Slavakion

Short version: teacher at NJ high school has been flipping out on students for not standing during the national anthem during morning announcements. Students decide to film it, and are punished.
Video (no direct link)
Story
I especially like how the student was suspended for "violating the teacher's rights" when the teacher was violating everyone else's rights by making them stand. Wasn't there a court case a few years ago that established that an individual did not have to stand/say the anthem/pledge of allegiance? Regardless, forcing someone to be patriotic is fascism, and I wish that I lived in NJ because I'd visit that school in person.

NotMVH

I am suprised that any teacher would be so small as to pull a chair out from under a student. State run institutions seem to be trying to excersizing their power as if part of a totalitarian organization. Not only do I feel that the student should have the right to sit and stand but that he should have the right to be treated with respect and dignity. If he was so opposed to him sitting, although still unacceptable, he should have been asked to leave until this mattered was discussed and resolved. How can you raise these people to become adults if they will not be treated as such.

RangerDick

The complete video was shown on The Oreilly Factor last week.. Do not immediately discount the source, they showed the entiire thing. This asshole was intentionally trying to cause trouble and deserved everything he got....... and more.

Not to mention this same fool was caught on video vandalizing private property. Oh the humanity.

guthmund

Yeah, Olbermann showed most of the video on Countdown a couple of days ago.

These kids were showing off just to show off and were purposefully trying to instigate the teacher. My understanding is these kids weren't interested in actually making a statement, but rather trying to piss the teacher off so they could film it and show it off to their buddies.

The guy was pushed and lost his cool. I'm not trying to defend the guy because he was obviously out of line, but I can understand his position.

__________________
No signature. None. Seriously.

RangerDick

Bottom line... this was not an attempt to express a political point of view by the the students, it was basically a "fuck you and what are you gonna do about it" to the teacher.

whocarz

Sure you would. Even if you did go "visit that school" and waste your time, what would you do there? Tell him off? Beat the guy's ass? That'll show those fascist pigs as the police escort you away in handcuffs!

Anyway, while the teacher certainly got out of line, I'll still have to side with him. Those kids seem like little fuckers. I should know, I use to be one. There's only so much shit people can put up with, and I'm sure the teacher has had to put up with a lot every single weekday since the beginning of the school year. I have been yelled at by teachers before, and I deserved it. Of course, thoughts like this come only in retrospect, and right now these punks probably feel like the system is out to get them. They need to grow the fuck up.

__________________
If there exists anything mightier than destiny, then it is the courage to face destiny unflinchingly. -Geibel

Despise not death, but welcome it, for nature wills it like all else. -Marcus Aurelius

Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever? -GySgt. Daniel J. "Dan" Daly

muttonglutton

Yeah, the teacher was a little psychotic. But I put most (not all, most) of the blame on the student involved.

It is the trend today, to be irksome. Students have been brought up for years being told that they have rights, and that nobody can make you do what you don't want to do. Students can't be punnished for how they talk in class, what sort of attitude they take, or whether or not they decide to follow the teacher's directions. And they know this, and so, they abuse it.

It comes down to a matter of punnishment. Kids, yound and older, aren't punnished today they way they used to be. They don't grow up learning that you shouldn't sass your elders, unless they want a hand to cross their face. They don't learn the ever so simple yet ever so misunderstood "treat others as you would treat yourself." Instead, they are treated with respect and dignity without ever learning that these things should be returned in kind.

Students -- especially those in high school, and even now middle school, are learning that they can act however they want. They don't have to listen to teachers, because the teacher's dont truly have authority over them. And it's true. Teachers' roles have beed reduced to the distributor of marks, and busywork assignemnts. They are no longer disciplinarians, they are no longer role models, and in cases like this, they are no longer 'teachers'.

There are some, like this man, that believe they can still shape students, and make them into something more. but no, this teacher has been disillusioned. All of his power has been taken away by the current trends of society, to the point where he is unable to teach his students the respect he was forcefully taught as a child. And yet he tries, and yes, goes too far in this case.

But the majority of the blame is not his. The student is bending the freedomshe has been given by a whole generation, and the techer quite simply won't stand for it. This happens every day, in every school across North America, in some way or another.

Students push and push teachers, who are given no ammunition with which to fight back. So inevitably, some of them do the 'wrong thing' when they are pushed to far, and snap.

But really, is pulling the chair out from under the student so wrong? Fifty years ago, would this have been tolerated? Would the student have been tolerated, or would he have been 'out of line' far before then, and punnished accordingly? Who is to say?

I believe the youth of today are a terribly maladjusted generation with far, far too little discipline, and far, far too few legitimate authority figures.

A long post made short:

They need to grow the fuck up indeed.

__________________
Cellar Door.

RangerDick

two professions I would never consider going into...... teaching, doctor. Although at first blush iappears doctos have deeper pockets, lawyers are having a heyday with both of these professions.

RangerDick

Ironically, I want to get a law degree.

MSD

Regardless of what their motive was, students should not be forced to stand during the National Anthem or Pledge of Allegiance. It might be because they're just some troublemakers, and it could be that they're Jehova's Witnesses and are not allowed to.

Freedom of expression is quickly dying in this country.

Strange Famous

I am so glad I didnt grow up in a country where things like this are allowed, and even approved of by the "moral majority"

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Slavakion

No, I would calmly request a meeting with the principal and/or superintendant and have a nice little chat with him or her.

And it really doesn't matter whether the kids were being assholes or not. They shouldn't have to stand. It's like saying someone doesn't have the right to an attorney because he doesn't have enough manners. When you start picking and choosing who to give rights to, that's when there's a problem with the entire system.

jhkayakr

The issue shouldn't be whether he stands for the nation anthem, but his f-you attitude. When I was in school having an attitude like that would get me thrown out on my ass. In my opinion, the nation anthem doesn't even need to be played in a public school, just as their is no need for public school prayer.

__________________
........gotta need for speed....

mbchills

hah i live about 20 minutes from that school

__________________
rawr.

lordpoopshank

I think the bottom line here is that the kids who made this video are immature and complete morons. Why make a video in an attempt to expose your teacher and then provoke him by laughing and giggling at everything he says. Anybody who is clearly passionate about the national anthem will react negatively to immature chatter and blatant disrespect. Whether or not it was their right to stand or sit, they set themselves up for failure on this one and got what they deserved.

analog

Whether or not they dd it on purpose- If silent protest followed by a quiet "I don't have to stand" is "pushing" him, then i'd hate to see him in an actual pressure situation. It's bullshit to say that what they did was "pushing" him. He just didn't stand.

Starlight4

Of course if we watch JUST this clip out of context, it'll seem like the teacher was out of line, but I'm just saying that I don't think we know the completely story. We don't know what type of class it is or who these kids are anyway, as in, is this the school's "trouble" class.

My sister is currently trying to teach right now and she tells me that he's harassed all the time by her students because she is young and she is a female and if she shows any sign of weakness, they'll step all over her... so all I'm sayin is I'd like to see the surrounding story.

I was also talking about this story with some other people and they said that these same kids were arrested because the website that they posted their videos on was investigated by police and it was found that these same kids videotaped themselves vandalizing people's houses during Christmas by ripping off lawn ornaments and stuff... soooo... come to your own conclusions as to what type of classroom that was.

Zephyr66

I agree the kids were stoking it, but the teacher is still a spazz. I don't think anyone here in canada would do that. I guess we're just not patriotic enough.

eribrav

Interesting......I'm going to sound like an old man here, but nobody has brought up what would have happened if I was in the same scenario 20 years ago when I was in High School.

Story would have ended: Teacher calls parents. Teacher tells parents that I'm being a disrespectful little shithead. Mom comes and picks me up. Dad comes home and rolls over me mentally and physically like a steamroller. Lesson learned. I go back to class and behave like a decent young man should.

Kapish?

CSflim

Kids were morons and decided to piss off the teacher. And he fell for it hook, line and sinker.
If he is supposed to be a role model, shouldn't he be above an act such as this?

__________________

maleficent

Sister Ann would have knocked some sense into me first, before my mother (a teacher) knocked more sensed into me - -then it'd be all over when my dad got to me...

What was the kid trying to prove by not standing? That he was badass and not doing what the teacher expected of him (I"ve been to football games where fights have almost erupted when people didn't remove their hats during the anthem)

__________________

Strange Famous

I would never stand if someone tried to make me, unless I was under genuine threat. In fact, in school, on about the three times we were supposed to sing "God Save the Queen" I turned my back on and folded my arms and wouldnt sing. I never got in any shit for it though.

I think the point of not doing it is saying "you do not have the right to tell me what to do"... "this is not MY anthem, and I will not recognise it, and you have no right to force me"... the issue of a song may be petty, but the broader issue, that children should be forced to salute a flag whether they want to or not is, frankly.. terrifying to find that some people do not come down on the side of the kids.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Strange Famous

He was trying to prove that the state authority should not have the authority to force him to recognise their anthem, and obey their instructions that had no functuonal purpose. It is not about anything other than power. The school saying "you are weak, you are nothing and I will force you to do whatever I please, whether you care to or not"

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Slavakion

Lemme rewrite this story. Kid(s) don't stand for the anthem, teacher doesn't spaz out, then teacher calls parents, blah blah. Much better way to handle situation, in my opinion.

maleficent

Agreed. but..
Provoking him is not a good way to get your point across. The students could have used other methods than setting off a psychotic teacher. They weren't even close to being in the right.

(neither was the teacher)

__________________

TexanAvenger

It doesn't matter whether or not this is the "trouble class." The kid was, arguably, being an ass, but the teacher still has no right to force this on him. And, whether or not this kid's doing things he's not supposed to, how does that have any effect on forcibly making him stand?

And while I'll buy that a teacher might have to show backbone lest the students trample them, forcing a student to stand as this teacher did doesn't really fall into having a backbone.

guthmund

The guy had a history of spazzing out over this before. The kids deliberately brought a camera in to record it in hopes of getting it on tape, not for righting a wrong, but for their amusement. Did you miss all the snickering and mugging for the camera or was I watching something else?

Not to mention the fact that these kids put it up for perusal along with several other videos (including some of the same kids) vandalizing homes and christmas light displays.

Were these kids silently protesting and protecting their rights by staging a sit down? No, these kids were instigating a teacher so they could film it and have a good laugh later on.

I said it once, but I'll say it again in case anyone missed it the first time. I'm not trying to defend the guy because he was obviously out of line, but I certainly understand why he did what he did.

Was it wrong? No doubt about it, but before we all get up on our high horses and remember fondly the days when we staged our first protests and stood up for what's right simply because it was right, we should at least try to see the whole story, no?

__________________
No signature. None. Seriously.

Willravel

Would you really expect the kids to do absolutely nothing at this? You've been in a highschool before, right? The kids are there to have fun with friends, and maybe learn in the process. The fact that this teacher thinks he can act in this way scares me. My little brother, currently enrolled in highschool, actually was protesting the pledge of aleigence by non violent protest. He didn't stand and didn't recite the pledge. Why? My little brother does not beleive in pledging alleigence to a flag. The constitution and freedom is where our alleigence should lie. My little brother's teacher got mad at him, too. Guess what? The teacher was asked very nicely by the principal to back off. What would I have done if my little brothers teacher would have pulled out the seat and yelled at my little brother? I would have had him fired and forced him to have therapy in order to ever teach again.

How does that excuse the teachers actions?

[QUOTE=guthmund]Were these kids silently protesting and protecting their rights by staging a sit down? No, these kids were instigating a teacher so they could film it and have a good laugh later on.

If you were in the teachers shoes, would you have yelled and pulled out the seat? If yes, then you shouldn't teach. If no, then you can't excuse his bahavior.

You understand physical violence from a teacher towards a student over something as petty as standing for the flag salute?

This wasn't a protest. It was not intended as a protest. Those kids wanted to mess around, and inadvertantly showed how dangerous their teacher is.

Starlight4

[QUOTE=TexanAvenger]It doesn't matter whether or not this is the "trouble class." The kid was, arguably, being an ass, but the teacher still has no right to force this on him. And, whether or not this kid's doing things he's not supposed to, how does that have any effect on forcibly making him stand?

I wasn't saying that I agree with what the teacher did. I don't think you should have to yell and use force to get your point across. I'm just saying that a lot of other people (not only on TFP) see this clip of the video and just say, "whoa, this guy is insane".

I'm just saying that, I personally, like to think about the whole situation instead of just jumping to the conclusion that the guy is a complete lunatic. :-P

meembo

The kids were assholes, with a camera and provocative attitudes. While I don't agree with the teacher's methods completely (I was once a teacher), a classroom and school in general is not a democracy of any kind. There is no crisis of expression here at all. The boys' behavior was disorderly and disruptive. Moreover, a teacher is given both rights and responsibilities to control the environment in his/her classroom while instructing at the same time. My sympathy is deep for anyone dealing with assholes like those boys -- in loco parentis really sucks sometimes, when forced upon a teacher by the behavior of children intent on disruption. Ignoring or tolerating disruptive behavior is NOT the answer. I'd love to be proven wrong, that the assholes' parents really did everything they could could foster in their children a respectful attitude, but I suspect instead that the parents will try to defend their children's attitude by claiming rights instead of addressing responsibilities.

As for pulling out the chair -- BRAVO! It's exactly what I would have done. The asshole could sit on the floor as a deliberate sign of protest, and that I would have tolerated. Sitting on the floor would have been the logical response of a person seeking to preserve their "rights" (which seem to be completely undefined by the student). Of course, the flip side to any act of civil disobedience is to accept the punishment of the act by the powers that be. That kind of behavior, followed by a suspension, would be a more legitimate and compelling story that this example of childish and churlish behavior.

I showed this video to my teenage sons, and it's clear to them that the asshole's behavior was wrong, and wouldn't be tolerated by me or their mom. Raise your children to do the right thing, with pride, and never give up.

__________________
less I say, smarter I am

joeshoe

What a bunch of bratty kids. They were obviously trying to undermine the teacher's authority.

Willravel

Yikes. You, as a former teacher, think it's okay for a teacher to pull a chair from under a student in an act of anger and agression? As a teacher myself, I KNOW that with teaching kids must come saint-like patience. I never, in 5 years of teaching music and sports, yelled or was aggressive with students. I did my fair share of punishing bad behavior (anything from calling parents in front of the child to the child being left out of the fun activities), but never once did I punish out of anger. The thought of verbally or physically atacking a student is unthinkable, as it should be for any figure of authority. Kids misbehave. Kids test limits and try to provoke teachers. That's normal. If you lower yourself to their level, all you end up teaching them is that acting like a child is okay.

Your sons said that the kids behavior was wrong and that you and your wife would ahve punished them, that's great. Parents are free to teach their children as they please, so long as they do not brake any laws. There are plenty of parents out there that think it's fine to yell at kids and belittle them and even physically attack them. That doesn't make it right. Yelling is an aggresive act of intimidation (now speaking as a psychologist, not a parent or teacher), that is not a healthy way to "vent" anger. In actuality, yelling at children does damage not only to the children by teaching them that intimidating people will help them get their way, but it also teaches you the parent that it's alright to lose your temper and makes it easier for you to lose your temper in the future. The kids were acting up and needed borders and limitations of some kind in order to learn how to act. They neede to be punished. They did not need to be physically threatened and yelled at. All that did was help the teacher get his rage out, and that didn't help anyone. It was irresponsible for the school not to publicly repremand the teacher.

guthmund

Maybe I should have highlighted the text in bold. This is twice I've been lumped in with defending the teacher with direct posts. Let me type this again with some 'bold' action for you.

I'm not trying to defend the guy as he was obviously out of line.

The anecdotal evidence you've provided does nothing for me. I comprehend the reasons why someone would choose to sit during the pledge or during the anthem. In fact, I agree wholeheartedly that the idea of being forced to pledge your allegiance to anything is pretty distasteful.

One more time, if you please....

I'm not trying to defend the guy as he was obviously out of line.


There are lots of folks who shouldn't teach, but that's beside the point as apparently you missed this again....

I'm not trying to defend the guy as he was obviously out of line.

Now we come to the second half of that little pithy line I have to keep bringing up.

I understand (or rather I should say I empathize with) the reasoning behind his actions. I understand why he did what he did. He lost his temper. Have you never, ever, lost your temper? Have you never, ever, over reacted to a situation?

I have. When I did, I was wrong. There seems to always be a better way to handle things, but in the heat of the moment it's sometimes hard to find them. There was no violence towards the student that I could see. Some violence towards the chair as he jerked it out, but it's not like he beat the kid senseless with it. I'm not trying to make light of the situation, but let's try to stay this side of the extreme as to what 'physical violence' pertains to.

Standing for the flag salute wasn't petty to this guy. It obviously was important to the teacher that the kid stand for the pledge. I infer this from the videotape as he seemed quite worked up about it, even to the point of using profanity. This obviously affected his reasoning and it subsequently colored his actions.

Does it excuse it? Absolutely not. He over reacted, plain and simple. He stepped over the line. He reacted poorly. I could go on....

The point is, and sadly, the one I've failed to get across for whatever reason, I've been in situations like that before. I've been in the teacher's shoes (as I'm sure we all have) and when faced with the calm, sensible course of action, I have, for the most part, followed it, even when it was difficult to do. Because of my experiences, I understand and empathize with how he was feeling, but condone the course of action he took.

This was an off handed reply to a few members, who I felt were all up arms about this and specifically trying to directly connect the act of respectable protesting with what these particular kids were doing.

I thought I was quite clear in my proclaiming that these kids weren't protesting at all, but rather fucking around for fucking around's sake.

Dangerous? It's hard for anyone to make that kind of judgement based solely on this one, very public snippet of his teaching career. I don't know if he has a history of this. I don't know the problems he's had in the past. As it stands, I'll simply call it a mistake. A very public and 'potentially' dangerous mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. That isn't to say that he shouldn't be punished, but I think the severity of the punishment should certainly take into account his entire teaching career and not just this one particular instance.

__________________
No signature. None. Seriously.

AfterBurn

still the teacher should get in shit for making the kids get up when they didnt have to

__________________
smoking weed everyday keeps the doctor away

meembo

Yikes yourself. Get over yourself. Your profile says are 21 years old, so I am curious about the teaching experience you mentioned, and your experience as a psychologist, as you call yourself. Though you might be more accomplished than you appear, it seems to me that your age alone precludes much experience that lends credence to your arguments. How old were these kids you taught for 5 years? Were they young adults? Do you have children of your own that age (perhaps by marriage)? Have you any experience teaching students who act like this? And please tell me who advocated (or even mentioned) "punish(ing) out of anger" or "verbally or physically attacking a student" "in an act of violence and aggression"? Can we simply assume from this point that neither you nor I advocate those things?

The only word I would change in my original post is the word "pull" when talking about the kid's chair, because you apparently assume that I meant doing it so that the kid would fall, which any knucklehead knows is assault, which is clearly a criminal act. I said in my post I didn't agree with all the methods of the teacher in the video. The yelling, for instance, heightened the tension. The yelling was wrong and counter-productive, and I've seen no one defending it. He won't walk away from this incident unscathed. As for the chair-pulling, the kid in the video was clearly on his feet and moving forward to stand as the teacher took the chair, and he was not pulled backward, and was therefore not in any danger of being hurt. He stood on his own.

Assuming there was no criminal act, I think taking the chair away is a perfectly fine use of authority in the classroom, and it defines the lesson and the point about expected behaviors, decorum, and authority in class. It's also provocative action, but in a way a teacher has the right and duty to be when a teachable moment appears. It was a stand against the disruption the students brought deliberately to class, where others were there to learn. It was a brave thing for a teacher (and an individual) to do -- teachers get to do brave things, too. I don't bow to the alter of "freedom of expression" at all times, because some words and behaviors are absolutely intolerable and disruptive to a teaching environment, and we actively trust teachers to know these boundaries and enforce them. The teacher blew it with yelling, and did the right thing taking the chair. Such is human nature.

In the specific case of the national anthem, it's all right by me to force people to stand for the event, but not to actively participate otherwise. Standing for the anthem is an act of toleration and respect that is widely expected and taught in society, and these behaviors are deliberately meant to be reinforced in school. Not all personal rights are to be respected in all environments (yelling "Fire!" in a movie theater, etc.). As an adult, the student in the video may choose not to be in a place where patriotic respect is demonstrated. Until then, most choices in school are already made for him and for other students, and there are few exceptions to that rule. Religion and medical necessity are the only two I can think of at the moment, and again, I think that standard of behavior is fine and enforcable. If the kid had a real and thoughtful problem with standing for the anthem, the teacher isn't obliged to provide a chair for that act of conscience. Like I said earlier, had the kid sat on the floor, THAT would have been an interesting situation.

And of course, violence and aggression are inappropriate reactions for a teacher in a class. The yelling may or may not have been intended to intimidate (I think it was). But the teacher's reactions are only part of the story here, and by far the larger problem is the set of circumstances that led to these assholes talking a camera into class with the intent to disrupt and humiliate an authority figure at work. Those circumstances most likely began out of the classroom long before the day of the recorded incident, though the behavior of the teacher in this case clearly added to the problem that day.

As a fellow psychologist, I'm glad you think highly of saint-like patience, but when 16- and 17-year-olds cross over the line of acceptable behaviors, I'm not sure what you suggest saint-like patience accomplishes. What do you suggest it accomplishes? I suggest that both patience and respect have a place in the classroom. Patience does nothing to defend a class from disruption. Respect has to be defended, for a teacher has a rightful place of authority in a classroom, and a school and the community have the right to promote civic respect.

__________________
less I say, smarter I am

SVT01Cobra

You know...I had a teacher go absolutely berserk at me and a classmate once.
It was pretty funny at the time, but felt shitty afterwards because she retired the next year, heh.

Whooo man, was she pissed.

Willravel

Okay. Gotcha. Totally my mistake.

I've taught piano since I was 11. I had students of varing ages. When I was 14, I had several students over the age of 30. Up until a year and a half ago, I was still teaching piano. A majority of my students were teenagers at that time. I am barely a psychologist (not certified yet, and I am spending 6 hours a day studying), as I just recently earned my B.A. in psych with a minor in poli sci (from Santa Clara U.). My mother has a PhD in psychology, and I have much second hand experience from her. I do not have a lot of first hand experience in psychology, but I am not uneducated.

"Punishing out of anger" was aparent as the teacher was clearly not in control of his anger and was seeking to punish the students who were misbehaving. Have you ever yelled at a student like that? "Verbally or physically attacking", well obviosuly the yelling was verbal abuse, and the chair pull (whether it was intended to help the student stand, or to pull the chair out causing th student to fall) was an aggeresive physical act. "In an act of violence or aggression", it was obviously an act of aggession. The violence thing is a judgement call I can't make based solely on the video.

The kid was standing, but there is no way to the know intent of the teacher.

I totally agree that the teenagers were misbehaving and their actions and intent were not mearly inapropriate, but openly challenging the authority of the teacher. The teacher was right to want to regain control. The seat pulling is too close to physically threatening, and undermines any trust other students might have had ion the teacher. I was an ass in high school from time to time, sometimes even challenging a teacher's authority. Had a teacher done that to me, I know I would have felt a bit confused and possibly scared.

Well, as you said before, these kids were being defiant. They were not trying to make some stand. Had they wanted to make a stand, there are also better ways to go about doing it anyway. They were just trying to push the teachers butttons.

Yelling is an act of intimidation that is inate. Whether it is taught to a person that it is an act of intimidation or not, if you are yelling out of anger, you are trying to intimidate someone.

Hypothetically, let's put me into that situation when I am teaching. Let's say this kid thinks he can puch my bottons and can record me and make fun of me later at home. I've already told all of the students that I want them to be standing during the national anthem. This student stays seated. I know this sounds cliche, but I would ask him three times, and if he refused, I would send him to the office for open defiance (as this would be a case for those responsible for penalizing students, i.e. the vice princepal or equivalent). If I did not have a good network of support from the faculty, I would have let him sit and simply take away bhavioral points that affect his grade. If his grades didn't matter to him (as they may very well not), I would hold him after class and call his parent(s) to explain what their child had done, and the child's intent. If the parent was of the same mindset as the child, I would have to either resort to some way of taking something from him that he actually does want (detention), or simply allowing him to sit, but to write a report on civil disobedience if he wants to understand why one should sit during the national anthem. Eventually he either complies or he has gotten himslef into a suspention-able spot.

Am I qualified to pass judgment on this teacher? Your call, I suppose. I think that as one who has taught and who yelled maybe once and felt like an asshat later for it, it might be okay for me to pass a bit of judgment.

Demeter

Both the teacher & the student are wrong. All they proved is the ability to push each others buttons. Both could have resorted to other means to get their point across.

When I was 10 another kid & I got into trouble for secretly tape recording a teacher who was often verbally abusive & highly over-emotional. We meant to record the class, and turn the tape over to our prinipal as proof. We caught halfway through class & got lectured. Of course, the principal had to look into the situation we had brought to light, but nothing changed.
I also recall a situation where a student was punched in the stomach by a teacher who thought the student was troublesome. It was unfounded, the student wasn't troublesome. The teacher was immediately fired & we never heard what happened to him.

sob

I'm really conflicted over that one.

The kids are/were asses. However, I'd venture to say at least half of teenage boys are, from time to time. Most get over it.

I also get the feeling the teacher might be sensitive to the pledge after having fought for his country, or experiencing the death of a friend, relative, or former student for doing same.

In hindsight (always easy) the teacher had a lot of options. Send the kid(s) to the principal. Call the parents of the kids on a cell phone and tell them their kids are being disruptive.

Require the kids to write and deliver essays on the benefits they enjoy by being citizens of the US.

Now for the legal: A court case in California was decided in favor of a student (female) who didn't wish to recite the pledge. I hate to say it, but I agree. If you're screwed up enough, and ungrateful enough to have that attitude, it's inappropriate for our country's laws to require it.

However, many years ago, a friend of mine was smarting off to a teacher. The teacher decided he would get physical with him. End result: With one punch, the teacher was knocked unconscious in front of thirty witnesses. Since he instigated it, no charges were filed.

Not a good way to maintain respect as an authority figure.

Willravel

The flag's representations change from person to person depending on the perception of the government, civilians, or the United States as a whole at any given time. What if someone has just come back from Iraq with both legs lost to a guy with a bomb who thinks America is trying to take over the world? It's okay for that guy to be pissed off at America, represented currently by warlords with ambitrions of domination. It's okay for someone to be pissed off at America because a federal court case ends up turning on a technicality and the guilty party goes free to act illegally again. It's even okay for someone to see another democracy or republic that has a better way of doing something - let's say healthcare or civil rights - and to be embarassed that we aren't moving forward towards the future of freedom and liberty.

As my forementioned 16 year-old little brother decided (all on his own), he wants to pledge aliegence to the constitution, not the flag. That's okay with me, is that okay with you? It's not ungrateful. It's knowing that it's a lot easier to change the meaning of a flag than it is to change the meaning of a written document which clearly sets the rules and rights for liberty.