T.I.’s March 5th appearance at a Henry County middle school is causing mad flack between several unhappy parents and the school’s principal.

A few of the parents even called Channel 2 Action News saying that they were concerned not only about T.I.’s visit to their children’s school, but also how the principal reacted when they questioned him about it.

Tom Myers, who has four children in the school, was one of several parents who complained about T.I.’s appearance in a letter to principal Dr. Terry Oaks.? In his email, Myers stated:

“In the future, if T.I. or any other convicted felon needs to perform community service, ask for parental permission to allow our children to be exposed to these questionable individuals.”

According to Channel 2 Action News, the principal, Dr. Oates, sent a series of questionable replies in defense of the T.I. that upset the parents. Dr. Oates allegedly replied:

?I thought about asking a guy who snorted cocaine and got arrested for DUI when he was 30 to come and speak to our kids, but President George W. Bush was not available,?

In another letter, Dr. Oates again defended T.I.?s appearance and noted that the rapper was not a murderer…

?Mr. Harris has never been convicted of homicide. We would not be able to adequately staff our states general assembly, our U.S. Congress or the executive branch of our government using your apparent standards.?

The school’s current speaker?s policy does not require that administrators contact parents when a guest comes to the school to speak but T.I’s visit may change that.

A representative for Henry County Schools confirmed that T.I. did speak at Woodland on March 5 and that parents were not notified in advance. The representative went on to say that there is no current policy for notification, even though for a recent World War II documentary about the Holocaust shown at school, parents were notified in advance and had the ability to opt out.

Parents obviously have a right to determine who visits their children in school, however Dr. Oates’ responses gave me life! He got down on that Bush comment. 😆

I don’t have a video of Tip’s recent appearance in Henry County, but in previous school visits, he offers advice to students about the pitfalls of hanging with the wrong crowd.

Video ~ T.I. Speaks to McNair Middle School Students (June 2008)

I think parents should consider the benefits of his message and understand that most kids actually LISTEN to people who have a real story to tell.