you have to be kidding me, did the principal write this, sounds to me like he's not waiting for the facts to come in to come to his conclusion, have we already forgotten about the duke lacrosse case. wow!

Whoever signed off on this idea needs to think twice about hailing Trayvon Martin as some kind of martyr. This issue still is not resolved. This record of this young man's twitter account and his behavior (and I'm not talking about the day in question) are not something that need to be honored. Whether he was killed justly or unjustly Trayvon Martin was hardly a role model for this club. If my child attended SHS, I would not allow him to attend school on "hoodie day."

Sitting more than one thousand miles from the scene of the shooting, SHS principal Layne Millington is able to declare this act to be "unjust" even as multiple investigations by the Sanford Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Seminole County State's Attorney are underway without a final decision. It may very well turn out that the killing was "unjust" but Mr. Millington is in no position to make such a determination. Further, it is sad given the vulgar content on Trayvon Martin myspace and twitter accounts that he is being "honored" as some sort of a role model. Mr. Millington's embrace of the mob mentality in this case makes me wonder if next up on the special events calendar at SHS, will be pitchfork and torch day.

I can understand a principle looking for ways to improve racial interaction, but I agree with the comments above. Hopefully noone gets hurt and the school system is found liable since the hoodie ban is in for safety reasons. That'll cost Swampscott some money and Millington will be looking for a job.

Talk about a rush to judgement!!! Principal Millington, what are you teaching those children? For shame.....

STUPID

I wonder of SHS principal Layne Millington would have had Tawana Brawley day if he were the principal back in 1987 or Condemn Duke Lacrosse Day if he were principal in 2006?

In addition to the hoodies should the kids mark up the school with Trayvon's signature "WTF" graffiti, carry in their backpacks a burglary tool and stolen women's jewelry along with a pot pipe and plastic bag with marijuana residue?

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/26/2714778/thousands-expected-at-trayvon.html

Perhaps principal Millington should have "Accreditation Day", a day which the school will follow the accreditation guidelines or "Follow the Law Day", a day which the staff would abide by the municipal finance laws and regulations.

The parents of the students need to have a school board meeting with this principal explaining this silliness. For one, the court has not proclaim any innocence or guilt yet this principal already has.

Can we all agree that the events in Florida are a tragedy on several fronts. As adults we know there is two sides to every story, with the illusive truth usually being somewhere in the middle.

Neither George Zimmerman or Trayvon Martin is 100% innocent in this terrible story. However, maybe something good will result. Hopefully, we all agree that having meaningful dialogue is a good first step.

Regarding some of the comments above, many are a little harsh in bashing Mr. Millington. My personal view is the SHS teacher of the Race and Membership class is using current events to teach respect for divergent views, free speech, etc., in a highly teachable moment in a safe environment.

Many in the community have commented over the last several years that public schools in Massachusetts have become nothing more than MCAS factories, teaching only to the test. Many others have stated that private schools allow students to investigate issues of the day beyond 'book learning'. That is exactly what's occurring at the high school, teaching beyond books and discussing real-life issues.

In reference to Tawana Brawley & Duke Lacrosse, my guess is only a few students if any, have substantial knowledge of either case. It would be outstanding if these two incidences were also discussed in the class.

We can agree or disagree on this issue. But the role of a high school is to guide our future leaders in discussing topics that are sometimes uncomfortable.

Thank you.

Glenn, thanks for putting this in perspective. I agree that the high school is a great place for students to have thoughtful and reflective dialogue on the events unfolding in our world. Thanks to Mr. Millington for giving our students the opportunity to take the lead on this important discussion.

Agree with Mr. Paster, that the subject might be a good topic for class discussion. Unfortunately quite often days like this in school turn into a no education day. We frequently hear complaints that we only have 180 days to teach our students an overwhelming amount of material. Our curriculum has been found to lack focus by accrediting agencies. I just don't see how we see our way clear to clear the calendar for a current events issue. Maybe hold this event on a Saturday and see what attendance looks like.

Then why not a word about the young children in Salem last week that had their throats slashed by their mother? Isnt that a great opportunity to talk about broken government systems and how vulnerable children are in our society. Why is that not worthy of discussion? Why are those children not being "honored" I guess there is no political agenda or position to push in that case though right?

The high school ban on hoodies is there for a reason. They make the wearer look like the Grim Reaper and that is used by people to intimidate.

Wearing a hoodie with the hood up is an effective way to keep warm on a cold day. But once inside, they should be taken off.

I support having a memorial for Trayvon and I support the high school ban on hoodies. The hoodie ban should not be suspended for any reason. There should be a different way found to recognize the loss of Trayvon and the failure of the legal system in Sanford, FL.; wearing hoodies is not appropriate.

Yet another stellar example of the Swampscott Schools telling students what to think instead of teaching them how to think!! WOW!

Is Millington going to put a bounty on students who don’t wear their hoodies on Friday?! He should go!

My question is will the student body of swampscott have a day of support for the 2 british students gunned down as they begged for their life by an african-american, or today 6 black men were arrested in carolina for the beating of a white man outside an applebees.. or what about the mattapan murders... come on people.. WAIT FOR ALL THE FACTS>>> please dont repeat the duke lacrosse players or Richard Jewell, the security guard that found the bomb during the olympic's and was falsely accused... I am really surprised at the leadership at shs....

I think students should who disagree with the wack job principal should wear NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH shirts

Excerpt from the Lynn Item:
Susan Haggerty, whose Race and Membership class is sponsoring the event. “Is a kid walking in a neighborhood a justification for murder?”

“No matter what he did, he didn’t deserve to die, the gun was a little too much,”

Looks like Ms Haggerty isn't being very objective either. Where's the teaching of innocent until proven guilty. It's been published that the young man attempted to obtain Mr Zimmermans gun. Sure the outcome is sad, but I'm not sure it's inappropriate. The teaching here should be how should Trayvon should have handled himself differently and that could include reporting Mr Zimmermans actions to the police and let them determing if he acted inappropriately. It seems Trayvon decided to take action into his own hands and possibly had malicious intent.
I'm not sure what the teacher and principle have as an agenda, but they're not helping the students or community. They should stick to the MCAS curriculum.

I'm inclined to believe that both Mr Zimmerman and young Mr Martin may have let a confrontational inpulse get the better of them....Mr Zimmerman for following the young man because he was convinced the kid was up to no good, and the young man over reacting to being followed by someone who was watching over his neighborhood. The real injustice in my opinion was the young man lying in a morgue for 2 days before his parents were notified. But tI believe the hoodie awareness day SHS is misguided and provocative as we don't know what actually happened. Additionally, like it or not, the profiling that clearly happened had mostly to do with the fact that the boy was wearing a hoodie.

In his initial call to the 911 operator, Mr Zimmerman was not able to identify the race of the young man, but he did identify what Travon Martin was wearing. So maybe the message children should be taught is that whether fair or not, you are judged by how you present yourself. There are reasons why you put a suit on to attend an interview, and why, perhaps, you should not wear a hoodie when you are walking alone in streets in which you are not known. Reality is where we all dwell and where we will always live, not in utopia, and children should be taught that fact. I think a "Ban the Hoodie Day" would have been a more appropriate way to open a discussion into this tragedy.

From a students perspective, I think getting involved in current events are helpful even though no one knows all the facts about this case we wore a hoodie out of respect. Whatever he did he didn't deserve to die. We are a very liberal community and accept and respect all people. Did we do something wrong for wearing a hoodie out of respect? Get a grip people!!

I appreciate the perspective of you SHSStudent and Bridget Elmeniaway although I believe "assasination" is too strong a term to describe an event where less is known than known. There is nothing wrong with the discussion in school, the objectionable part to me is wearing the "hoodie", normally contrary to the school dresscode, but more importantly because it has become just as much a symbol of support for Trayvon Martin as it is a threat of violence against Mr Zimmerman and his family.

I hope the school discussion also included the uptick in the threat of mob violence since this episode....the million dollar bounty on Zimmerman's head and the tweeting of his parents address. I hope both of you realize that there will probably be more violence associated with this tradgedy as a result of the mob mentality being stirred up withouth the facts being determined. I hope students came away with a healthy respect for the rule of law and confidence in our system of jurispudence.

Lenny - if there is more mob violence it is directly related to the fact that Zimmerman is not in jail right now waiting on a court date where he could prove to everyone that he acted in self-defense.

Bridget, you are correct that the violence will occur because the mob is not satisfied with the rule of law and the judicial system. It wants vigilante justice. That is what Mob violence is. It is the belief that the mob decides guilt or innocence and the rule of law and the judicial system be damned. Zimmerman is not in jail (yet) because his guilt has not been established to a high enough degree to legally justify his incarceration. Don't you have faith that justice will be served, or do you agree with the madness that is being whipped up in Sanford because Zimmerman hasn't been arrested? What was the concensus of your class on Friday.......do they think allowing the process to play out through the courts is the best course, or did you kids decide that Zimmerman is guilty and should be imprisoned for life?

Allowing the students to wear something that is against the dress code policy Should Never happen.
Fact is, a policy, by meaning is something that should be in place every day ... Not all but one.
A Rule is a Rule.
Pick a team and play for them Mr Millington.

This is like the Catholic Church coming out and changing the rules about eating meat on Fridays during Lent ... Oh Wait, They did that on St Patricks day a few years back ... Nevermind !

What I believe is that if Zimmerman was Hispanic he'd be in jail now. Oh, wait a second, he is Hispanic. The media got it wrong. Wait for the facts to come out.

Well that might be true, that if Zimmerman were Black instead of Hispanic, he might be in jail right now. I am not sure if you believe that because you think Blacks are discriminated against, or its because you think Hispanics are given a free ride. But whatever the case might be, different levels of the legal system are involved to the point that any stone that could be turned over will be turned over. I think this whole matter will be adjudicated fairly, My only concern is that so many lines have been drawn without all the facts being known, that some people will never agree with the outcome. Just ask people about the OJ Simpson case. Hell, there are people out there still upset that Lizzie Borden was not jailed.

Dear SHS student,

I would not characterize Swampscott as a "very liberal community". Some members of this community, perhaps your family and friends, are very liberal, but our community is actually rather diverse with a range of political views. I would encourage you to take every opportunity to understand the diverse views held by folks in this town. It would be unfortunate if you graduated from high school without understanding a range of opinions.

When you suggest that it is a liberal point of view to “accept and respect all people”, you are conveying a misunderstanding and even prejudicial, negative judgement about a “conservative” viewpoint. I would like to direct your attention to a column today on the conservative National Review Online, entitled “Too Young to Die” about the epidemic numbers of murders of young black men, which are being overlooked by the media.
Here is the link:
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/295087/too-young-die-lee-habeeb

I am glad that students at the high school are studying issues of race, but want to encourage you to explore the entire spectrum of information on this controversial topic and not be led astray by thinking the “liberal” point of view is the only just perspective.

First of all mr millington has made tremendous improvements in our school. This act of concern was intiated by the students he never told us how to act or feel. I am defending our principal because he lets us have freedom of expression, this display of concern got us thinking which is our American right.. This was by students to express how we feel. Not everyone knows the facts we get that, but whatever trayvon did he didn't deserve to die! Forget being liberal or conservative we have the right of freedom of expression and freedom of speech. Stop blaming the principal for something he didn't do. Not everyone wore a hoodie, and no one was bullied. It was never a requirement it was personal expression.

Being a student at the Swampscott high school and knowing what actually went on that day at school many of these comments are actually wrong. It was not Mr. Millington's idea to have a "Hoodie Day" it was an idea brought to him by the students of Swampscott high school who felt the need to show respect for Trayvon who died for now reason. Regardless if our community is conservative or liberal it was our way of expressing our feelings. Not everyone HAD to wear a hoodie and many didn't. But as the point was made that Swampscott is a pretty conservative town im guessing most people watch fox news and saw their excerpt on our school which seemed to be very incorrect and very biased considering it contained mostly conservative views. The people in our town should stop assuming things especially assuming the worst of this and actually learn the facts. No one was ever bullied, Mr. Millington has always supported his student and that has proven him to be one of the best principals we've ever had. Being involved in current events is a big part of high school and in my opinion it crucial to being successful later in life. So stop going out of your way to bring all of this negative attention to Swampscott high school it was an act of respect