The war against police does not only happen when police are shot or attacked in the line of duty. The war also extends to the minds of the people by how the media portrays police and especially what is said about them in the classroom.
This past Monday, a substitute teacher in Grass Valley, California berated a 13-year-old student for wearing a mask that had a thin blue line badge on it, The Daily Wire reported.
“That’s not the American flag; that’s the new confederacy flag,” the teacher said.
The blue line on the “Thin Blue Line” flag is intended to represent law enforcement, standing between what is above the line, representing citizenry and order, from what is below the line, representing crime and anarchy.
The incident at Lyman Gilmore Middle School was filmed on cellphones by multiple students, Sacramento CBS reported. Fox40 reports that the student, Lucas Lillar, “said he wears [the mask] to support his father, who is a police officer.”
“It just makes me feel worried,” the student said when asked what it is like to be the son of a police officer, CBS Sacramento reported.
“I never had someone talk to me like that, yell at me in my face, especially a teacher,” he said.
“I was confused at that time because I didn’t know what he was talking about,” he said.
A substitute teacher was caught on video yelling at a 13 yr old student over his thin blue line mask saying “that’s the new confederacy flag” pic.twitter.com/M4Polx6AXI
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) February 3, 2022
The child’s mother, Amanda McCallum, went to the school after she learned of the incident and was informed that the teacher will no longer be allowed to teach at the school.
“I was extremely angry and heartbroken, that this…that he had to deal with it,” she said.
“I was angry because these types of things should never be in the classroom,” the mom said.
“These topics need to be left at the door. The school is meant to educate our children in a safe environment and I don’t feel like this was a safe environment, but it needs to be. We are entrusting these people of authority, these teachers with our children,” she said. “We are in a time where we are so divided that we need to learn to be kind and respect each other.”
Officials from the district did respond to the media’s questions but were limited in what they were allowed to say by law.
“The California Education Code §44953 allows for the immediate dismissal of a substitute teacher. Our district expects all educators to perform their duties with utmost respect and professionalism,” Andrew Withers, the Grass Valley School District Superintendent said to CBS 13, but said he could not comment further on personnel matters.
“The incident is currently under investigation, and we will take appropriate action. The California Education Code §44953 allows for immediate dismissal of a substitute teacher. We expect all educators to perform their duties with utmost respect and professionalism to afford our youth an environment conducive to learning. The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing that governs educator credentials will be informed of this incident,” Nevada County Superintendent of Schools Scott W. Lay said.
