A Dinwiddie mother says her son got in trouble for wearing his Duck Dynasty t-shirt to school.
The popular show featuring a group of bearded millionaires is a hit on the A&E network, but the mother says her teenager was told the shirt was threatening to other kids at Dinwiddie High School.
"For this to be considered as a threat to the school," said Edna-Jo Spain. "I couldn't understand it."
Spain was outraged when teachers at Dinwiddie High School forced her son to remove the shirt, which shows a character from the reality television show Duck Dynasty clenching his fist.
"It says, 'I will hurt you physically and metaphysically,'" said Spain. "Anybody that ever watches Duck Dynasty knows that Si Robertson is famous for his little funny slogans."
"Your beard is so stupid it took it two hours to watch 60 minutes," said Uncle Si is a recent episode.
Spain says her son, Hunter, was given a choice to turn the shirt inside-out or go home.
"I'm not going to look stupid in front of all of these young ladies in the school," said Hunter with a smile. "So, I decided to get a different t-shirt."
School superintendent, David Clark, offered the following explanation in response to an email for comment.
"If you are a Duck Dynasty fan you understand the meaning of the shirt," said Clark. "But if you haven't watched Duck Dynasty you may question if the shirt implies violence. As a school division, we would like to keep our slogans on student shirts as non-violent as possible."
Edna-Jo Spain notes Hunter's grandmother gave him the shirt.
"A lady who would not even buy my daughter ripped up jeans to wear to school," said Edna-Jo Spain. "She viewed that as inappropriate."
Duck Dynasty is a pretty big deal in the Spain household.
"Big!" exclaimed Edna-Jo. "We are major fans. We are getting ready to go on the Duck Dynasty cruise next summer."
Hunter says he meant no harm.
