Rosaries, gangs and the battle over religious symbols in schools
When Jake Balthazor was sent to the office by his teacher last
week, imagine his surprise. After all, Jake hadn’t disrupted
class, failed to do his homework or committed any other offense
that might lead to disciplinary action at Coon Rapids High
School near Minneapolis. The problem, it turned out, wasn’t with
what the 15-year-old was doing, but with the black-and-silver
rosary beads he was wearing. (Rosary beads are used by many
Roman Catholics to offer prayers to the Virgin Mary.) What Jake
sees as a religious symbol worn to honor his sick grandmother,
the school district views as a possible gang symbol that could
threaten school safety. Rosaries were added to the list of
prohibited symbols in Coon Rapids after the school district
reportedly received a memo from the local police department in
May saying some gangs in the area used rosary beads as a symbol
of affiliation. Although no rosary-bead gang was disrupting the
school, administrators de