Posted on Jul 18, 2014
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May 9, Greg Stonebruner replaced the school’s flag at Central High School in Grand Junction, Colorado with the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag – an expression of freedom and the willingness to fight for it. Stonebruner also attached a note to the flagpole that told the history of the Gadsden flag.
The prank didn’t go over well with Principal Jodie Diers, who was outraged when she saw the Gadsden flag flying. Other students claimed she was angry and yelling to have the flag replaced after seeing what happened.
Diers later pulled Stonebruner out of a scholarship breakfast and told him and his parents the flag was a “slap in the face” to the school and he was “not welcome” anymore at Central High. She also withheld his diploma until after the graduation ceremony.
After receiving his diploma and getting his flag back, Stonebruner had some strong words about the incident and the principal’s claim that flying the Gadsden flag was a ‘slap in the face’ to the school. He said:
The Gadsden flag has almost an identical history to the American flag, and was born from a very patriotic cause, and its suddenly a ‘slap in the face.’ This shows the ignorance and misinformation of the people in power over our children. History like this used to be taught in schools all over the United States, and now not even most adults, let along high school age people know what this flag stands for.
Administrators all over the US are excising [sic] power that they do not have over students and other adults. Students are being taught to obey the baseless authority and to never question anything. Is that the real message we want to be sending our children, who are the future of this country?
Stonebruner hopes his story will go viral so that more people are made aware of this blatant abuse of power from a school administrator who took out her anger on a student because his political views were different than hers.
Do American public schools truly educate students in critical thinking, or do they try to indoctrinate students with their views? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
The prank didn’t go over well with Principal Jodie Diers, who was outraged when she saw the Gadsden flag flying. Other students claimed she was angry and yelling to have the flag replaced after seeing what happened.
Diers later pulled Stonebruner out of a scholarship breakfast and told him and his parents the flag was a “slap in the face” to the school and he was “not welcome” anymore at Central High. She also withheld his diploma until after the graduation ceremony.
After receiving his diploma and getting his flag back, Stonebruner had some strong words about the incident and the principal’s claim that flying the Gadsden flag was a ‘slap in the face’ to the school. He said:
The Gadsden flag has almost an identical history to the American flag, and was born from a very patriotic cause, and its suddenly a ‘slap in the face.’ This shows the ignorance and misinformation of the people in power over our children. History like this used to be taught in schools all over the United States, and now not even most adults, let along high school age people know what this flag stands for.
Administrators all over the US are excising [sic] power that they do not have over students and other adults. Students are being taught to obey the baseless authority and to never question anything. Is that the real message we want to be sending our children, who are the future of this country?
Stonebruner hopes his story will go viral so that more people are made aware of this blatant abuse of power from a school administrator who took out her anger on a student because his political views were different than hers.
Do American public schools truly educate students in critical thinking, or do they try to indoctrinate students with their views? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 12
Sadly, critical thinking is not taught any more. My wife and I have been struggling to fight this progressive garbage that is being shoved down the throats of our children. Multiple times my boys have stated things mentioned/taught by their teachers which are totally false. The insidiousness of the NEA and this new "standard" of common core is infecting society's young minds. Until the people start standing up and fighting, education in America will continue to decline.
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MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca
Common core is nothing but common bullsh!t. We see the very same things SSG (Join to see) with our own children. They are taught 5 ways to learn how to do long division but can't seem to get it right 1 way? Teachers that are more interested in politically correct history than the facts? Things that make you go WTF.
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SSG (Join to see)
MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca and Sgt John H. , exactly. It's never been about true fairness but about an equality of misery. If one person is successful then it's not fair to others. Everyone must "share" in everyone else's success. The despicable thing is the "progressives" refuse to "share" their own wealth and would rather steal ours to give to others. They don't consider free will nor do they consider true choice. Most of them hypocritically proclaim themselves to be "pro-choice" but they aren't. It's an emotional facade intended to deceive the populace. Ultimately, they are about total control.
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1. Mr. Stonebruner's prank/stunt was politically charged, because the Gadsen Flag has been embraced by the Tea Party. The young man may be correct on the narrow facts of the flag's origin, but ignoring the recent context is irresponsible.
2. The principal's response was inappropriate. He may feel very strongly about the school's (U.S.) flag, as is his right, but as a school administrator and a role model, he should have controlled his reaction to the new graduate's behavior. As an educator and a historian, I know that he missed a classic "teachable moment" and instead made himself look like an ass.
3. School is not just about the transmission of information; it's also about socialization too. I have taught every grade level K-12 & undergraduates, and I'm here to say that there are opportunities for good instructors to guide their students both socially and academically at every stage of their educational journey. In this case, the young man / recent HS graduate (I'm inferring from your post) could have been more empathetic, and the principal should have demonstrated the superior maturity that we expect of someone of his age and professional stature.
2. The principal's response was inappropriate. He may feel very strongly about the school's (U.S.) flag, as is his right, but as a school administrator and a role model, he should have controlled his reaction to the new graduate's behavior. As an educator and a historian, I know that he missed a classic "teachable moment" and instead made himself look like an ass.
3. School is not just about the transmission of information; it's also about socialization too. I have taught every grade level K-12 & undergraduates, and I'm here to say that there are opportunities for good instructors to guide their students both socially and academically at every stage of their educational journey. In this case, the young man / recent HS graduate (I'm inferring from your post) could have been more empathetic, and the principal should have demonstrated the superior maturity that we expect of someone of his age and professional stature.
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Sgt (Join to see)
not necessarily true. There are multiple Gadsden flags, the Tea Party has mainly embraced the yellow one with the white coiled snake. The Navy SeaBee's also have a rich history with the red and white striped flag with yellow stretched out snake (the Navy Jack). To this day they wear that flag on the shoulder of their utilities complete with the don't tread on me statement, the same flag is also flown on ships https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Navy_Jack
First Navy Jack - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The First Navy Jack is the current U.S. jack authorized by the United States Navy and is flown from the jackstaff of commissioned vessels of the U.S. Navy while moored pierside or at anchor. The design is traditionally regarded as that of the first U.S. naval jack flown in the earliest years of the republic.
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Yet we have people that support flying the Mexican flag and banning US patriotism at schools on May 5th. What a country we live in.
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SSG (Join to see)
Had he lowered the US flag and raised a Mexican flag, I suspect his punishment would have been much more severe.
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