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| The offending T-shirt in question. |
A vice-principal at Forest Heights Community School in Chester Basin, N.S. told William Swimmer, 19, the T-shirt was offensive. The grade 12 student continued to wear it with the encouragement of his pastor, evangelist Varrick Day of Jesus the Good Shepherd Church in Bridgewater, N.S. an independent Pentecostal Church.
The student has Charter rights on his side, according to the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC).
“It is lamentable that a student has faced 12 days of school suspension for wearing such a t-shirt and that school officials have expended valuable resources on managing this situation,” the EFC’s legal counsel wrote in an open letter to Nancy Pynch-Worthylake, Superintendent of the South Shore Regional School Board (SSRSB), who told various news media she was seeking the opinion of a human rights expert.
Read the full story here.
The following is from the Globe and Mail. They probably have less of an agenda compared to The B.C. Catholic.
ReplyDeleteTwo students from the school said they supported the board's actions.
Katelyn Hiltz, the student council vice-president, said it was frustrating to see the board come under criticism.
“It's hurt our school so much,” she said in an interview.
“A school is a place to feel safe and welcome and comfortable. If (William) is going to make them feel like their life is wasted without Jesus, they are not going to feel comfortable, they're not going to feel safe and they're just not going to want to be here anymore.”
Riley Gibb-Smith, a 15-year-old Australian exchange student, said William sometimes tried to evangelize students, even after they told him they weren't interested in converting to his brand of Christianity.
Riley, who wore a white T-shirt that said, “No life is wasted,” said he was approached by William three days after arriving at the school.
“He wouldn't stop,” said the Grade 10 student. “It's a constant thing. You can say, ‘I'm not interested,' but he'll continue and he'll pester.”