Part of respecting the individuals in the society we all live in is not compelling them to “show respect”.
I’ve always found Morse questionable. But upon reviewing the wpedia page I see:
I don’t recall that second part being discussed before. It seems even less justified.
But the subject of this thread just baffles me. I don’t understand how anyone, teacher or otherwise, can be bothered if someone doesn’t participate in the pledge or the anthem.
I realize we’re often not hiring the best of the best when it comes to teachers or school administrators, but this is approaching troglodyte territory.
I’m not sure if I have a problem with that, provided that some of the students take away new ideas and learn. I’d rather have “not stand for the national anthem” be the result of peer pressure than “beat up the gay kid” being the result of peer pressure. Chances are pretty good that in addition to not standing, they are also at least vaguely informed about why. As the parent of two kids for whom peer pressure has been both positive and negative, positive peer pressure is a good thing.
I’m not a fan of walk outs in high school - I have a friend who is very proud of her high school student’s schools tendency to walk out (BLM protests have been big) seeing it as a student commitment to social justice. I think its because walking out of high school is “hey, lets disrupt the day and not have to be in school!” for the vast majority of protest participants. Walk outs ARE substantively disruptive (that is sort of the point), but they are also attractive to kids looking for any way to not spend time learning Algebra. But there isn’t a lot of additional pluses to not standing for the pledge or the anthem - done properly, you sit, and then you move straight into FOIL method of factoring.
This is why I check other sources when I read something like this. According to the article in Education Week:
“Ms. Morse initially suspended Mr. Frederick and another student for five days. Mr. Frederick contends that when he quoted Thomas Jefferson on free expression to her, the principal doubled his suspension. The district says in court papers he was suspended for 10 days because he was “defiant and uncooperative,” and he refused to divulge who else was holding up the banner.” [I have a harder time imagining a school administrator saying, “Thomas Jefferson?! How dare you quote that unpatriotic lowlife!” than I do some administrator getting ticked off because Frederick refused to name the other kid holding the banner , which in my book didn’t warrant additional punishment, and for being “defiant and uncooperative” (depends). Frederick had a history of pushing boundaries at the school, and while that shouldn’t have factored in, either, I suspect it did.
It doesn’t bother me when someone refuses to stand for the Pledge or the Anthem, and I respect the protestors, but it obviously does anger a lot of people, some of them are teachers and administrators. Their feelings, however, should not play into it. That’s obviously not the case at the Victory and Praise Christian Academy in Texas, which just kicked two kids off the team for taking a knee during the anthem:
"“That was my point of view,” Mitchem said, per Coleman. “Like I said, I’m a former Marine. That just doesn’t fly and they knew that. I don’t have any problem with those young men. We’ve had a good relationship. They chose to do that and they had to pay for the consequences.” URL=“http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2736062-2-texas-hs-football-players-kicked-off-team-for-protesting-during-anthem?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial”
Thanks for digging into it.
Re: the coach you mentioned, private school will do what private school does. Although the players certainly didn’t “ha[ve] to pay for the consequences.” He “chose to do that.”