kids these days!

is a 10 year old braver and more secure in his political views that you are?

probably.

will phillips, a 10 year old from the states, recently got into a bit of trouble at school.

why? because he exercised his right to not participate in the pledge of allegiance.

will and his parents are allies of the gay community and feel that the movement to take gay rights(like marriage) away from people doesn't really fit the definition "liberty and justice for all."

so on monday, october 5th, he didn't stand when it was time to pledge allegiance. he did this three days in a row, each day being asked to stand and each day declining until finally his(substitute teacher) threatened him with trouble if he didn't stand. she yelled at him and told him that his mother and grandmother would want him to stand to say the pledge(which they didn't).

he knew that he had every right to decline and he stood his ground. he also delivered the line of the year: "with all due respect, ma'am, you can go jump off a bridge."

of course the teacher freaked out(as teachers usually do) and hauled his ass to the principal's office where he was told to research the american flag and what the pledge of allegiance meant.

the principal called his parents admitted that it was his right not to stand, but he was in trouble for telling the teacher to go jump off a bridge. considering that the teacher was bullying him and trying to deny him a basic political right, she totally deserved.

will's parents demanded an apology, which the school refused to do.

even though he's getting a lot of support from some of his friends and family, apparently there are a lot of jerks at his school who are really vocally unsupportive. that his protest is over gay rights hasn't made it any easier.

surprise, surprise.

imagine all of the times you knew something was wrong and you did it anyways? how many times you didn't speak out, when you should have?

well, this kid is speaking out enough for all of us, and it's a shame more people don't follow his lead.