11-Year-Old Florida Boy Arrested for Refusing to Recite the Pledge of Allegiance
An 11-year-old Florida boy has been arrested for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
The February 4 incident, which was revealed over the weekend, occurred at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland. The unidentified 6th grader refused to join his classmates in the daily ritual, telling his substitute teacher the American flag is racist against African-Americans, according to a report filed with Polk County Public Schools.
After the two exchanged words, the school resource officer was brought in. The boy reportedly refused to follow the officer’s orders and called school officials “racist.” He was arrested and charged with disrupting a school function and resisting arrest without being violent.
The boy’s mother says she thinks the teacher should have resolved the issue “in a way different manner than she did.”
Is refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance a form of free speech?
