GRAND ISLAND, Nebraska -- School sign language controversy: Steve Ross reports at 9. Grand Island preschooler asked to change the sign for His name in mainstream school.
School demands that boy must change his name from Hunter because it violates its weapons policy. Hunter Spanjer says his name with a certain special hand gesture, but at just three and a half years old, he may have to change it.
"He's Deaf, and his name sign, they say, is a violation of their weapons policy," explained Hunter's father, Brian Spanjer.
Grand Island Public Schools's "Weapons in Schools" Board Policy 8470 forbids "any instrument...that looks like a weapon," But a three year-old's hands?
"Anybody that I have talked to thinks this is absolutely ridiculous. This is not threatening in any way," said Hunter's grandmother Janet Logue.
"It's a symbol. It's an actual sign, a registered sign, through S.E.E.," Brian Spanjer said.
S.E.E. stands for Signing Exact English, Hunter's sign language. Hunter's name gesture is modified with crossed-fingers to show it is uniquely his own.
"We are working with the parents to come to the best solution we can for the child," said Jack Sheard, Grand Island Public Schools spokesperson.
That's just about all GIPS officials will say for now.
Meantime, Hunter's parents say that by Monday, lawyers from the National Association of the Deaf are likely to weigh in for Hunter's right to sign his own name.
Despite whatever rules and regulations may exist, some Grand Islanders we spoke with said they don't think it's right to make a three year-old change the way he says his name.
"It's his name. It's not like he's going to bring a gun to school when he's three years old," commented Dana Schwieger.
"I find it very difficult to believe that the sign language that shows his name resembles a gun in any way would even enter a child's mind," Grand Island resident Fredda Bartenbach reflected.
But for now, that's a discussion between the Spanjers and Grand Island Public Schools officials.
Deaf toddler told by school to change his name sign by Sameer Vasta In a horrible case of political correctness gone wrong, a Deaf boy is being told he's not allowed to sign his name at school anymore. School officials need a lesson in common sense.
Hunter Spanjer is like any other three-year-old boy: he goes to pre-school, plays with friends, and learns new things every day. If the local school district has its way, Hunter may have to learn how to say his name, all over again.
Hunter is Deaf, and communicates using sign language. School officials in his district are upset at the way his name is signed; they claim that the sign may look like wagging guns and that the perceived action is potentially threatening and inappropriate for the school environment.
The officials at the school district seems to be the only people who feel threatened by Hunter's name; the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of the Deaf have both urged the school board to reconsider its situation, and the general feeling is that the school is reading too much into an innocuous sign.
They are absolutely right. Forcing Hunter to change the way he signs his name is like changing his name itself. No school should be able to force a child to change her or his name because of an over-extension of political correctness. Hunter's signing of his name is not a threat to anyone at the school or in the school district; it is his way of connecting with people, making friends, and forging his identity.
I have no doubt that the school district will realize its folly and reverse their decision soon, if not today. Their knee-jerk reaction was made without any common sense or any concern over the well-being of their student a contrarian behavior from an organization that is supposed to have the well-being of the student as their primary concern.
Until then, let's make sure that the school officials realize that sometimes decisions need to be made with a little thought and a little context, rather than in a vacuum from up high. And let's make sure little Hunter knows that his name is his own, and he should be proud of it and proud of who he is.
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