Iowa

at my daughter's junior high. They were upset that she would write stuff on her hands. Just goofy stuff - the only one I can remember now is "John Waters is God". A couple teachers and the principal wanted me to forbid her to do that. I remember thinking at the time that making a big deal of the writing was only going to reinforce her wanting to. After some emailing, I agreed that she couldn't write on her hands during school, but I let them know I wasn't about to tell her not to at home. I can't begin to imagine the complexities and prejudices if she was transgender. The gym teacher in the story was clearly out of line.

Fast forward more than a decade later, she's a hardworking, smart young woman who's not afraid to speak her mind - she just doesn't do it by writing on her hands any more.