Two 10-year-olds in an Atlanta elementary school were viciously bullied by other students—for reciting the morning Pledge of Allegiance.
Jason Newberry of Orgs Elementary School explained that he and another classmate put their hand over their heart and recited the pledge. When they did, other students in the class began harassing them.
“Nobody put their hand over their heart except for me and one other little boy, and we said the Pledge of Allegiance,” Newberry explained. “Me and him got called KKK, Nazi, and we just kept getting bullied the whole day.”
Newberry explained that he didn’t know about the controversy surrounding the American flag—spurned by protests at NFL games, where players took a knee during the National Anthem—until later that day when his second-period teacher showed him a news clip.
However, rather than being a source of comfort, that teacher criticized the very thought of standing for the Pledge. As part of a lesson on the First Amendment, she also circulated a poll among her students—asking whether or not they thought kneeling for the National Anthem was wrong.
His “teacher said that she’d never stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and if she did stand for the Pledge of Allegiance then she wouldn’t really mean it,” added Newberry.
Following the controversy, the teacher was forced to apologize in a letter to parents. And the schools principal, Evelyn Jones, also sent a letter—saying that students had the right to stand (or not stand) during the Pledge of Allegiance.
“All students have the right to stand or not stand to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. They have the right to choose their response to the pledge without ridicule at school and influence by any staff member,” she wrote.
But, for some parents, an apology simply wasn’t enough. Jason’s mother, Lisa Newberry, expressed her anger at the actions of her son’s teacher. “These are our kids,” she said. “We should be able to instill our values in them, not her.”
In response, the community decided to make a stance. Jason, along with several other students and some parents, stood in front of the school’s flagpole the following morning with their hands over their hearts when the National Anthem was recited over the loudspeaker.
AAN Staff
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