Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Enumclaw, Wa
Posts: 268

Very sad day at school

In the midst of all of this my Science class opted to make a giant flag that the whole school could sign then we were going to send it off to New York. It took us two periods to complete it ( we were allowed to stay in the class an extra period). By lunch we had it up. We had to quarter it because it was so giant, everyone was signing it saying how sorry they were then in second lunch a kid walked up to it and signed, " F**K the USA. They deserved to die". Im sure he did this to be funny because he doesn't seem like a very angry type but no one thought he was funny. In fact a kid got up and punched him in the face right there.

To mend this we had to remove that whole stripe, and lose about 20 signatures. But it was necessary to do because we wanted to to look good. In third lunch a kid who I believe is gothic (wears all black, paints fingernails black, actually has a mohawk) walked up to the flag and wrote, "F**k America". This kid was the angry type, and I believe he meant it, he got thrown to the ground out of sheer anger almost immediatly by the students. As a result of this we had to remove another row, and one of us had to constantly be standing by the flag to make sure nothing like that was written again.

It just makes me incredibly sad that this single act of kindness we were showing causes so much anger, and that these two kids have absoloutely no regard at all those innocent victims who died.

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God bless the USA! The country I love, and will support at all costs.

Last edited by D ev R ay 4Real on 09-17-2001 at 04:55 AM

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 832

We could port these cats over to singapore to be caned.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Enumclaw, Wa
Posts: 268

Thats not such a bad idea. As bad as it sounds on the message board the feelings I and almost the entire student body felt at the time were ten fold of that.

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God bless the USA! The country I love, and will support at all costs.

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 604

That's a great gesture, and you and your friends should be proud of yourselves. Don't let a couple of creeps ruin it.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 832

The best thing to do would be just like you did, fix his mistake and ignore the rest. Some people just crave attention, some are mean, and some are comedians, but I'm pretty sure deep down inside they were all hurt in some form by the events last week, direct or indirect.
DAX

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Enumclaw, Wa
Posts: 268

Don't worry nothing those creeps could do could ruin our patriotic pride.

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God bless the USA! The country I love, and will support at all costs.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

quote:

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It just makes me incredibly sad that this single act of kindness we were showing causes so much anger, and that these two kids have absoloutely no regard at all those innocent victims who died.

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Enumclaw, Wa
Posts: 268

quote:

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Originally posted by homer


Remember that having the right to say "f*** the USA" is what makes this country so great.

Not to defend what these kids did, but them writing on the flag really had no bearing on whether or not that had any regard for the victims that died. Give them a break. Did any of you ASK why they wrote what they did? Did you give them a chance to defend their actions, or did your classmates judge them without trial?

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God bless the USA! The country I love, and will support at all costs.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

(I'm playing devil's advocate tonight)

quote:

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But to write what they did on something as patriotic as the American flag

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

quote:

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Originally posted by homer
It could be argued that writing "f*** America" on the flag is a very patriotic thing to do. The flag is merely a symbol. Defacing the flag is a merely a symbol too. Both can be seen as good symbols, both can be seen as bad.

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: pittsburgh, pa
Posts: 72

Dev,
Congratulations on your patriotic pride!
Vicki

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

quote:

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I'd see it as both repressive _and_ oppressive. Not sure where you'd draw racism from, though? Prejudice? Yeah. Bigotry? Maybe. But racism?

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 1062

quote:

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Originally posted by homer
but waving the flag just isn't doing a whole lot to help/change anything.)

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

quote:

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Originally posted by homer
I really don't understand this whole "I'm waving a flag, therefore I'm now very patriotic" thing going on. I reeks of false sincerity. (NOT that it is, of course, I think a lot of people believe that they are being sincerely patriotic, but waving the flag just isn't doing a whole lot to help/change anything.)

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

Kannon, Yorick:

Good points.

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 1062

quote:

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Originally posted by homer
Kannon, Yorick:

Good points.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

quote:

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Originally posted by Yorick
[...] The U.S. may be the only nation whose anthem is about its flag, instead of its countrymen or land.

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Enumclaw, Wa
Posts: 268

Just as an update to this whole little rdeal bot kids were immediatly expelled from the district. Which means they either have to be homeschooled or move to aother district fr he rest of the year.

A angry as I am at them, I thin this was a little harsh, because obviously their lives are already messe up and this will undoubtedly only make it worse. Oh wellmaybe next time they will thinkn beore doing smehting so stupid.

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God bless the USA! The country I love, and will support at all costs.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

That is horrific! What is wrong with our system? D ev R ay 4Real, what school system is this in? Is there any press on this event?

FYI, there is an excellent book called Geeks written by Jon Katz. A portion of the book talks about how kids that that do not fit into the mold of 'normal' are treated in our school societies. It's not so much how kids treat other that bothers me (kids will be kids) but rather how supposedly responsible and rational thinking adults treat these kids.

While I obviously do not know the entire story behind this, expelling these students was worse that what the students did in the first place, IMHO. It shows a hate and intolerance to those that think differently than others.

Hmm...gee...that's not unlike the terrorist's attitudes, is it?

I'd love to learn more about this story...

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Here
Posts: 213

Bummer, bad choice

Serves them right to be expelled! The school is not the place for persons to be writing inappropriate language, a poor decision on their part and unfortunate consequences for their "choice" of actions.