Student told to remove flag from bicycle during Veteran's day. Outcry ensues. School reverses

[jancantor]

note that California Education Code § 48950 applies to HIGH schools, and this wasn't a high school so those protections didn't apply. This code actually recognizes exceptionally broad free speech rights for students in California.

http://www.modbee.com/2010/11/13/1426780/denair-flag-flap-student-can-fly.html

Edward Parraz, superintendent of the Denair Unified School District, said that a campus supervisor asked Cody to remove the flag earlier this week out of concern for his safety.

Those concerns arose from a dust-up among students last school year after some racial tensions arose when Latino students brought Mexican flags to school around Cinco de Mayo.

“It’s one of those things that the campus supervisor was thinking in the best interest of Cody and it backfired on her,” Parraz said Friday. “I think it was the right decision with the wrong result. She feels miserable.”

Cody has had the flag on his bike since beginning of the school year and it was coincidental that it became a problem during the week of Veterans Day, which Parraz said is “the issue that made this look like Denair is the worst thing in the world.”

[DavidDvorkin]

1. America's flag worship is a bizarre thing.

[jancantor]

2. That may or may not be true

But I see no evidence of flag worship in this incident.

[yella_dawg]

3. Without it...

Without flag worship, this incident could not have happened.

[jancantor]

8. Ridiculous

A kid attaching a US flag to his bicycle does not necessarily worship the flag. Nice hyperbole.

[yella_dawg]

10. You assume he rides with a flag

because he likes the pretty colors?

[jancantor]

11. Again, ridiculous

I am not assuming anything. YOU are assuming he "worships" the flag because he has one attached to the bicycle he rides to school. I said that assumption was ridiculous.

He MAY worship the flag, but that's not sufficient reason to assume so. I fly a flag at my house. I do not worship it. Fwiw, I also support the right to burn it.

[Raine]

4. It's not unique to America

other countries love their flags too.

edit: typo

[DavidDvorkin]

6. It's not unique to America, but the degree of reverence is uncommon

It goes far beyond love of flag, which is an odd thing in itself, and enters the realm of deification of an object. Not unique, but very uncommon. And very strange and disturbing.

[jancantor]

9. Considering that our constitution protecs flag burning and in many

countries, it's criminal, at least our legal system disagrees.

In Denmark, interestingly, it is illegal to burn OTHER nation's flags, but not Denmark's.

It's illegal to burn the flag in Germany and Finland. I disagree that American's "worship" the flag. I think that's an overstatement to put it mildly. However, considering our National Anthem, it's clear that we as a nation have a lot of respect for our flag. I lost a lot of respect for Rachel Corrie when she burned our flag on foreign soil.

[humblebum]

5. Definite freedom of speech violation to force the issue. nt

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. Denair is a fly spec of a town. Sort of surprised it happened there.