A School Demanded That a Student Remove American Flags from His Pickup, So He Stopped Showing Up
A Virginia student has been pulled out of school by his parents after the school administration demanded that he remove his American flags from his pickup truck.
On Monday, local outlet WSET-TV said that Christopher Hartless, a student at Staunton River High School in Bedford County, drove to school with large American flags on the back of his pickup truck.
The school administration then told him to take down the flag, claiming that it was a “distraction.”
Hartless, however, said that he was merely trying to exercise his First Amendment rights. “My family fought for America and I feel like I should be able to represent the flag that they fought for,” he said.
Student Christopher Hartless said he is just exercising his First Amendment right to fly the American flag by displaying it on his car.https://t.co/tnG0jKXxvb
— FOX 28 Columbus (@fox28columbus) August 22, 2023
Hartless also questioned how the flags on his truck are a distraction, when there is a giant American flag flying at the entrance to the school on a flag pole.
“I don’t understand how it’s a distraction if they have one on the flagpole that every other student can see.”
Hartless did not comply with the repeated requests of the school administrators to take down his flags, and as a result, his school parking pass was revoked as a punishment.
Christina Kingery, his stepmother, has said that they do not want him riding the bus to school, so they have decided to pull him out of Staunton River High School and homeschool him.
“If they’re willing to change and let kids want to fly the American flag, then I’ll put him back in Staunton River… possibly put him back in Staunton River, but if they don’t, then I’m going to continue to let him fly his flags,” she told WSET.
The school later issued a clarification, saying that the actions taken by the school staff were in line with established school policy and that the school proudly flies American flags in the classroom and students recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning.
Now it might not have been wise for Hartless to disobey the school staff, but at the same time, this is a really absurd policy.
How are his flags a distraction to other students when they are on a truck parked outside the school and the students are inside learning? It’s not as if he was bringing it into the school and waving it around.
It seems highly unlikely that anyone would get easily distracted by a flag in the parking lot if they were inside the building.
Also, this does not look great for the school when one considers the leftist, anti-American trend that public education in America has been on over the past few years.
Granted, there is no proof that the school was doing it due to a woke ideology, but one still has to wonder — would they be willing to say the same thing to a student who had the “pride” flag on the back of their car?
In any case, this whole thing is absurd and it distracts the school administration from what should be their main focus — educating students.
Perhaps the school needs to reexamine its priorities.
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