Classroom Disciplinary Policies Are Increasingly Backward

Last week, in Colorado Springs, a student faced removal from school property and a disciplinary meeting for wearing a Gadsden flag patch to class. According to district staff, this flag has a history based in “slavery” and the “slave trade,” and so it was disruptive to the learning environment.

When the student’s parents pressed the staff with basic facts — the Gadsden Flag originated in the Revolutionary War with inspiration from abolitionist Benjamin Franklin — a staff member replied that they were just “following district policy,” that no student apparel may reference “drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or weapons.”