Idaho Student Says Teacher Tossed His Mexican Flag In The Trash

[Jeana (DP)]

I don't have one, though I'm sure I could find one in a hurry if I wanted one. I was making a point.

Oh, okay. I agree with you. After all, I'm in Texas and see them from time-to-time. Only one thing pops into my head everytime I see one though and its not a nice thing.

I'm a yankee, so I never understood why some feel the need to hang on to a bad tradition.

 

[Karole28]

Kids is my high school wore tshirts with the Confederate flag on them to school and no one bothered them. So if you went to my school when i did, no i wouldn't care. It's one's own personal preference what flag or flags you want to bring or wear. Personally, i respect the rights of others and whatever flag they want to wave.

You'd likely be the only one.

 

[Paladin]

Maybe I'd take mine to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day.

That's not just a random day either.

Please do so.

 

[Rino]

I don't see a problem if the boy wants to wave the Mexican flag, but it shouldn't be done at school. The teacher should've told him to put it in his locker or sent him to the principals office with it not thrown it in the garbage. This is afterall, America where you have freedom of speech. The ACLU needs to stay out of it. :twocents:

Agreed, the flag was taken undamaged from the can - like the teacher said it would be. No harm, no foul

 

[Karole28]

Oh, okay. I agree with you. After all, I'm in Texas and see them from time-to-time. Only one thing pops into my head everytime I see one though and its not a nice thing.

I'm a yankee, so I never understood why some feel the need to hang on to a bad tradition.

It's all in the eye of the beholder. Men who fought in the Korean war might not like seeing Korean flags being waved either.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

It's all in the eye of the beholder. Men who fought in the Korean war might not like seeing Korean flags being waved either.

Well hopefully they're over it by now. After all, soldiers on both sides lost lives and all were only doing what they were ordered to do.

Skinheads may want to bring their swastika and wave it around, but usually they need a police escort in order to do so.

There's a time and place for everything.

 

[Karole28]

There's a time and place for everything.

Precisely! And, school isn't the place to make a political point. The admins and teachers have enough to deal with.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Precisely! And, school isn't the place to make a political point. The admins and teachers have enough to deal with.

I couldn't agree with you more!! I read that 1/3 of the school in question is hispanic, so I do get a sense that the staff probably has a pretty good grip on what is and what isn't going to start a ruckus. If the kid was disrupting the other students to any degree, no matter what he was holding, that's enough for me to agree that the teacher had a right to remove it.

 

[Karole28]

I couldn't agree with you more!! I read that 1/3 of the school in question is hispanic, so I do get a sense that the staff probably has a pretty good grip on what is and what isn't going to start a ruckus. If the kid was disrupting the other students to any degree, no matter what he was holding, that's enough for me to agree that the teacher had a right to remove it.

Right! If the kid had pencil he was tapping on the desktop, the teacher has a right to remove it. whatever, I have no problem with them doing what they need to do, to teach my kid and keep their sanity.

Now, if we had read that this kid got his a$$ kicked while waving it around a bunch of hooligans who were waving their own flags, everyone would be up in arms wondering why that wasn't prevented.

 

[RainbowsAndGumdrops]

Right! If the kid had pencil he was tapping on the desktop, the teacher has a right to remove it. whatever, I have no problem with them doing what they need to do, to teach my kid and keep their sanity.

Now, if we had read that this kid got his a$$ kicked while waving it around a bunch of hooligans who were waving their own flags, everyone would be up in arms wondering why that wasn't prevented.

Perhaps you are missing the point of why this made the news. This story didn't make the news because a teacher was trying to keep things in the school calm. This story made the news because the teacher put the flag in the trash can. That changes this from simply trying to keep kids orderly.

 

[Karole28]

Perhaps you are missing the point of why this made the news. This story didn't make the news because a teacher was trying to keep things in the school calm. This story made the news because the teacher put the flag in the trash can. That changes this from simply trying to keep kids orderly.

Perhaps I'm not missing the point. Perhaps the teacher threw it in the trash (if we believe the kid) and I already said that was wrong, (if true)

It's not a case for the courts, and the kid needs to get over it already.

This notion that getting your feelings hurt somehow equates to a Supreme court case, has got to stop.

 

[RainbowsAndGumdrops]

Perhaps I'm not missing the point. Perhaps the teacher threw it in the trash (if we believe the kid) and I already said that was wrong, (if true)

It's not a case for the courts, and the kid needs to get over it already.

This notion that getting your feelings hurt somehow equates to a Supreme court case, has got to stop.

Thanks for your clarification. I understand better now what you are trying to say. I really thought you were saying it was the kids fault the teacher threw away his flag and that teachers should be allowed to do that whenever they want.

I don't think the kid was trying to start a riot or cause problems (my opinion based on the fact that he was trying to celebrate Cinco De Mayo). The kid does have as much of a right to have a Mexican flag as I have to wear Christmas tree earings. However, his actions could have caused a situation to escalate, so I have no issue with the teacher trying to nip this in the butt.

I agree that law suits are getting rediculous and that there is no reason for this to be dealt with in court.

The teacher admitted that he put it in the trash. I'm sure the school system will deal with that as they see fit.

 

[Rino]

Perhaps you are missing the point of why this made the news. This story didn't make the news because a teacher was trying to keep things in the school calm. This story made the news because the teacher put the flag in the trash can. That changes this from simply trying to keep kids orderly.

He was a gym teacher in gym class. He admits there was no other place to put it and I can see that. The kid was waving it and it was taken away and returned undamaged.

It is a judgement call and I judge the teacher in this case to be telling the truth and the kid simply angry he was disciplined.

 

[Karole28]

Thanks for your clarification. I understand better now what you are trying to say. I really thought you were saying it was the kids fault the teacher threw away his flag and that teachers should be allowed to do that whenever they want.

I don't think the kid was trying to start a riot or cause problems (my opinion based on the fact that he was trying to celebrate Cinco De Mayo). The kid does have as much of a right to have a Mexican flag as I have to wear Christmas tree earings. However, his actions could have caused a situation to escalate, so I have no issue with the teacher trying to nip this in the butt.

I agree that law suits are getting rediculous and that there is no reason for this to be dealt with in court.

The teacher admitted that he put it in the trash. I'm sure the school system will deal with that as they see fit.

We agree! (maybe not on the kid's motivations, but close enough!)

 

[RainbowsAndGumdrops]

He was a gym teacher in gym class. He admits there was no other place to put it and I can see that. The kid was waving it and it was taken away and returned undamaged.

It is a judgement call and I judge the teacher in this case to be telling the truth and the kid simply angry he was disciplined.

So I suppose it is possible that the student doesn't think he did anything wrong, but the teacher honestly thought he was doing the best thing. Perhaps neither party meant for this to cause any problems. I suppose there could be a situation where the teacher carefully balanced the flag on the edge of the trash can so that the flag wouldn't be on the floor. Perhaps he though that was the respectful thing to do. Hmmm:waitasec:

 

[CyberLaw]

I looked up the ACLU on the internet:

One thing I did find rather interesting is:

• Your First Amendment rights - freedom of speech, association and assembly; freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.
• Your right to equal protection under the law - equal treatment regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin.

Now you all(Hats off to Texas), know more about this then me as I am Canadian. But........

Would the First Amendment Right apply to all places in the USA like a school? I am looking at the freedom of speech, association and assembly.

Equal treatment and discrimination regardless of national origin.

Was this student treated "differently" because he is Mexican and brought the Mexican Flag to school. At least 1/3 of the students are Mexican. I find it interesting that the school was concerned about the upsetting the white students and there has been racial problems. I guess the white students "have problems" with the Mexican student body. Isn't Idaho small town cowboy country.

I guess all people's Human rights and civil rights should be respected. The Us and Them mentality has just never worked out so well in the past.

You see our oldest is in high school. Even in primary he had all sorts of friends from many different countries. It never occurred to him and never an instilled value that "whites" were superior to all other people and races. We treat every one with respect and consideration and value diversity.

 

[Karole28]

I looked up the ACLU on the internet:

One thing I did find rather interesting is:

• Your First Amendment rights - freedom of speech, association and assembly; freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.
• Your right to equal protection under the law - equal treatment regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin.

Now you all(Hats off to Texas), know more about this then me as I am Canadian. But........

Would the First Amendment Right apply to all places in the USA like a school? I am looking at the freedom of speech, association and assembly.

Equal treatment and discrimination regardless of national origin.

Was this student treated "differently" because he is Mexican and brought the Mexican Flag to school. At least 1/3 of the students are Mexican. I find it interesting that the school was concerned about the upsetting the white students and there has been racial problems. I guess the white students "have problems" with the Mexican student body. Isn't Idaho small town cowboy country.
I guess all people's Human rights and civil rights should be respected. The Us and Them mentality has just never worked out so well in the past.

You see our oldest is in high school. Even in primary he had all sorts of friends from many different countries. It never occurred to him and never an instilled value that "whites" were superior to all other people and races. We treat every one with respect and consideration and value diversity.

OMG, I cannot begin to address how insulting and OFF BASE this post is.

You're right, I guess we'd know better than you how our schools are run. And, no the same rights listed in our Bill of Rights aren't necessarily applicable IN A SCHOOL. Otherwise you'd have every idiot, spouting whatever crap they wanted to IN CLASS.

I know you come from the land of milk and honey, but you guys have JUST AS MANY PROBLEMS as America does, and some worse.

 

[Yeah me]

But a child cannot be discriminated against in class, Karole. That is a right that is protected. The teacher should not have taunted the kid out of guise of "protection". It seems to me that this teacher enforced this only because he had a personal problem with it.

As an aside, I would be mortified if a teacher approached my child in any state of undress, much less to take something that symbolic of their heritage.....like a St. Christopher necklace or something similar.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

I looked up the ACLU on the internet:

One thing I did find rather interesting is:

• Your First Amendment rights - freedom of speech, association and assembly; freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.
• Your right to equal protection under the law - equal treatment regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin.

Now you all(Hats off to Texas), know more about this then me as I am Canadian. But........

Would the First Amendment Right apply to all places in the USA like a school? I am looking at the freedom of speech, association and assembly.

Equal treatment and discrimination regardless of national origin.

Was this student treated "differently" because he is Mexican and brought the Mexican Flag to school. At least 1/3 of the students are Mexican. I find it interesting that the school was concerned about the upsetting the white students and there has been racial problems. I guess the white students "have problems" with the Mexican student body. Isn't Idaho small town cowboy country.

I guess all people's Human rights and civil rights should be respected. The Us and Them mentality has just never worked out so well in the past.

You see our oldest is in high school. Even in primary he had all sorts of friends from many different countries. It never occurred to him and never an instilled value that "whites" were superior to all other people and races. We treat every one with respect and consideration and value diversity.

No, the First Amendment doesn't help students in high school. There are plenty of things that the students absolutely DO NOT have the right to do at school. Students do not have the right to wear anything that promotes the use of drugs or alcohol. The students do not have the right to wear revealing clothing. The students do not have the right to disrupt the other students. There are plenty more examples, but you get the idea. They believe that ALL students should feel comfortable at schools, so they try and keep a pretty even playing field for everyone. The schools that my kids go to are more strict than most. Boys are not even allowed to wear earrings. No colored hair, etc. and if the students are in extra cirricular activities, many of them need to wear suits and ties all day, every day. Let me add that I'm not sure if the "white" students had trouble with the hispanic students or if the hispanic students had trouble with the "white" students. The thing is that all of these students should realize that they're all in America now and that means that we all need to get along. Keeping the flag flying off school grounds may be one of the easier ways to make that happen.

 

[Rino]

But a child cannot be discriminated against in class, Karole. That is a right that is protected. The teacher should not have taunted the kid out of guise of "protection". It seems to me that this teacher enforced this only because he had a personal problem with it.

As an aside, I would be mortified if a teacher approached my child in any state of undress, much less to take something that symbolic of their heritage.....like a St. Christopher necklace or something similar.

This is a case of who do you believe.

The teacher said it was taken after the student, who spoke broken english, was waving it around in the gym. The white students may get mad. He put it in the can because there was no other place and told him he would return it to him.

The kid says is was in the locker room half dressed, the teacher taunted him and then threw it in the trash, promising to return it but didn't.

Why would the teacher say he will return the flag is he was taunting and being "anti Mexican"?

The only thing in the story that both sides agree on is the teacher said he could get the flag back and is was, undamaged.