When I moved to 8th Grade US History, I decided that it was time to buy a new US Flag for our school and make sure students were putting it up and taking it down. No one had really been in charge of it, and no one said anything about it. At first, it was fun. I showed my students how to take care of it, how to put it up, and how to take it down and fold it. There were mistakes, but everyone was understanding and we carried on.
5 years later...I’m not sure if I can continue to put it up. The recent controversies have added to my decision, but something has really come over the parents at our school in the last few years. We have old men who stand at the sidewalk every day and watch our kids take down the flag, and if they don’t fold it PERFECTLY, they call the school and complain. One day, one of my African-American girls dropped it on the ground by accident (and I believe her when she says it was an accident because she is an A honor student who has never been in trouble), we had 5 different people call and yell at the secretaries about how the kids threw the flag on the ground and stomped on it.
Last Friday, our school resource officer stood at the door and watched the students fold it up. When the students finished (Former boy scouts who know what they are doing), the officer shook his head and told them they did everything wrong. He didn’t offer to help, he didn’t make any suggestions, he just told them they did it wrong.
It was suggested by the administration that maybe I go out and do the flag with the kids, but I’m doing something called “teaching” when we take it down. No other teacher is willing to take it on because they know the problems outside.
Yes, my students sometimes make mistakes, like the time they hung it upside down without noticing. (It was corrected as soon as we saw it). Or the time one student set the flag on the ground to fold it up. (He SWEARS up and down he will NEVER do it again, and OMG, please don’t make him go out and get it again!!) But, instead of using these as learning opportunities, where adults could step in, have a little laugh and fix the flag, this has become an opportunity for people to thump their chests and howl about how the public schools can’t do nuthin’ right.
The last straw came, today. Three students — two African American, one Arab American went out (it was their turn in the rotation) and took down the flag. They were escorted back by a teacher. “Did they do something wrong?” I asked. “No,” came the answer, “but, there was a crowd of cars out there watching them, and they asked me to step out with them because they were nervous.”