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, Alexโs 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 โextreme bullyingโ and had to transfer to a rival school, but Rittenhouse said the t-shirts are taking things way too far.
โI was shocked, first, and then I thought, โHow did they get this picture?โ Because I had never even seen the picture,โ said Alexโs father Kevin Rittenhouse in a statement to Fox59. And it wasnโt just high schoolers wearing the shirt either, according to Kevin, he saw an adult with the shirt as well. โI know kids will be kids, I know they make mistakes, but to see an adult wearing this T-shirtโthat was unbelievable to me,โ 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 โdisappointing situation.โ
โAnyone found wearing one of the shirts at school throughout the day was required to remove it, per dress code policy,โ the statement said. โIn 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.โ
Nick Hobbs, the father of a girl caught wearing the shirt claims, โIt was in no way, shape or form how it was portrayed. It was a joke.โ
His daughter Shianna added, โHe even put on Twitter, โWhere can I get one of those shirts?โโ
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:
โIt didnโt really come off as a joke to my family. They might have thought it wasโฆ but I didnโt want Marion to see me get upset because I know thatโs what they wanted,โ the teen said.
His father isnโt taking the situation lightly, either.
โMaybe if they (thought they) were being funny, you know, but thatโs not the right kind of funny. They want to brush it off like nothing happened and I think people need to know,โ Mr. Rittenhouse
