A mom is in a heap of trouble after she sent her 3-year-old son to school in a t-shirt that read "I am a bomb" on the front and "Jihad, Born on 11 September" on the back. Good one, Mama! Bouchra Bagour was charged with "glorifying crime," which is apparently something you can be charged with in France, where the family lives. Here she'd probably be protected under freedom of speech. But then, here people would be even more pissed with her son's t-shirt and run her out of town with torches and pitchforks.
As it is, Bouchra faces up to five years in prison (for a t-shirt!), but she and her brother (who made that t-shirt, worst uncle ever) will probably end up paying hefty fines. But wait! Bouchra claims it was all just a silly misunderstanding.
Apparently her son's name is Jihad and he was born in September 2011. And, like, whose toddler isn't totally "the bomb," right?
Come on. Maybe Bouchra wasn't thinking or paying attention when her brother made that t-shirt and gave it to her son. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt -- moms can be that distracted. But I think her brother knew exactly what he was doing. It looks like he was making a political statement out of Jihad's birthday. Not cool, uncle terrorism sympathizer!
Is it ever okay to put your political slogans on a child who has no idea what they even mean -- much less his own opinions on politics? Even if they're positive? I admit, I put an Obama onesie on my son when he was a baby because I thought it was cute at the time. But I don't know ... isn't that kind of like putting a bumper sticker on your kid, like your baby is a car or something? In retrospect I don't think I'd do it again.
But really, if you care about politics, you're going to impose your political views on your kids anyway, even if you try not to. Your values are what inform your politics, and values are one of the most important things we can teach our kids. I just try to make sure I teach my son to respect other people's opinions and to think independently, too. And he knows I will love him no matter what his political opinions are.
Do you think it's wrong for parents to promote their political agendas through their young kids?
Image via pasukaru76/Flickr
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Comments 10
It always irks me when people put ideological statements on kids... your kid is not a billboard for your religious or political beliefs! And obviously, this mom knew how this would be taken and decided to put her 3-year-old in an uncomfortable situation for her own unknown reasons! Poor 3-year-old not understanding why his shirt was such a big deal and why he probably had to change or go home to get a new shirt or whatever the outcome was. Big mom fail here!
this is rediculous. All i had to do was read what was on the back of the shirt to know that its not a terrorist thing. does anyone know if these people speak english fluently? i have a friend from india that doesnt speak well at all and she is always messing up slang words and she will go back home and bring back t shirts from india that they tried to out english slang on and its a mess. maybe they were just trying to say "I am the bomb" i have seen shirts that say that with the kids name on the back. 5 yrs in jail? because of a shirt? are you serious?
My stepson was born on September 11th. Last year my husband walked into a 7/11 and the cashier asked, "Do you remember where you were 11 years ago today?" and hubby said, "No, why?"
September 11th doesnt register in his brain as a horrific tragedy, it registers as his sons BIRTHDAY. I can see how the mom of this 3 year old didnt quite catch it. After all, she is probably much like hubby in that its not a horrific day to her but her childs birthday.
I also noticed the 'birthday' doesn't agree with the childs age. Sounds like mom thought she was being funny and then came up with a crappy excuse when it wasn't appreciated by others!