Teenagers' 'MAGA' Hats Blurred Out for School Yearbook
A Pennsylvania high school is apologizing to one of its students after blurring out his pro-Trump hat for the school yearbook.
In October, 16-year-old Jeremy Gebhart, along with a friend, decided to wear the pro-Trump “MAGA” hat to Littlestown High School’s spirit week, according to WPMT.
It was then that a picture was taken of the two showing their support for President Donald Trump, the station reported.
However, towards the end of the school year, Gebhart noticed the picture made the school yearbook, but with some notable changes.
“We were like, ‘they blurred our hats out,'” Gebhart told WPMT.
Not only was Gebhart shocked to see the apparent censorship, but his mother wasn’t too happy about it either.
She told the station, “I was infuriated because he wears that hat because he supports our president.”
“He’s not doing anything illegal, whatsoever,” she continued. “He’s wearing a hat of support.”
Gebhart told the station that he felt his First Amendment rights were being violated.
“Everybody has First Amendment rights, right? They have freedom of speech and they are allowed to think what they want, say what they want, but they’re not allowed to take that away from other people,” Gebhart said.
His mother added that she believed that not only did the school censor her son’s speech, but they used it as a chance to “make their own statement.”
After WPMT reached out to the Littleton School District, Superintendent Christopher Bigger wrote in a statement, “I am aware of the yearbook situation and a mistake was made. The mistake was not noticed during the editorial preview process prior to print. We apologize on behalf of the yearbook club. It is not the policy or practice of the district to improperly censor speech.”
The superintendent went on to say that “we must find a way to have civil discourse around emotionally charged issues with students.”
School officials told WPMT that an investigation is currently underway to see how the “mistake” was made.
Gebhart’s mother told the news station, “It’s OK to disagree with people’s views, but what’s not OK is taking your freedom of speech and using it to take away someone else’s.”
The Gebharts had just one message for the culprit behind the photoshop job:
“You did not censor us.”
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