even the letter H, it's the letter R (the crossed fingers, like you might make behind your back when you're telling a lie). I have a member of my extended family named Gunnar (those crazy Norwegians). That's his freakin name. What in the world would the school do with that? Obviously NOTHING. The double standard this case represents makes me incandescent with anger.
As I followed up on this story, I found this
news report. It seems that the school district is in full reverse on this subject, saying "Grand Island Public Schools is not requiring any current student with a hearing impairment to change his or her sign language name."
O.R.L.Y.
Where did this story come from then? The Liberal Mainstream Media? I hope the parents get satisfaction on this case. This isn't a little bit of a problem on both sides like many other issues. This is all, *all* on the school district and those who open their mouths on their behalf to let the stupid out.