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Controversy over child's flag drawing

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proud2BlibKansan

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Sun May-15-11 09:48 AM
Original message

Controversy over child's flag drawing

Edited on Sun May-15-11 09:54 AM by proud2BlibKansan

Teacher allegedly refused to hang up picture

Updated: Thursday, 12 May 2011, 11:45 AM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 11 May 2011, 4:55 PM EDT

Matt Caron
ORANGE, Mass. (WWLP) - A civil rights controversy is brewing at an elementary school in the Town of Orange, and it all surrounds an11 year-old's drawing of the American Flag.

The family of Frankie Girard is claiming that their son's civil rights were violated after a teacher allegedly told him that hanging his picture of the American flag would offend another student.

<skip>

According to his father, the teacher told Frankie that his drawing of the American Flag would offend one of his classmates. "We’re allowing him to display his civil rights and be proud of who he is, but we’re denying Franklin those same rights," Girard said.

22News tried to contact the Superintendent, Dr. Paul Burnim. He refused to go on camera, but told 22News over the phone that nobody ever told Franklin the drawing was offensive, and said the only reason it wasn't hung was because Franklin was supposed to be doing other work; not drawing a picture. In a statement he said: "Each of our schools flies the American Flag every day. At the Butterfield School, the Pledge of Allegiance is recited by students and staff. And the other schools recite the Pledge of Allegiance at least once per week."

more . . .
http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/franklin/Controversy-over-child's-flag-drawing

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NYC_SKP

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Sun May-15-11 09:53 AM
Response to Original message

1. Bad link. Here is a working one:

...

http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/franklin/Controversy-over-child%27s-flag-drawing

:hi:

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proud2BlibKansan

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Sun May-15-11 09:55 AM
Response to Reply #1

3. Thank you

Don't know what's up with that link. I tried to post it twice. :shrug:

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NYC_SKP

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Sun May-15-11 10:03 AM
Response to Reply #3

7. Wow. There is a Facebook Page about this "Issue".... (Link)

It seems that the son challenged another student who wouldn't recite the flag.

There's always more to the story....

Franklen and the Flag

This started when a boy in my sons class refused to say the pledge of allegience. My son didn't understand why and questioned him about it. Well this led to my son being punched in the face. That was about a week ago.

This past Monday my son drew a flag to honor his siblings and another family member in support of their service. Please note that this a major topic in my household. He was refused to display this flag as the school determined it would be offensive to the other student. Their response was "You can hang it at home and be proud of it there." I took issue with their comments and spoke to the principal about it. We ended the conversation with then understanding that I was very displeased with their decision. About an hour later I got a phone call from the school where they were accusing my son of stealing a book from the school. It was a book my wife had purchased for him last month in a store in Athol. The school has several copies of the book also. There is one difference. Their copies are stamped with a school stamp. Franks is not.

What the school has done has try to defame Franklen so as to silence him. He was yelled at by his teacher and the prncipal, told he was a liar and a thief. Never given the benefit of doubt. The school is afraid to take on the religous views and in fear of violating the civil rights of the other boy and in the process is violating Franks civil rights.

According to the ACLU they are also breaking the new bullying laws. The school was hoping to bully Frank and myself into relenting. Once I had called the ACLU I received a call from the Superintendent of Orange Schools, he asked me if they were to allow Franklen to display his flag on his desk would that make this all go away. They just don't get it. Not too sure where it's going from here. I do hope I have answered your questions. John Girard (Franks dad)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Support-Frankie-Girard-and-The-US-FLAG/213380445352480

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proud2BlibKansan

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Sun May-15-11 10:17 AM
Response to Reply #7

9. So his kid was in a fight and couldn't let it go

Yes let's solve this problem by starting a Facebook page. :eyes:

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NYC_SKP

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Sun May-15-11 11:00 AM
Response to Reply #9

14. Yep. Just like his daddy.

Apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Dad should pull the kid out and send to a military academy or home school him.

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1monster

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Sun May-15-11 10:44 AM
Response to Reply #7

13. A lot more to the story according to the parents of other students in the class. Frankie

apparently challenged another student who does not recite the Pledge of Allegience to the Flag every morning. The other student does stand and salute the flag respectfully every morning but doesn't recite the pledge.

Frankie was offended and hit the other student. The other student retaliated. Frankie then ignored the teacher's instructions and drew the his version of the flag. The teacher refused to hang the picture. Frankie is also reported to be a well-known, provovative bully.

The teacher is not required in any way to hang any student's artwork unless she was hanging all other students' work, especially non-assigned artwork that was done during time the student was supposed to be doing other work.

Also, Frankie's drawing was very obviously a continuation of Frankie's tormenting of the student who did not follow Frankie's rigid rules for respecting the flag, hence "the other student would be offended" charge.

This article/video report was very one sided and, in my opinion, very skewed. Everything reported is from Frankie's father's point of view. The comments section provides many missing details that change the perception of what actually happened.

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proud2BlibKansan

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Sun May-15-11 11:35 AM
Response to Reply #13

17. As a teacher, I'm not the least bit surprised.

Thanks for the added details.

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1monster

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Sun May-15-11 11:52 AM
Response to Reply #17

21. I sub for seven different schools, so you can believe, I've seen it all. This story

did not ring true.

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Mariana

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Sun May-15-11 11:55 AM
Response to Reply #7

22. "The school is afraid to take on the religious views..." etc.

WTF? What religious views is he babbling about? Is he trying to say that his family worships the flag?

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NYC_SKP

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Sun May-15-11 02:21 PM
Response to Reply #22

24. Possibly, this is about that "One Nation, Under God" bit of bullshit in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I remember a few of us in school reciting the pledge but staying silent during that bit of it.

I believe the fight in this case started with the pledge of allegiance.

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HopeHoops

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Sun May-15-11 09:54 AM
Response to Original message

2. Good for the teacher. FOX Noise of course decided it was a MAJOR scandal.

ALL of the other students should have been offended if it was hung up - THEY were actually working on the ASSIGNMENT.

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proud2BlibKansan

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Sun May-15-11 09:57 AM
Response to Reply #2

4. Got it from a wingnut who posts on a local blog

He is - of course - just outraged. So I asked him if he supports students not following directions in school. No reply yet. LOL

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HopeHoops

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Sun May-15-11 10:27 AM
Response to Reply #4

12. Yeah. Funny, but FOX didn't mention that part in their "report" about "US FLAG BANNED FROM SCHOOL"

You can't bother FOX viewers with facts.

The kid's father's 15 minutes of fame is over - he can shut the fuck up now.

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Mariana

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Sun May-15-11 02:03 PM
Response to Reply #12

23. He'll try to milk it for a while yet, I think.

He's trying to cast himself as an upstanding, patriotic father whose poor, innocent son is being persecuted for simply loving his country and its flag. He may very well succeed in doing that with the help of Fox News and RW radio. Remember "Joe" the "Plumber"? They managed to make that pathetic lying loser into a RW hero. why not this guy, too?

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HopeHoops

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Sun May-15-11 03:43 PM
Response to Reply #23

26. Well, that's a good point. The RW does love making heroes out of total fucking morons.

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LAGC

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Sun May-15-11 09:58 AM
Response to Original message

5. Geez, isn't one prominent flag being posted in each room enough for these people?

Talk about manufactured outrage.

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drm604

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Sun May-15-11 09:59 AM
Response to Original message

6. Just another attempt to drum up outrage and distract the masses from the real issues.

:grr:

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Overseas

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Sun May-15-11 11:25 AM
Response to Reply #6

16. Sure seems like part of the professional right wing PR effort.

They probably have battalions of eager right wingers combing local news for more outrage to toss around to stir up more hatred against them damn public schools and libruls.

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mwb970

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Sun May-15-11 10:10 AM
Response to Original message

8. Non-story alert! Non-story alert! /nt

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proud2BlibKansan

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Sun May-15-11 10:18 AM
Response to Reply #8

10. I'd love to start a website for these outraged parent stories

There's a ton of them out there.

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snagglepuss

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Sun May-15-11 10:20 AM
Response to Original message

11. Since when does free speech give anyone the right not to be offended?

Officals acceding to demands of a kid who takes offense at a national symbol is utterly ludicrous. People should have the right to draw, display and burn any symbol or any other thing for that matter.

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tammywammy

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Sun May-15-11 11:39 AM
Response to Reply #11

18. Since the child wasn't in art class, he doesn't have the right to display his drawing

'offended' was used by the father, so I'd take that with a grain of salt. What it boils down to is the child wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing, and he shouldn't be rewarded for not paying attention by having his drawing displayed.

'Outraged' parent is looking for his 15 min.

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WhollyHeretic

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Sun May-15-11 11:16 AM
Response to Original message

15. More fabricated outrage. Who the fuck is stupid enough to fall for this crap?

I guess those dumb enough to fall for this are also dumb enough to watch Fox News.

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proud2BlibKansan

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Sun May-15-11 11:44 AM
Response to Reply #15

19. Plenty here as well

The outraged parent stories here draw more comments than a lot of other pieces.

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uppityperson

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Sun May-15-11 11:48 AM
Response to Original message

20. Thanks for the updates. Teachers needn't hang up every pict a child requests them to and simply

because it is a drawing of a flag does not make it any more necessary to hang than a picture of someone's dog.

"displaying your civil rights" does not mean you get to dictate that every drawing YOU do be hung up. The parent seems to not understand there are lots of ways of displaying your civil rights.

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Cairycat

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Sun May-15-11 02:33 PM
Response to Original message

25. My children never recited the Pledge of Allegiance

even though all classes in their elementary school did so daily. This was because of my family's religious beliefs. One of our three children had some confrontation about the issue (her personality made that more likely than her brothers' personalities). If I remember correctly, the teacher told the child who was confrontational to my daughter that both sets of beliefs were to be respected. I always wrote a letter to each child's teacher at the beginning of the school year, explaining our beliefs, and that the children would most likely stand quietly, arms at their sides, while others recited the Pledge (though I explained it was fine for them to remain seated if they wished). So that pretty much took care of any problems we might have had.

Well, when said daughter was in sixth grade, the music teacher had them sing along to, in concert, Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA". When my daughter told me they were practicing it, I told her that singing that song went rather contrary to our beliefs, and she didn't need to sing it. Daughter did get in trouble for doing a (very funny) parody of it in a Bob Dylan voice - told her she needed to be quiet and respectful (then I went in the bathroom and laughed!).

Seems like to me the trouble comes when one side tries to force their beliefs on another.

* if you're wondering, my family is Mennonite. Many (not all) Mennonites consider many expressions of patriotism to be close to jingoism, which can be considered idolatrous.

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