Safe Mode: On
Houston student suspended for taking down Mexican flag/Candy lands Texas 3rd grader in detention for week.

we've been noticing an uberliberal putsch in Texas schools by the globally connected socialist liberal mafia..here are merely 2 more. Usually for imagined weapons (knives, scissors, etc.) this time for a foreign flag.

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/05/07/report-houston-student-suspended-for-taking-down-mexican-flag/

I have received a ton of e-mail asking me to follow up yesterday’s article about the suspension of students at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, California with another story of a student suspension in Houston, Texas. In the first instance, students were suspended for refusing to remove clothing with American-flag themes on Cinco de Mayo, an obvious violation of their civil rights and a ridiculous request regardless. In the Houston story, as reported by KTRH’s Michael Berry and linked at one point by Drudge, the circumstances are quite different — and somewhat misleading:

Yesterday, a listener’s son was offended that his school, Klein Collins High School, displayed the Mexican flag prominently. His mother called to complain, and the school wouldn’t return her call. The student took the sign down.

The school pitched a fit, reviewed the surveillance tapes, found the student, and suspended him for 3 days. AND he has to pay for the flag. In light of the SF story of students sent home for wearing the AMERICAN flag because it offended the Hispanic students, I thought you’d like to know about a story closer to home.

The problem with this report is that Berry used a picture with it that shows a Mexican flag flying above an upside-down American flag, but there’s no indication that’s what happened at this school. That picture comes from an incident several years ago (exactly as shown on the Boss Emeritus’ site in March 2006) and not from Klein Collins. Berry’s report only says that the school “displayed the Mexican flag prominently,” which could mean almost anything. Was it on a flagpole at all? Was it displayed on a wall in the cafeteria?

Without that incendiary picture, the reason for outrage becomes very muddled. There’s nothing so wrong with displaying a Mexican flag on a school campus (as long as it doesn’t replace the American flag) that it requires student intervention. Like it or not, students don’t make the rules at school, and the student in question had no business removing a school display without permission from the administration. One can question whether a three-day suspension was warranted, but it’s difficult to argue with the application of disciplinary action.

In contrast, the students at Live Oak High School were disciplined for wearing clothing with an American-flag theme on the basis of its supposed offense to those celebrating a minor holiday honoring a foreign country. It’s an outrageous action designed to punish personal political speech merely on the basis that it disagreed with the administration. The two don’t really have any equivalency, at least not with the details reported at KTRH.

Update: Berry has updated the post to show the actual display of the flag — hanging from a railing over a corridor. It wasn’t on a flagpole or flying over the American flag. There may be valid reasons to object to this display (as expressed by many commenters below), but the student shouldn’t have taken it down himself.

===
http://www.khou.com/news/Candy-Gets-Third-Grader-A-Weeks-Detention-93033319.html

Jolly Rancher lands Brazos ISD third-grader in detention for a week
Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

by Gabe Gutierrez / 11 News

khou.com

Posted on May 6, 2010 at 10:04 PM

Updated yesterday at 12:43 PM
Related:

* State says school went too far in giving child detention over Jolly Rancher

ORCHARD, Texas – A third-grader at Brazos Elementary was given a week’s detention for possessing a Jolly Rancher.

School officials in Brazos County are defending the seemingly harsh sentence. The school’s principal and superintendent said they were simply complying with a state law that limits junk food in schools.

But the girl’s parents say it’s a huge overreaction.

“I think it’s stupid to give a kid a week’s worth of detention for a piece of candy,” said Amber Brazda, the girl’s mother. "The whole thing was just ridiculous to me."

Leighann Adair, 10, was eating lunch Monday when a teacher confiscated the candy. Her parents said she was in tears when she arrived home later that afternoon and handed them the detention notice.

According to the disciplinary referral, she would be separated from other students during lunch and recess through Friday.

Jack Ellis, the superintendent for Brazos Independent School District, declined an on-camera interview. But he said the school was abiding by a state guideline that banned “minimal nutrition” foods.

“Whether or not I agree with the guidelines, we have to follow the rules,” he said.

The state, however, gives each school discretion over how to enforce the policy. Ellis said school officials had decided a stricter punishment was necessary after lesser penalties failed to serve as a deterrent.

Ellis said failing to adhere to the state’s guidelines could put federal funding in jeopardy.

According to the Texas Department of Agriculture’s website, “The Texas Public School Nutrition Policy (TPSNP) explicitly states that it does not restrict what foods or beverages parents may provide for their own children's consumption.”

Brazos Elementary Principal Jeanne Young, said the problem, in this instance, was that the candy was provided by another student – not the girl’s parents.

The girl’s mother said the incident has taught her daughter a lesson, but not the one her teachers intended.

“I told her, ‘Leighann, unfortunately you’re learning very young that life’s not fair,'” Brazda said.

For more information about the state’s policy and its exceptions, click here.


Click to view image: '0d7f280fc94e-houstonflag.jpg'

Added: May-9-2010 
By: HydrogenEconomy
In:
LiveLeaks
Tags: houston, student, suspended, taking, down, mexican, flag
Marked as: approved, repost
Views: 9330 | Comments: 2 | Votes: 0 | Favorites: 0 | Shared: 1 | Updates: 0 | Times used in channels: 1
You need to be registered in order to add comments! Register HERE