The latest trend in America is disrespecting your flag and country. Spurred on by spoiled athletes, woke actors, leftist politicians, and a mainstream media that would have you believe America is a terrible place to live, many folks have embraced this narrative as fact.

Unfortunately, in terms of younger people, if there are no adults involved committed to teaching their children to look at all angles, then many kids don’t get the opportunity to see the full picture. Leftists breed leftist children, and if all you are exposed to is MSNBC and woke teachers in school, then a child is doomed to be indoctrinated into a woke ideology.

Sadly, in many places, if a young person strays from the accepted narrative, the woke mob comes for them in a full-on effort to silence their dissent. While it doesn’t always work, many young people are too unsure of themselves and hesitant to stand up for what they know is right, instead opting to remain silent and toe the company line.
For one Virginia teen, his love of country and the desire to fly the American flag outweighed his desire to attend his public high school. The result was a brave stance for what he believed in, and ultimately choosing home schooling over public school indoctrination.

Christopher Hartless, a student at Staunton River High School in Bedford County, Virginia, had proudly affixed American flags to his pickup truck. When the school ordered him to remove the flags, he refused. When the school subsequently revoked his parking pass, Hartless “peaced out” and decided he had seen enough. The brave teen opted for homeschooling rather than surrendering his love of country.

While the school cited policy, stating that the flags were a “distraction,” with the support of his family, Hartless took a stand. He said: “My family fought for America and I feel like I should be able to represent the flag that they fought for. I don’t understand how it’s distracting if they have one on the flagpole that every other student can see.”

Hartless makes a valid point, and one the school simply cannot rebuke. Regardless, they stood by their policy, but Hartless’ stepmother fully supported him. She said: “I told my son if this is what he’s believing in, then we are both going to stand behind him all the way. … “If they’re willing to change and let kids want to fly the American flag, then I’ll put him back in Staunton River… possibly put him back in Staunton River, but if they don’t, then I’m going to continue to let him fly his flags. I think that every student doesn’t matter what you believe in, what flag you fly, as long as it’s not harmful and it doesn’t disgrace our country, you have the right to fly it.”

The stepmother, Christina Kingery, echoed what should be a common sense proposition; if a student wants to fly an American flag, or even one that isn’t offesnive to anyone else, they should have that right. Certainly LGBTQ flags aren’t being removed, so why should the American flag?

The ruling is particularly cringeworthy for the high school, considering it is located in the same county where the National D-Day Memorial also resides. The school released this statement: “The student parking contract, which has been used by all 3 of our high schools for many years, states, ‘Large flags or banners are not allowed to be flown or displayed on vehicles due to their distractive nature…Please be assured that we proudly fly the American flag throughout the school, and the Pledge of Allegiance is recited every morning.”

While all of that may be well and good, it is still a bad look to ask a patriotic young student to remove a symbol that means so much to him and his family. In an era, especially amongst young people where love of country is in short supply, attempting to stifle this love is wrong, and the school should apologize and change the policy.