Hey--Let’s Not Have a Cow, Man

In a world replete with nuclear weapons and holes in the ozone layer, is it any wonder that a smart-mouthed kid like Bart Simpson has suddenly become an anti-hero? The outspoken star of “The Simpsons” cartoon series on TV expresses the sense of outrage children can feel about a world that’s already been pretty well messed up for them. The pre-adolescent Bart--an anagram for “brat”--gets away with saying things most people can’t, and in the process makes them giggle.

But it’s underestimating children to think that by laughing at Bart, they will suddenly wish to be like him. One 8-year-old said she finds Bart funny “because he does things kids would like to do but they don’t have the nerve to.” But she doesn’t want to be like Bart. “He’s too weird,” she explained.

A few school administrators, including one in the city of Orange, are taking Bart very seriously, saying he’s a bad role model for children. They have banned the wearing of T-shirts that picture him either saying, “Who the hell are you?”or “Underachiever and proud of it, man.”

One is tempted to quote Bart, who says, “Don’t have a cow, man.” Of course, T-shirts that use profane language aren’t appropriate in school any more than profanity is appropriate in a classroom. But shirts like “underachiever” are pretty harmless stuff. To make an issue of them is to overreact to the message.

Rather than forbid Bart T-shirts, school officials might do well to figuratively invite the scamp into the classroom as a source of discussion of achievement, or respect for parents, or maybe even First Amendment rights to freedom of expression. School administrators at Serrano Elementary School in Villa Park in Orange County also had a good idea when they decided to go with the flow, and devised Bart buttons with an anti-drug message.

Maybe they remember what it was like to be a kid.