His report card indicates he’s a “pleasure to have in class,” but ninth-grader Jason Laguna was recently suspended from his high school in Haverstraw, New York for insubordination and endangering the “safety, health, morals or welfare of himself or others.” His offense? A rosary around his neck. One school official cited the worry rosary beads might imply a gang affiliation, despite Laguna’s mother’s insistence that worry was moot. In other news, after reading this story I realized I may be something of a Marian gang member myself.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010, 9:00 AM
May 25th, 2010 | 9:07 am
I’ve always wondered if making the sign of the cross before praying at Burger King is a violation of their “no throwing gang signs” rule… so far the ultimate gang sign has not had us thrown out.
May 25th, 2010 | 9:15 am
I would suggest that these folks display their rosary beads in church – if they go to church.
May 25th, 2010 | 9:51 am
Sad to say, but the worry of the principal is real. My wife teaches at an inner-city Dallas school and rosaries are used by certain gangs to indicate membership. It drives her crazy to see how evil can twist even the most innocent objects.
What the principal should have said is that by displaying the rosary, the student put himself at risk for unwittingly being identified with a gang and thus possibly subject to retaliation, i.e. that the rule is there for his protection. But a better way to handle it would have been to pull him aside and tell him this, rather than suspending him.
May 25th, 2010 | 11:10 am
I don’t think wearing a rosary (as opposed to a simple crucifix or medal) around the neck has ever been a feature of traditional Catholic piety. Also, I personally know of a case where a boy was murdered by gangmembers wearing rosaries around their necks. So, yes, the world is that evil and twisted. Whether the school officials handled the situation well, as baconboy says, is another question.
May 25th, 2010 | 2:16 pm
My wife pointed me to this article about the same situation in Dallas: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/092008dnmetrosary.90879b38.html
Note that the diocese of Dallas said that rosaries weren’t meant to be worn as necklaces.
My wife also confirmed the statement by the Dallas gang expert that rosaries aren’t associated with a specific gang, but are symbols of the gang and prison culture. She said the trend started in prison with prisoners making rosaries out of wire and then sending them to people back home.
Also, the NJ student might have a bit more credibility if he wasn’t dressed from head to toe in Crip colors.
May 25th, 2010 | 7:41 pm
A Rosary is a Roman Catholic symbol. Anyone know who Hitler was or maybe the Ustashi? Most definately a gang. Find another way honor your lost relatives.
May 27th, 2010 | 2:43 am
@Feeney: one of the strengths of the US constitution is that manifestations of ones’ faith are NOT limited to church.
@baconboy: the student is dressed in blue, a fairly common color for casual and sports clothes; should all colors be “outlawed” once a gang chooses them for their own?
@Jeff Staggs: Yes, a rosary may be a R.C. symbol (except that the Dio. of Dallas says it is not a symbol to be worn but a tool for prayer). Yes, I know who my countryman Hitler was. He was a criminal, but not a gang (perhaps you mean the Nazis were a gang?). I also know who the Ustashi were, one could call them a gang. But what’s the connection between the rosary and Hitler, or the rosary and the Ustashi?
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