- On August 30th, a group of cheerleaders from a high school in North Carolina decided to pose for a picture in front of a Trump 2020 banner before the start of the Friday night football game. The photo was later posted to social media, where it caught the attention of school administrators.
Now, several weeks after the photo was taken, the cheerleaders who posed for the picture have been placed on probation by the school.
Realizing the firestorm that this story would create, school officials tried to get out in front of it by insisting that the probation was not a punishment but rather a warning. According to NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker, “It serves as a notice of behavior or action that is against NCHSAA Handbook Policy or contrary to expectations of sportsmanship and proper behavior.”
Tucker went on to say, “One of the rules we have is that every contest should be conducted in a wholesome, athletic environment. We take that to mean that it’s in an environment where good sportsmanship is shown, where people feel safe…that respect for all people participating is being shown.”
In another statement made by a separate school official, the reasons for the probation were further clarified to state that the cheerleaders were only being punished because of the fact that they were in uniform when the photo was taken.
Per the statement, “This policy does not prohibit students from speaking their minds or engaging in protected First Amendment activities. Because the cheerleaders were in uniform and were acting as representatives of the school, the display of the sign could be perceived as the school or school system endorsing a political campaign.”
However, these statements have done little to ease the minds of conservatives across the country who have become all too familiar with the public education system’s tendency to punish conservative students for expressing their First Amendment rights.
The story even drew the ire of Congressman Richard Hudson from North Carolina’s 9th District, who penned a letter to the NCHSAA that read, “I am appalled these students are being punished for exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. As leaders, we should be encouraging America’s youth to participate in our democracy and political process — not punishing them and silencing them. These North Stanly students respectfully displayed a sign and took a picture. They did not cause a scene, participate in a protest, or break any school code of conduct … At the end of the day, these students have a First Amendment right to free speech, and the NCHSAA should immediately reconsider this unfair punishment. I ask this not only as the federal representative of Stanly County, but also as a proud graduate of North Carolina public schools and a former NCHSAA athlete.”
There are no examples to be found of liberal students who were punished by their school for expressing their political views – even when those views are expressed in a way that is disruptive such as when leftist students across the country recently walked out of class to protest in favor of increased gun control. Yet it seems like every few days there is another story of conservative students being punished by their schools for speaking out in even the smallest of ways.
There’s no denying the reality that the left has created a stranglehold on public education in the United States. While the left’s control of public education is most clear at the college level, even conservative students in high school must live with the fear of being punished for expressing their political views.
This double-standard has created a culture in public education that makes open dialogue almost impossible and prevents students from both learning and expressing viewpoints that are outside of the leftist agenda.
Now, the only thing that can potentially prevent instances such as the one discussed in this article from happening again and again is public pressure against the school officials who are responsible. Unless we can coerce these leftist officials into creating an environment where all viewpoints are welcome and all students feel safe to express their opinions, there is little hope for conservative students who are forced to navigate a school system that has come to despise them.
