Monday, February 9, 2009
National Anthem Banned
I was reading about the Belleisle Elementary School in Springfield, N.B that had to discontinue the singing of the National Anthem due to parent concerns. A lot of schools don't subscribe to the practice of daily Anthem singing. Should Haultain? Click here to read the article - and feel free to comment. Your thoughts are always appreciated.
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The Principal of Belleisle appeared recently on the CBC to share his story, which was quite different from the previous reports. Apparently, this started well over a year ago. The school would play the national anthem over the PA system every morning. This offended some of the families who, for religious reasons, objected to their children having to stand and participate. In the spirit of inclusion, instead of asking those students to leave the classroom during the playing of the anthem, the Principal decided to play it only during formal assemblies in the gym (note that this is what Haultain has always done). This occurred without objection for at least a year (as I recall) until a parent at the school who had lost a nephew in Afghanistan, petitioned that the anthem be reinstated as a daily routine. When the Principal chose to leave the anthem as 'assemblies only', he tried to make it more meaningful for that parent by inviting her daughter to stand and sing the anthem at every assembly, which she did. Apparently though, this was not enough for the parent and she went public with her opinion. The principal has received death threats for being unpatriotic and has been shunned by many via phone, email etc as a result. The School Board over-ruled the principal and now the anthem is once again played every morning. The principal has not been able to return to his job for some time now and is not sure if it will be safe for him to ever return.
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