Portsmouth, R.I. – Seventeen-year-old Patrick Agin often spends a week whittling a single arrow, and he’s learning to make chain-mail armor by hand. So when it came time to submit a senior yearbook photo, he selected a snapshot of himself wearing chain mail and slinging a prop sword over his shoulder.
Portsmouth High School rejected the photo, citing a “zero tolerance policy” for weapons, and Agin and his family sued, claiming the school was violating his right to free speech.
But Agin and others who spend their free time sword fighting and feasting on medieval-style meals also wonder why the school would discourage his passion for a hobby they say offers a way to learn about history through hands- on experience.
“It’s no different from wanting to appear in a Boy Scout uniform,” said Tamara Griggs, a spokeswoman for the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group of 35,000 dues-paying members who stage mock battles, learn arts like calligraphy and conduct demonstrations in shopping malls. Agin belongs to the organization.
Portsmouth principal Robert Littlefield said allowing a student to brandish a weapon in his senior portrait was against school policies. The school isn’t obligated to provide a forum for every student’s outside interests, he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit in federal court in December, calls the zero tolerance policy inconsistent. It points out that the school’s mascot, a patriot, is sometimes shown carrying a weapon.
A federal judge asked the state education commissioner to offer a recommendation.
