This is urgent, I need your advice.

[Strawbearry_PANDA]

This is something I really, really need you guy's input about. All of you.

So I don't know if you guys know....but in my city of San Antonio there is a wolf pack giving furries a bad name.  They've been committing suicide, and murdering people. The news is in an uproar, along with that Wolfie Blackheart thing. She's a good friend of mine, but I hate that the news suddenly pays attention to furries when something that could be possibly bad shows up.

Today I got kicked out of my old school. My old teacher, Mrs. Grant, told me to leave the campus because of my attire. I know not all furries dress the part nor can get away with it. But it makes me feel more like me, you know? And I'm a wolf, so that meant bad news for me. She asked me to take off my gear, and I said "No. I will not change the way I look to make you feel more secure, safe, or happy with anything that is untrue." Then she said "You'll just have to leave the campus then." And all those Wolf Pack Kids go to Brandeis, she had the gall to ASK me where I went to school. A good alternative would have been to have a cop stand by me as I was there. It was a book fair, it was small, with seven people max in there. Now, I know she was thinking about the safety of her pupils, but she didn't even give me a moment to clear up my purpose for being this way. It's not like she would have cared anyways. I now know what it feels like to really be a freak to society. I ignore that "Yiff in hell, fur-f**" stuff, but getting kicked out of a place.... That hurt me. Furries all around San Antonio (and I know a lot) have been cast out, hated on, and shunned more than ever. And this is where I need your advice, FF.

I don't believe in hiding who or what I am. And I'm tired of hiding. I want to make a Furry Advocacy group or something that explains around San Antonio what exactly Furdom is. I want to tell this city that we aren't psychopaths, murderers, suicidal, or anything negative. Now, some of you will tell me this sounds like a hopeless dream, but then if you think that, you must have no pride in being a furry. If you can't stand up for what is right and what you believe in, well....I don't know. I want to let them know how things really are, so we can walk the streets, so we can go into places without being kicked out, or thought of as bad people.

Either I form this group and stand up with my community, and cause an uproar while making things right, or I sit down, silently, and watch these kids ruin the rest of our lives.  I need to hear your opinions, because I'm so lost, I don't know what to do.....but I need to do something. I need to at least try to make this right again. We have rights, and I feel like my rights, and the rest of our rights, locally and beyond, are being abused.

[Vosur Aekira]

Well, there are several things in play here, but the best way to give advice would be to make sure the entire situation is brought into play.

First: Did you ask for a copy of the "dress code"? Every school has one, if they don't provide it then you may want to get that information and compare that to the clothes you were wearing that day. Maybe the teacher involved did have a viable reason, but they weren't very clear on what it was during that time.

Second: Whatever they say to you in pertaining to you not being allowed on the school grounds (specifically pertaining to the attire), get it in writing. Often if you don't get it in writing, then you may not have any proof of it. Their denying you of your education has to have a very legitimate reason. If they cannot provide a legitimate reason with sufficient proof of that reason, then they can be held accountable.

Lastly: Find out where the local school-board (often who runs the school involved) is and be ready to go to them in your "best" clothes after you have thoroughly prepared. (Something you might wear to a business meeting or to a church are preferred) Do not go to them with a combative attitude, but do be inquisitive. The idea is to find out what is the full cause of the situation, not to try to get someone fired. If you go in fully-angry, you will be least-likely to be heard and anything you have to your defense will be for naught.

[Ares the Ram]

leave it to the media to blow things out of proportion. Props for wanting to stand up for being who you are, but remember, they will see you as part of that pack, and will act like it. What i'm trying to say is that they might want to hurt you. Just be careful, I dont want to see you get hurt over this.

[Kodachi Devil]

That. Mega-Sucks. And I agree with Macid. Please don't get yourself hurt.
As for the whole situation, I never heard of that until you brought it up.
But it sucks when people start generalizing. I mean, if my friend Sunny lived down there she'd be thrown in to that stereotype (she wears wolf ears and cat ears and stuff ALLLLLLLLLLLL The time). But yeah, I feel for ya, Panda. Don't get hurt over it though okay.

[King_Ghidorah_2]

The only thing I can say here is to be safe.

Plus I can't relate to this since my area isn't really popular furry wise. I'm like the only furry fan in my area, plus there aren't any fur haters in my vicinity so I guess it's a win win situation for me.

[RedWolf "lucifer" Guevara]

yer i saw thet wolfie blackheart thing i didnt get i, i mean did he kill the dog?, was it already dead? y did he cut its head off??? (apparently)

my advice to you is to prove that u are no threat to ur school and mayby theyll let you back (if u wanna go back i mean if i were u i wouldnt want to go back if i were treated in that way)

oh and if u see the wolf pack tell i said hey.

[Self-sain]

In the teachers defense, if there is some kind of gang (which the way you make it sound) activity going on, then they do sound entitled to ask you to remove it. Yes I understand your point your making, but did you try to see it in both lights, you can't get mad if you go to school looking like a crip and get sent home. I'm all for not hiding. Who you are, but some times furrys for get, its a fandom, and we can sometimes be to over dramatic. If you fell that strong about it, be mature, about it, do what vosur said.

[Kitt_R_Beesley]

I say stand up and go for it but be SMART about it. and I cant stress that enough you may be mistaken for the pack and people will cause you problems for it. not to mention the pack they will cause you shit cause your "imitating them" so be smart about it and don't get hurt

[Strawbearry_PANDA]

Well in answer to all of you, here goes~

The reason I went to school in my attire was not for me. If you're not a student there, dress code does not apply. I was going for my little sister's book fair. They can't tell me "Oh, your shorts are too short" or "You have too many piercings" etc. It's not in their jurisdiction because they aren't my teachers. Its allowed to go against the dress code if you're not a student at a school.

Red Wolf Coleo: About Wolfie, she's my best friend, and she aspires to be a taxidermist. What really happened was that the dog was already dead. It ran out of the house and got run over by a car. She wanted to taxidermize it so she took the dead dogs head off (which is perfectly normal and legal), and took a memento picture as she does with all of her subjects, mainly for a before and after. She was proven innocent, and it's all taken care of, but no one listened to the full story once the truth came out, but instead decided to assume furries were some sort of animal killers. Silly right?

Self-sain: I would like to say that there are a lot of furries I know that don't view it as a fandom, but a lifestyle. It's all in the individual. And I do understand what you're saying. But she didn't even give me a chance to speak, or explain myself, but just immediately turned me away. I think I at least deserved that. Otherwise, I would not be angry, or so ignorant about the "gang-symbolism". If I could have explained myself a little, and then she would have said something, then I'd be accepting. But the fact I couldn't get a word in an inch's way blinds me from accepting it.

I do appreciate the kind and caring words from you all, I really really thank you all. I promise I will be careful and delicate about this matter, but I'm not going to sit and watch the chaos unfold. More people will die if I keep standing down. I will discuss this with the school district, and I will gather the local furries to hold speeches to let people know that it isn't furries who are doing this, it's mentally screwed up teens who are. I'm not on a high horse when I say this, but I feel as a human being (never thought I'd say that) that my rights and the rights of all the other people in the furry community (if not just local furries) are being abused and taken away. With cliques, emos, gangsters, goths, preps or whatever you want to call anyone, they can walk around looking the way they do, and acting the way they act (so long as it doesn't harm anyone or is illegal) so why can't we? If we can't act however we want to act (same limits apply) or dress how we want to, I don't think it's very fair.  I will take care. Now that all of San Antonio is pretty much anti-fur, I have to be careful, but it isn't going to stop me. I will wear my gear proudly, and I won't take any lip from people. At the same time, if anyone tries to harm me, I'll make sure I am not alone, ever, and that I defend myself properly.

[Self-sain]

Well first, asking honestly, how is being furry a lifestyle choice, when I think of like style, I think of vegetarian, possibly gay, Amish, so how is furry a life style choice?

And furrys are hated on, you can't force people to change, you can try to inform, but that dosent always to anything. Just think smart and don't be to rash, that all you can try to do

[Armalite_]

This all sounds a bit strange to me. I know furries aren't popular here (or well known) but the gangs are. I don't think the crips and bloods here would mind if the furries took all the heat for the murders they commit (most of which were innocent people who got caught in the crossfire). A friend of mine who works at a gun club says he'd rather teach these guys how to properly aim and shoot and hit one guy rather than a dozen others.

I never had to deal with dress codes when I went to high school...cuz we didn't really have one. The only thing you weren't allowed were gang colors or showing your undies. BUT I've heard of those kids from San Antonio...from failblog.org of course. When I was in grade 10, I had my werewolf stage were I looked the part and w/e else. I was the only one in my school to do it though. I sorta grew out of it when I hit summer of '09 when I started doing...other things. Looking back now, I feel kinda stupid about the whole thing...but I know I shouldn't because I know that's me being ashamed of who I was when I was younger and, Panda, neither should you. Keep doing what you're doing and don't ever care about what others think or say.

I know I'm not the same imaginative kid I was back in the early days of high school but I learned my life lessons from those experiences. Live in the moment, do what you want, and don't let other people stop you from doing what you love (even my gf can't stop me from being an immature kid sometimes). Dress how you want, say what you want, and be what you want. But don't be stupid either, don't get yourself hurt, and know your limits. In reality, none of us are really "free."

-------> http://www.thisisbrandx.com/2010/05/teen-werewolves-of-san-antonio-texas.html

I don't know...these guys really don't seem all that menacing.

[___]

I guess I don't have any new news here to say, I echo everything said here about not giving in (Well, unless the dress code prohibits your stuff) And I just wanna put it out there....

Teen Werewolves = Fail

[Kodachi Devil]

*laughs*

Ahhh, you made a marquee! Awesome.
Anyways nothing new to say except Shadow made a mrquee, and I wanna make one too. So.

Don't Give Up! Don't Give In! You can do it, Strawberry Panda! Beleive in yourself