WSET reported this video with the description: “A Bedford County family is pulling their son out of Staunton River High School after they say the school told him to remove the American flags he mounted on his truck. Student Christopher Hartless said he is just exercising his First Amendment right to fly the American flag by displaying it on his car.”
They did a longer news report on the student who flies American flags and got pulled out of school instead of taking them down. The news report said:
My family fought for America and I feel like I should be able to represent the flag that they fought for,” Hartless said. The school system says though, large flags or banners on cars are not allowed for safety reasons. Christina Kingery said last Wednesday her stepson, Hartless who is a senior, went to school with American flags mounted on his truck.
Hartless said the school administration told him he needed to take them down because it was a distraction. “I don’t understand how it’s a distraction if they have one on the flagpole that every other student can see,” Hartless said. He didn’t comply and kept them on his truck.
Seems like the school has a rule about giant flags for distraction purposes and he probably should get a smaller flag. On the other hand, doesn’t the school have better things to worry about then being parking lot authorities? It’s not like the flags are stretched out when he’s doing 8 miles an hour in the parking lot, so this is not something the school should even be worrying about. Or is it? It seems like he is no longer at the school as some news outlets reported further, saying he either quit or the family took him out of the school.
Another report said the following about the boy and his American flag:
Christopher Hartless, says he was first stopped about his flags on Wednesday, just two days after the first day of school. He says he told the school that it was his right to wave the American flag and that he would not be taking it down. “If we want to represent our flag for our country then we should be able to. it’s not like it has any hate or profanity to it, and I just think it’s bull crap, myself,” said Hartless.
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The 17-year-old says he waves the flag in honor of his loved ones who are United States veterans. He says he is just one of multiple students who were being told they were not allowed to have flags on their cars. Saying the school deems it a distraction– but he says he doesn’t understand how. “I don’t understand how it’s a distraction if they have one displaying in the front of the school where everyone can see it,” said Hartless.
