Spy you may be right but what I know is that the next day I would have paid the Principal a visit. And the fact that she doesn't have a child in school is irrelevant--she's a concerned citizen who was ticked (as I would have been) at the lack of respect to both the person who sang the Anthem and the Anthem itself. Those students who participate in such irreverant activities should be ashamed and so should their parents & teachers. Civics Lessons All Around!

I also would have talked to the principal or the school board or the students. I would not have written a letter to the editor spouting the lack of respect from all students at one school.

That would be me--and never would I comtemplate such a thing. I'm with Terry on this one--don't mess with the National Anthem. If you want to show school spirit, come up with your own words at a different time.

Get off it already. I always find it funny how people seem to care more about preserving our national anthem than our actual country. Yeah, we're being invaded by Mexicans and Third Worlders, our economy is crumbling all around us, we're in the crosshairs of international terrorists, Americans are treated like second class citizens in airports, we have a fanatical leftist in the White House, our cell phones are being tracked by the government...but hey, it's all good because this is "the land of the free and the home of the brave."

*pukes*

I think Gym and Terry care very much about preserving our country and have paid a high price in doing so.

"The most beautiful things in life cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller

you will be able to remain silent--for you to do so would lend credence to those don't understand and you just ain't made that way-- and if you need backup, I'm there!

Lad, you have a lot to learn and I am assuming that the students at MHS have just as much to learn. If you want to show your team spirit, do it a different way.

"home of the brave"

What do you think this phrase of our National Anthem means?

The brave men and women at Valley Forge?
The men at Gettysburg?
The Big Red One at Soissons?
The airmen that died over Europe?
The Marines at Tarawa beach?
The Marines at Chosin Reservoir?
The Air Force and Navy airmen over Hanoi?
How about the Marines at Khe Sanh?

Or do you want to get more specific?

How about Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor at Ramadi, Iraq.

Look it up son, and you will understand the phrase,

"home of the brave"

Show respect for these men and women, without them you just might not have a the freedom of "team spirit". Tell your classmates what you have learned and tell them to show some respect.

Great post! Incidentally, My Daughter graduated from McIntosh in 1988 and none of that crap went on then!

That song is out National Anthem and represents our country. It should be shown respect. I am sure the students meant no disrepect. That is why we have young people and adults;so parents can correct the young people when they do things such as this. It can be done in a nice way such as a memo to all students and parents reminding them of the solemnity of the song and what it represents and asking them to refrain from using it in such a manner and suggesting they find another way to support their team. More and more people are showing less and less respect for the important things in life. When my children were teen-agers they started to say "Oh, God" with the usual eye roll when they heard something they did not want to hear.
I told them there would be conequences if I heard it again--of course I heard the usual "We didn't mean anything by it, everybody says it". I am no religious fanatic but I told them it would not be allowed. If children don't learn from their parents what is permitted or not permitted how are they going to learn? And if parents don't step up and stop making excuses how will they ever learn? I, personally, think it is commendable that someone who does not have a child in school is still supporting the school, don't you?

"kids being kids"?

Dear enabling parent,

You need to go back to school mom and learn some history.

You can carry team spirit too far and they have when they use the National Anthem as some toy to play with to express it.

Stop marginalizing things that are important.

Regards,

from a veteran that has seen brave men die. . . . home of the brave means something

I think you missed the point. This letter was not about how much better Starr's Mill kids are than McIntosh Kids. Carol observed a group kids acting disrespectful and said it needs to stop. That's it. at no time did she say my "kid is better than yours" or "you would never see this kind of thing at Starr's Mill. She didn't even mention which school her kid belongs to. She could very possibly be a McIntosh parent. Every time this sort of letter or story is published its always the same. (regardless of the accused school) Instead of the parents getting upset at the kids they get competitive with the parents of the other school and start pointing fingers. How is that constructive? What does that do to set an example for the kids?

Maybe the rivalry between the kids would calm down if the rivalry between the parents would calm down.

The point of her complaint was not missed. She ridiculed McIntosh for showing spirit at a high school game. She did not ridicule Starr's Mill for anything. She suggested the school administration stop the school spirit and have them appologize to the soloist. My dad is a veteran and is not offended by the school spirit, in fact he is very proud to say that thanks to all veterans these kids have the freedom of speech.

You already know she is a typical parent from the mill who thinks that they are hot stuff because their kid went there. She has nothing better to do but find things to talk about.

Don't be upset that the Starrs Mill gym is the Cheifs Home away from Home in Basketball. Who cares if high school kids say that. There is no disrespect to the U.S. or the anthem. It's high school kids. If you had a high school career you would know that they are not thinking about what you and all the other parents are thinking. If the panthers would have won or even won the first time this article would not be in the paper, but since they cannot accept the loss/losses they have to resort to whining in the news paper. Do you think that there aren't any veterans of McIntosh students and families? Well there are, and many have people active in the army now and still say the chant. It's a tradition to saying home of the Cheifs and there is no disrespect being given and until another Starrs Mill parent gets the McIntosh administration to stop it, the chant will be continued.

Is a cheif different then a chief? Just asking.

I yam what I yam....Popeye