PCHS students learn flag etiquette

The Confederate flag has been a source of controversy in recent months, but a few Phil Campbell students recently learned the correct way to fly this symbol of Southern heritage.

By Nicole Burns for the FCT

The fight over the display of the Confederate flag has been brewing since mid-summer, when 21-year-old Dylann Roof admitted to killing nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. He later told police the attack was an attempt to ignite a racial war. Pictures of the alleged gunman holding the stars and bars surfaced, which set off a public outcry to ban the Confederate flag. That sparked many people across the South to stand up for a part of their history.

Many people, who say they only want to protect their heritage, began displaying the flag on their personal property. Looking around at any given moment, one might see a Confederate flag wave as it passes by, flying from a vehicle. And that’s the debate that has raged in one Phil Campbell High School classroom.

It’s not unusual for 29-year veteran teacher Sherry Davis to talk to her students about current events. After all, she teaches government and history. Davis said she regularly prompts discussions with her classes about stories they read in local and national newspapers, including the “Franklin County Times.” Last week, the topic turned to one of their own that had been targeted on a social media post regarding the student’s display of the Confederate flag.

The student had paired the Confederate flag with an American flag, only he or she did not follow proper flag etiquette – hanging the American flag under the Confederate. It was a mistake Davis insists was not intentional, but the display had several local veterans upset, and they used Facebook to vent their frustrations.

“The students’ response was disbelief about how the adults acted,” said Davis. “It really disheartened the kids that adults were acting this way about the situation.” So Davis said she altered her teaching assignments for the week and added flag etiquette to the curriculum. They learned about the importance of each flag and how to properly display them. In the end, the student remedied the flag faux pas.

“I always look for teachable moments,” said Davis. “When you’re young, you don’t necessarily realize the sacrifices that were made for that flag. I made a point to the kids that the same sacrifice was made for that kid to be able to hang the flag, or whatever he wanted, on his truck. Just perhaps not using the wrong etiquette.”

Davis said if students walk away with better knowledge, her efforts were successful.

The Flag Code

• The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing. It is flown upside down only as a distress signal.
• The flag should not be used as a drapery, or for covering a speakers desk, draping a platform, or for any decoration in general.
• The flag should never be used for any advertising purpose. It should not be embroidered, printed or otherwise impressed on anything intended to be discarded after temporary use.
• The flag should never have placed on it, or attached to it, any mark, insignia, letter, word, number, figure, or drawing of any kind.
• When the flag is lowered, no part of it should touch the ground or any other object.
• The flag should be cleaned and mended when necessary.
• When a flag is so worn it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of our country, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner.

(Information taken from usflag.org)