Student Claims Teacher Tried to Pull Him to Feet during Pledge

BLUE ISLAND, IL — A mother has yanked her son from his public high school in Blue Island, after he was harassed for remaining seated for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Kelley Porter Turner said her son Shemar, 15, was "afraid to walk down the halls" at Eisenhower High School following his decision to sit out the Pledge as a protest against police killings of black people.

"It's terrible," Shemar told the Chicago Tribune. "Now a whole bunch of people don't like me because of this, and people are trying to fight me, too."

But his peers' reactions weren't necessarily what drove his mother to remove him from the school. The Merrionette Park teen first began sitting out the Pledge his freshman year in high school because he "didn't feel like standing up," reports the Tribune. His decision this year, however, to remain seated was meant more as an objection to police violence against black people.

His teacher asked him why he didn't stand that day. "America sucks," he said.

District 218 students aren't required to stand or even recite the Pledge, Superintendent Ty Harting told the Tribune. His teacher later spoke with Porter Turner about it, and she instructed her son to apologize for the comment. But she also reminded the teacher that her son didn't have to stand. The teacher acknowledged his First Amendment right and said he'd be allowed to sit in the future.

They thought it was over, until the next Tuesday when Shemar once again stayed seated.

"I'm going to keep making statements," he said. "Whoever doesn't support me, doesn't. Whoever does, they do. I'm just not going to worry about it anymore. I'm just going to do what I think should be done."

—Shemar, 15, as reported by the Chicago Tribune

The teacher "tried to pull him out of his seat," he said. "She grabbed me by my arm," the two tugged at each other until Shemar pulled his arm free. She then threatened disciplinary action against any student who wouldn't stand for the Pledge, Shemar said. Porter Turner went to administration who assured her an apology was warranted. But it never came, and the teacher further scolded Shemar during a private meeting arranged for the two to resolve the issue.

Harting confirmed an incident between student and teacher, but denied that the teacher laid hands on the student. The teacher was disciplined, Harting said, noting the confidentiality of all personnel matters.

District administrators have since provided staff with a refresher on the school's policy regarding the Pledge. Harting also hopes to implement a Student Bill of Rights to promote "meaningful contributions to our schools and strict" and "to empower our students to make sure they are aware of their school rights and constitutional rights."

Porter Turner stands by her son's decision as one of a teen taking a social stance and formulating his own opinions—a notion the school and district should also recognize and encourage, within limit.

"It's about the truth and what's right and what's legal, and that's all it really is," she told the Tribune.

Porter Turner has decided to enroll her son in an online charter school.

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