Friday, May 13, 2011

Mass. Teacher Finds American Flag Offensive

Orange, MA, May 12, 2011. An elementary school was under fire today after a teacher refused to display a child's drawing of the American flag for fear it would offend another student who is a Jehovah's Witness.

The family of 11 year old 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.

The Butterfield Elementary School is at the center of controversy for the incident on Monday. According to Frankie Girard’s father, John, the boy was in art class drawing a picture.

"He was denied hanging the flag up. And, he asked if he could just even hang it on his desk, and he was told no.  He could take the picture that he drew and take it home and be proud of it there,” Girard said.

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.

He further asked if he could put it on the window or on his desk but was told to take it home and hang it there.

His father, John, has now called the American Civil Liberties Union and is accusing his son's teacher of putting the rights of another student ahead of his son’s.

Mr Girard said that the dispute did not just start with the drawing of the flag. He said that the student in Frankie's class is a Jehovah's Witness and does not pledge allegiance.

The controversy is stirring heated debate within the Town of Orange. "I served 15 years in the military so that we could hang the flag wherever we wanted to, so I'm very offended," Faith Sullivan of Orange said.


A Facebook group called “I support Frankie Girard and the U.S. Flag” already has about 700 likes in two days.

The school  superintendent said  that Frankie's father is "going to extremes" and that the school has always respected the American Flag.

1 comment:

  1. One columnist is reporting that the teacher reacted the way she did because of a previous incident when the Jehovah's Witness Child punched Frankie Girard after Frankie inquired why he refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

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