Hi y'all - It's Sprittibee again... (Heather from Texas)...filling in for Gena in her absence. Don't forget to enter to win the contest in the post below (Gena said she'll donate 25$ to the winner in free TOS goodies of your choice)!
My husband (Kevin) told me yesterday that there was a teacher suspended for burning not ONE, but TWO American flags in class. He reads the news online each morning before going to work. You won't believe this article I have linked below.
Apparently, the teacher has been teaching at the school since 1979! Imagine all the kids that have come through that classroom in so many years! The article doesn't say, but it appears the kids were in 6th grade... a mere eleven years old!
Here's from the Courier-Journal.com (Louisville, Kentucky) by Chris Kenning on Monday, Aug 21st (emphasis mine):
Stuart sixth-grader Kelsey Adwell, 11, said students were abuzz about the incident yesterday.
They just cant believe that a teacher would do that burn two American flags in front of the class, she said. A teacher shouldnt do that, even though it was an example.
Kentucky has a statute last amended in 1992 making desecration of a national or state flag in a public place a misdemeanor, but the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that flag desecration is protected speech.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky said the federal ruling would trump the state statute.
Congress has tried unsuccessfully to prohibit flag burning with a constitutional amendment. The latest attempt failed in the Senate this year.
Beth Wilson, director of Kentuckys ACLU, said the district is allowed to decide whats instructionally appropriate.
But if a school is masking their objections to flag burning under the guise of safety, it raises questions about freedom of speech and academic freedom, she said. She said her group would monitor the case but did not plan to get involved at this point.
Regardless, school board member Pat OLeary said the flag burning was unnecessary and could have offended some students, including those in military families.
A teacher doesnt do that, he said. Its just disrespectful.
Rebecca Creech, a Stuart sixth-grader, said she also thought it was wrong.
Ginny Adwell, Kelseys mother and the schools PTA president, said some parents who called for Holden to be fired were going a little bit overboard and should remember that the teacher was trying to provoke thought.
Hey, here's an idea for all those parents who were concerned about what their kids were learning in school: Why not pull them out and teach them at home so you can control WHAT, HOW, and WHEN they learn things! This is just ridiculous (along with most of the public school news I hear these days). The president of the PTA thinks it is overboard to fire the teacher for burning flags? I guess the next step would be passing out condoms and the day after pill in classrooms. Or wait, do they already do that somewhere (I'm sure they do pass out condoms at least)? When are we all going to wake up and see the writing on the walls for public schools these days? Unless we all ACT to make changes, they will only get worse (can you imagine WORSE? - I know,... it's hard....). In the mean time, our kids should be taken OFF of the battle field. Home is truly where they belong.
TOS Items of Interest
Aug. 25, 2006
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