A Texas School Banned This Student’s Star Wars T-Shirt Because It Features a Weapon

The school dress code bans “symbols oriented toward violence.”

The force is NOT with Coltern Southern, an upstanding pupil at a Texas junior high school who wore a Star Wars: The Force Awakens T-shirt to school last week. Officials at George Junior High School in Rosenberg, Texas,  ordered Southern to cover the T-shirt, which featured a Storm Trooper carrying a weapon.

Coltern’s father posted about the incident on Facebook, and the story has since been picked up by national news outlets. 

“It’s political correctness run amok,” Southern told ABC 13. “You’re talking about a Star Wars t-shirt, a week before the biggest movie of the year comes out. It has nothing to do with guns or making a stand. It’s just a Star Wars shirt.” Southern said in this Facebook post that his son had worn the same T-shirt in the past. It was unclear what prompted school officials to intervene this time. (Perhaps it was the recent deadly mass shootings in the U.S. — just a thought.)

A spokesperson for the school district told ABC 13 that the school handbook that “symbols oriented toward violence” are on the list of dress code violations. Nonetheless, Southern will not face any further disciplinary action other than having to zip up his jacket. Here’s hoping he will have recovered from the trauma in time to enjoy Star Wars: The Force Awakens when it opens on Friday.