Fifth Grader Refuses To Say Pledge of Allegiance Until Gays Gain Equality

As a father of a 9 year old boy, I can almost guarantee someone put him up to this. While I can agree with his decision.. shouldn't 10 year olds be playing with GI Joes and Coloring books and not being a champion for gay rights?

Cheers for his views, but shame on his parents for using him as a prop.

reply to post by DerekJR321


Oh, please! Parent's teach their kids what they think is important. No one put this kid up to it. If you would see him talk, you'd know that he's a thinker. A brilliant kid. If he's being brainwashed, the same can be said for all the kids whose parents teach them anything about anything!

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


I don't deny him being a smart kid. What I have a problem with is his age. Does a 10 year old really need to be involved with this sort of thing? Can't kids just be KIDS today?

reply to post by DerekJR321


What's wrong with a kid recognizing something that's wrong in the world and wanting to do something to show his opinion? What is "just being a kid"? He's doing this by his own volition... I don't see how he's not being a kid...

While I'm not saying that kids shouldn't be in to current events and "controversial" topics (Cause that would be hypocritical) and it was completely within his rights to do so, the reasons behind him doing this seem to be for attention or disruption. As I am still young(er) than must ATS members i still have mindset of a child so i can see why he would want to do something like this. And when the parents say that "He's always analyzed things because he wants to be a lawyer" it doesnt seem like the kid had a choice

And in the news report did anyone else see the dad laugh at the fact his son was being called a gaywad in the halls?

[edit on 23-8-2010 by Xionmir]

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


How do you know the kid wasn't just being a smart ass to the "substitute teacher" by not saying the pledge and to not get caught says what he said? As a parent I have plenty of experience with the mind set of boys this age.

reply to post by DerekJR321


All I know is what I've read about him and seen of him. I will not judge him based on your kid or any other kid. Have you ever heard of child prodigies? Marie Curie was one. Don't assume that this kid is just like your kid. Listen to him speak. He knows what he's talking about.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


By listening to this kid you can tell that he's not being honest with himself when he talks

reply to post by Xionmir


Uh... no, I can't. He sounds like a very smart and precocious kid and he has my support.

Don't be quick to say he was pushed to do this by his parents because I did this when I was a young idealistic school child too.

I felt that the pledge was a lie, considering what I perceived to be injustices around me, and refused to say it until it truly stood for what it stated.

I was a bit naive of course, but no one put me up to it.

Other students were angry, especially coming from a very Southern area of the country where flags literally dragged off the back of pickup trucks. Mostly they gave me dirty looks, or said "nice little country you have there" but I was basically left alone.

I was eventually chastised by the teacher for it and told if I wasn't sick then I needed to stand up. I compromised by standing but not reciting the pledge itself.

Although it is possible that his parents put him up to it, it is also possible that they didn't and he simply saw a part of America he never thought existed and didn't like.

That is what happened to me.

Time has changed me of course, and I now view America itself as a work in progress and the pledge being more of an ideal to reach toward, but my little protest lasted up until high school and it wasn't staged but it was very honest. I don't see why this kids couldn't be either.

I don't think my parents even know about it actually, but I think I may tell them now.



- Lee

Has anyone thought that maybe this kid is gay? Maybe a prodigy in his own right but maybe, just maybe he is gay? Someone who is intelligent at that age would have a better understand of the world then say, the average 10 yr old...I know I was thinking about video games and immersed in kid stuff but maybe he is one of the group he is trying to defend. Just a thought.

Originally posted by The Endtime Warrior
Has anyone thought that maybe this kid is gay? Maybe a prodigy in his own right but maybe, just maybe he is gay? Someone who is intelligent at that age would have a better understand of the world then say, the average 10 yr old...I know I was thinking about video games and immersed in kid stuff but maybe he is one of the group he is trying to defend. Just a thought.

I thought the same thing actually.

Although I'm heterosexual, I had my first crush on a girl when I was 8, and if I'd been aware of sexualities at that age, then I'd have known that I was a heterosexual.

This boy seems smart, and in the article it seems like his family are quite open and have a number of gay friends, which would increase his awareness of his own sexuality, if he is in fact gay.


Although, I feel sorry for him, because even sticking just up for gay rights will get him a really hard time at school.

reply to post by Droogie


Uh it was definitely a choice he made by himself. I remember being 10, its not all rainbows and puppy dogs. Some of us kids did have a opinion.
However...this is possibly the wrong battle. And also I just don't know how I feel about this. I mean are gays not equal? All i know is they cannot get married...but to ssay they are unequal is madness.
As far as I know there are no signs on restaurants bars etc that explicitly say "Straights only...NO GAYS ALLOWED."
Hey lil dude if you are on ATS reading this...pick your battles wisely.

What a waste.
That kid may be intelligent but why is wasting his time talking and pushing for gay rights?
Geez, they already have all the rights they need to lead a successful life.

This kid should devote his time doing something that all of mankind can benefit from.

Maybe he's gay?

Originally posted by eNumbra

Makes me wonder if he's not being puppeted by some of those friends of the family the article mentions.

I have to say that i agree that this is more likely his parents view than his.
Not to say this is not what he believes or that he is not the one who made the choice of being outspoken on the subject, however.

I support him either way.

People are always whining about freedoms and their right to get drunk and shoot things and not wear seatbelts and whatnot, yet when it comes to somebody else's choice about what direction they take their sexual identity, suddenly this yearning for freedom dissolves.
Freedom for everybody. (That agrees with me)
What do you care what they get up to in the bedroom anyway? Are you planning on watching? If you dont think about such things you will quickly realise this should be a not-issue, and equality for all is by definition the only fair option we have.

Originally posted by packinupngoin
I mean are gays not equal? All i know is they cannot get married...but to ssay they are unequal is madness.

So, gays are treated equally, they just can't get married or adopt kids... If they're treated equally, then why can't they? Because they're not being treated equally.

As far as I know there are no signs on restaurants bars etc that explicitly say "Straights only...NO GAYS ALLOWED."

So, that's what equality means to you? Being able to eat in the same restaurant as straight people? How about visiting your dying wife in the hospital? How about getting insurance through your husband's job? These benefits are not offered to gay couples, because they are to allowed to legally marry their partner.

Just so you know where the unequal treatment comes from, please read this part of the 14th Amendment to our Constitution:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

So, if a person is a citizen of the US, NO State can make a law which denies him equal protection of the law. Since marriage is a legal state institution, offered to the citizens of the US, it must be offered equally to every citizen.

Source

And if he's reading here, you can be sure he's already aware of everything I just wrote. He's a smart lad.

Why are children pledging allegiance in the fist place?

Talk about political propaganda.

reply to post by Annee


I've often wondered that , Annee. If often felt like me to be a ritual of some sort. very uncomfortable for me

Originally posted by The Endtime Warrior
reply to post by Annee

 

I've often wondered that , Annee. If often felt like me to be a ritual of some sort. very uncomfortable for me

Yes - especially considering who it was written for and by whom.

He did not approve of the change in wording and he would not like God mentioned in his pledge.

reply to post by Annee


I did not know it was altered so many times, and I understand, not everyone believes in God. I was actually referring to the monotone, uniform delivery of its sentiments....seemed rather robotic and devoid of any emotion. Brainwashing anyone?