An Indiana family is angry at their son's former school after students and parents showed up at a soccer game against his new team wearing t-shirts with the teenager's mug shot on them.
Alex Rittenhouse was arrested last summer after he was caught with pot and his dad turned him into police, local ABC 6 reported.
After the bust, Rittenhouse, now 18, was bullied at school, so his parents decided to transfer him from Marion High to Oak Hill High.
When the two schools met for a soccer game on Sept. 3, the Rittenhouses said they were shocked to see some Marion students and parents wearing shirts featuring their son's mug shot.
The family now contends the school allowed the bullying to continue.
"I know kids will be kids, I know they make mistakes, but to see an adult wearing this T-shirt — that was unbelievable to me," Kevin Rittenhouse told the TV station.
"I know kids will be kids, I know they make mistakes, but to see an adult wearing this T-shirt — that was unbelievable to me," Kevin Rittenhouse told the TV station.
Photos of boys and girls posing in the shirts were also published on social media, the station said.
In a statement, Marion school officials said they were alerted about the shirts before the game started.
"Anyone found wearing one of the shirts at school throughout the day was required to remove it, per dress code policy," the school said.
"No one was allowed into the stadium with one of the shirts visible. Unfortunately, there were a few who concealed them and displayed them once inside the stadium," the statement to ABC 6 said.
"MHS administrators dealt with those as they arose, and people were asked to cover the shirts or leave the stadium."
"They want to brush it off like nothing happened and I think people need to know."
The younger Rittenhouse appeared to keep a sense of humor over the whole thing.
Who do I talk to about getting one of those shirts?
— Alex (@Alex_Ritt12) September 3, 2014
As a dad if that happened to my son, some parent or child would have died on that soccer field stands wearing that shirt.
ReplyDeleteI really would like to know who won the game, I hope that kid had the game of his life