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Anatomically correct, but he still gets busted
DEBBY ABE; The News Tribune
Published: October 21st, 2005 12:01 AM
Fourteen-year-old James Watkins says he was just trying to be funny. And, he says, plenty of other kids and passers-by thought it was funny, too.
Steilacoom school officials didn’t. They suspended the teen for three days for what Watkins considered a hilarious practical joke: wearing an inflatable penis costume on school grounds.
James, a Pioneer Middle School eighth-grader, donned the outfit and showed it off to teens at a Saturday night homecoming dance at Steilacoom High School on Oct. 8.
He and a friend, clad in regular clothes, didn’t go into the dance, but walked near the school entrance and outside the school talking to students. He said he politely complied when a couple of teachers asked him to take off the costume.
“It was all in fun and games,” he said. “People laughed. … These girls put their arms around me and got pictures.”
The laughs ended the Tuesday after the dance when James’ dad, Mark Watkins, got a call from a Pioneer administrator, saying James was being suspended for three days.
The “short-term suspension notice” says he received the discipline for “sexual harassment, misbehavior at school-sponsored event, disruptive conduct and dress & appearance.”
James served his sentence, but he and his parents are contesting the discipline on several grounds, arguing the incident didn’t happen at Pioneer Middle School and that the event was not during school hours.
They want the “sexual harassment” notation of the incident dropped from his school record and an apology from the Pioneer assistant principal and the district’s assistant superintendent.
“I understand I did something wrong,” James said. “I don’t feel I sexually harassed anyone. I took the costume off when I was asked. I was polite.”
Steilacoom assistant superintendent Penny Jackson declined to comment, citing student confidentiality laws.
The phallic-shaped costume covered the youth from the top of his head to his ankles, with two inflatable balls near the wearer’s feet.
James spent about $40 of his birthday money to buy it at Tacoma Mall the Saturday of the dance.
After taking the bus to Lakewood Towne Center, he slipped on the costume and walked through several shops until various store management asked him to leave.
While at the center, he called his mother and asked if he could go to the high school dance – neglecting to mention his newly purchased outfit.
Had she known about the costume, Lori Watkins said, “I would have said it wouldn’t be a good idea to wear it.”
But she and her husband say school administrators imposed too harsh a discipline on their son. They say he’s never before gotten in trouble and earns A’s.
“We didn’t see anything wrong with it, to tell you the truth,” Mark Watkins said.
Though he didn’t know the details of the Steilacoom case, Yelm schools Superintendent Alan Burke said he thinks nearly all middle school principals would discipline a student wearing a penis costume at a school event.
A middle school administrator for a decade, Burke said administrators need to be able to control student behavior at all school functions, including athletics, even after hours.
“Once you get onto campus on a school event, you’re on our set of rules,” Burke said. “It’s inappropriate to dress in a costume like that at a school event. The kid would have been busted in our system, no ifs, ands or buts.”
Debby Abe: 253-597-8694
debby.abe@thenewstribune.com
link
DEBBY ABE; The News Tribune
Published: October 21st, 2005 12:01 AM
Fourteen-year-old James Watkins says he was just trying to be funny. And, he says, plenty of other kids and passers-by thought it was funny, too.
Steilacoom school officials didn’t. They suspended the teen for three days for what Watkins considered a hilarious practical joke: wearing an inflatable penis costume on school grounds.
James, a Pioneer Middle School eighth-grader, donned the outfit and showed it off to teens at a Saturday night homecoming dance at Steilacoom High School on Oct. 8.
He and a friend, clad in regular clothes, didn’t go into the dance, but walked near the school entrance and outside the school talking to students. He said he politely complied when a couple of teachers asked him to take off the costume.
“It was all in fun and games,” he said. “People laughed. … These girls put their arms around me and got pictures.”
The laughs ended the Tuesday after the dance when James’ dad, Mark Watkins, got a call from a Pioneer administrator, saying James was being suspended for three days.
The “short-term suspension notice” says he received the discipline for “sexual harassment, misbehavior at school-sponsored event, disruptive conduct and dress & appearance.”
James served his sentence, but he and his parents are contesting the discipline on several grounds, arguing the incident didn’t happen at Pioneer Middle School and that the event was not during school hours.
They want the “sexual harassment” notation of the incident dropped from his school record and an apology from the Pioneer assistant principal and the district’s assistant superintendent.
“I understand I did something wrong,” James said. “I don’t feel I sexually harassed anyone. I took the costume off when I was asked. I was polite.”
Steilacoom assistant superintendent Penny Jackson declined to comment, citing student confidentiality laws.
The phallic-shaped costume covered the youth from the top of his head to his ankles, with two inflatable balls near the wearer’s feet.
James spent about $40 of his birthday money to buy it at Tacoma Mall the Saturday of the dance.
After taking the bus to Lakewood Towne Center, he slipped on the costume and walked through several shops until various store management asked him to leave.
While at the center, he called his mother and asked if he could go to the high school dance – neglecting to mention his newly purchased outfit.
Had she known about the costume, Lori Watkins said, “I would have said it wouldn’t be a good idea to wear it.”
But she and her husband say school administrators imposed too harsh a discipline on their son. They say he’s never before gotten in trouble and earns A’s.
“We didn’t see anything wrong with it, to tell you the truth,” Mark Watkins said.
Though he didn’t know the details of the Steilacoom case, Yelm schools Superintendent Alan Burke said he thinks nearly all middle school principals would discipline a student wearing a penis costume at a school event.
A middle school administrator for a decade, Burke said administrators need to be able to control student behavior at all school functions, including athletics, even after hours.
“Once you get onto campus on a school event, you’re on our set of rules,” Burke said. “It’s inappropriate to dress in a costume like that at a school event. The kid would have been busted in our system, no ifs, ands or buts.”
Debby Abe: 253-597-8694
debby.abe@thenewstribune.com
link
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