mitt romney t-shirtLast Friday was "dress down" day at Charles Carroll High School in Philadelphia, and sophomore Samantha Pawlucy chose to wear a pink "Romney/Ryan" t-shirt. Fair enough, right? No matter what your political stance, it's a free country with free speech; wearing such a shirt shouldn't be a problem.

Well, it was a problem. A huge, embarrassing problem, actually. Sixteen-year-old Samantha's geometry teacher allegedly humiliated her for her choice in clothing (read: choice in candidate) in front of the entire class. Samantha was reportedly told by her teacher to take off her shirt in class, because, see, Charles Carroll is a "democratic school", and wearing a Mitt Romney t-shirt is akin to the teacher wearing a "KKK shirt."

In addition to reportedly making such rude and insane comments, the teacher then allegedly went into the hallway to urge other teachers and students to mock her. She then supposedly called a non-teaching assistant into the room who tried to write on the t-shirt with a marker.

Pawlucy, being 16, was obviously embarrassed and made uncomfortable by the incident. She said: "I just laughed because I was nervous I didn't know what to think, I didn't think it was right at all." She then relayed what happened, saying: "The teacher told me to get out of the classroom, I said no. She told me to take off my shirt and said that she has another one if I need one. And then the teacher asked me ... 'are your parents Republican?' I said, 'I don't know.' She said that's like her wearing a KKK shirt."

I think no matter what side of the fence you're on, we can all agree that this kind of behavior -- particularly coming from a teacher -- is inexcusable, and embarrassing to the country. And it's also part of what's wrong with the country. 

We're more divided than we've ever been right now, in case you haven't noticed. And each side -- in some cases -- has zero tolerance for the other. This is what our discourse has become: Shaming a 16-year-old kid, who let's not forget, can't even vote, for wearing a Romney t-shirt.

The girl's father, who's, obviously, now involved, said that his daughter decided that she supported Romney after she researched both candidates. He added that she was particularly interested in Romney’s opposition to partial-birth abortion.

Wait a minute -- a 16-year-old was researching political candidates instead of sexting, bullying, or mindlessly watching reality TV. That's a good thing! That should be supported, regardless of what she concluded. You'd think a teacher of all people would realize that -- and support it. Isn't that another problem with this country -- apathy?

But perhaps the biggest problem of all, as highlighted by this awful event, is the school systems. Fail.

What do you think of this?