An Indiana teen experienced a shock when he showed up to play a soccer game last week. On Wednesday (September 3) Alex Rittenhouse came to play against his former team at Marion High School and saw several of his old classmates were wearing t-shirts with his mug shot printed on the front.
Last year, Alex’s father Kevin Rittenhouse caught him smoking marijuana and turned the teen into the police. After his arrest, Alex faced what his family has referred to as “extreme bullying” and had to transfer to a rival school, but Rittenhouse said the t-shirts are taking things way too far.
“I was shocked, first, and then I thought, ‘How did they get this picture?’ Because I had never even seen the picture,” said Alex’s father Kevin Rittenhouse in a statement to Fox59. And it wasn’t just high schoolers wearing the shirt either, according to Kevin, he saw an adult with the shirt as well. “I know kids will be kids, I know they make mistakes, but to see an adult wearing this T-shirt—that was unbelievable to me,” Mr. Rittenhouse said.
In a statement to Fox, the school claims they did their best to prevent the shirts from appearing at the game after they were spotted in the halls and called it a “disappointing situation.”
“Anyone found wearing one of the shirts at school throughout the day was required to remove it, per dress code policy,” the statement said. “In addition, school administrators took a proactive stance at the time of the games, turning people who were wearing the shirts away at the gate. Unfortunately, there were a few who concealed them and displayed them once inside the stadium.”
Nick Hobbs, the father of a girl caught wearing the shirt claims, “It was in no way, shape or form how it was portrayed. It was a joke.”
His daughter Shianna added, “He even put on Twitter, ‘Where can I get one of those shirts?’”
But how does Alex really feel? He told Fox59 that he put on a brave face so as not to give the bullies further satisfaction:
“It didn’t really come off as a joke to my family. They might have thought it was… but I didn’t want Marion to see me get upset because I know that’s what they wanted,” the teen said.
His father isn’t taking the situation lightly, either.
“Maybe if they (thought they) were being funny, you know, but that’s not the right kind of funny. They want to brush it off like nothing happened and I think people need to know,” Mr. Rittenhouse
If you or someone you know is facing bullying, get help by checking out MTV’s A Thin Line campaign.
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