I am firm in my belief that a teacher lives on and on through his students. Good teaching is forever and the teacher is immortal. -- Jesse Stuart
You may not be familiar with Jesse Stuart, but you could do much worse than any of his books. I quote him today because of something that happened at a school named after the Kentucky author.
Dan Holden, who teaches seventh-grade social studies, burned small flags in two different classes last month and asked students to write an opinion paper about it. -- Louisville Courier-Journal
Holden is a teacher who will be remembered by his students. Of course, "parents" in the area are calling for his head. I remember that school well. I knew it when it was a high school in working class neighborhood. I'd love to know if Holden considered parent and school official reactions when he decided to fire up the flags.
Photo "Flag Burning [good]" by calamityjake.
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So, what DOES a 13-year-old have to say about freedom-of-speech issues?
My Opinion of My Teacher Burning a Flag
by
Johnny Q. Student
Today in class, my social studies teacher burned a little flag. We hoped the smoke alarm would go off and get us out of class for a while, but it didn't. I guess he should have used a bigger flag.
When I was a little kid, I thought fires were pretty cool, but now they're just lame. It sure stank, though -- I guess it had all sorts of chemicals in it, and now my teacher will get cancer and die. Maybe the new teacher will be a hot woman -- my friend Dave is in Ms. McConnell's class and she's a real babe.
Anyway, I guess I'm supposed to be all political and stuff, and talk about how offended I am about it, or how offended I am that other people would be offended by it, or some crap like that. I really don't care, though -- the world is exactly the same as it was before he burned his stupid flag, and I'm still the only one of my friends who doesn't have his own cell phone. I guess the people who get upset about things like this must be really bored, and need something to do. They should get an Xbox 360 -- it's a lot more fun than flag-burning, and doesn't stink up the room nearly as bad.
# Posted by: Brother at September 22, 2009 02:55 PM
Johnny,
Please have your parents call me for a conference.
Miss Gue
School Counselor
# Posted by: Temple of Me at September 23, 2009 08:26 PM
Good for the teacher for undertaking such a creative act!
I wonder when, and if, people will ever realize that the freedom to fly the flag is just as important as the freedom to burn the flag.
# Posted by: That Queer Expatriate at September 26, 2009 03:52 PM
