Boy wore ‘Fake News Network’ shirt for trip to CNN. Now, his mother wants an apology

A Georgia father says his son was “stripped of his liberties” when school officials ordered him to change his shirt for a field trip to CNN.

Stan Jester, a Dekalb County school board member, wrote in his blog that his seventh grader Jaxon had asked if he could buy an “FNN-Fake News Network” shirt to wear for his field trip to CNN. Jester said that as a First Amendment advocate, he agreed.

“His mother cautioned him that he might cause a controversy and needed to be prepared for that,” Jester said in the blog post. “He was fully aware of the implications of his decision and made the affirmative choice to wear his shirt.”

Later that day, Jester said he and his wife received a phone call from the middle school principal letting them know that their son had been forced to change his shirt.

“I’m disappointed by the hypocrisy of this decision,” Jester wrote. “Some students are celebrated when they make a controversial display during the National Anthem. My student was forced to remove his shirt because someone didn’t like it.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Jester’s wife, Nancy, was told by Jaxon’s teacher that she thought the shirt said, “F-CNN.”

“The principal stated that he should have been made aware of the situation before Jax was made to change his shirt,” Nancy Jester told the paper.

Though officials apologized to the elder Jesters, Nancy Jester said she believes an apology should also be issued to her son as well, the AJC reported.

The school district issued a statement to CBS46 that said the request for Jaxon to change his shirt was made out of “concern for the student’s safety in accordance with the district’s Student Code of Conduct.” The statement went on to quote the code.

“(T)he wearing of clothing, tattoos or other adornments which show offensive and/or vulgar words, pictures, diagrams, drawings or includes words or phrases of a violent nature, a disruptive nature, a sexual nature, politically/socially controversial words or graphics or words or phrases that are derogatory regarding a person’s ethnic background, color, race, national origin, religious belief, sexual orientation or disability is prohibited.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2017 at 7:56 AM.