A controversial Coney Island principal has pulled the plug on patriotism.
Her refusal to let students sing “God Bless the USA” at their graduation has sparked fireworks at a school filled with proud immigrants.
Greta Hawkins, principal of PS 90, the Edna Cohen School, won’t allow kindergartners to belt out the beloved Lee Greenwood ballad, also known as “Proud to be an American,” at their moving-up ceremony.
Scaperotti said the department supports the principal’s decision. “The lyrics are not age-appropriate,” she said.
But Justin Bieber’s flirty song about teen romance, “Baby,” was deemed a fine selection for the show. Hawkins had no problem with 5-year-olds singing lines such as, “Are we an item? Girl, quit playing.”
The other songs: “We’re All Together Again,” popular at Scout campfires; “The World is a Rainbow,” which celebrates diversity; “Shake Your Sillies Out” by Raffi; and “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from “Toy Story.”
Scaperotti noted PS 90 kids recite the Pledge of Allegiance and sing “America the Beautiful” each morning. Insiders say Hawkins tried to end that tradition a couple years ago but staff objected.
The principal, a Jehovah’s Witness, does not recite the pledge because her religion forbids followers to salute any nation’s flag. Staffers gripe she doesn’t stand in respect during the school-wide ritual.
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Jehovah's Witnesses and the flag salute.
ReplyDeleteI was born into the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1957.I was the good little JW boy who got beaten up in the school yard for not saluting the flag and remaining seated for the national anthem as demanded by my defiant Jehovah's Witnesses leaders.
This was the better dead than red era of the 1960’s, and a kid not doing the act stood out big.
I suffered much,only to learn that the Watchtower corporation is just another made up man-made religion.
My JW leaders *forced* *compelled* me NOT to salute the flag,I wasn't given any option.If I wavered I would be severely punished by my parents and struck down by God at Armageddon.
Kids suffer because of made-up rules by Jehovah's Witnesses leaders,senile old holy men sequestered in their insulated ivory tower.
My point is:Jehovah's Witnesses claim 'neutrality' that is false as they DO try to force their convictions on others.
--Danny Haszard FMI dannyhaszard(dot)com