Ten year old Will Phillips is boycotting his school's daily pledge of allegiance after contemplating the meaning of the pledge and finding it to be untruthful. There is a refreshing honesty that children have that parents and adults continuously try to shape and mold out of them, telling them that it's impolite or inappropriate to speak so frankly. I think in doing so we have silenced a generation of potential activists and honest leaders. Tact is one thing, dishonesty is another. Viva, Will, Viva!Will explains how the last words of the pledge 'liberty and justice for all' stirred a rebellion within: "Gays and lesbians can't marry...[and] there's still a lot of racism and sexism in the world." When the substitute teacher who was present at the time of his refusal gave him some grief about not reciting it, he recalls his reaction: "Ma'am, with all due respect, you can go jump off a bridge."
2 comments:
I feel so sorry for this kid... he's as precocious and tenacious as I was as a child (well, who am I kidding... still am). I loved Stewart and Colbert's take on the interview. When Will said he was being called a "gay wad" at school, the commentator asked him, "What's a gay wad???" Priceless!
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-november-19-2009/gaywatch---peter-vadala---william-phillips
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/256452/november-19-2009/tip-wag---u-s--speedskating-team--ny-lottery---william-phillips
This is a smart kid, obviously some of his opinion is from his parents. Kids mimic their parents, its a fact. At the age of 10 however, some kids are starting to form their own opinions about current events. Fortunately it appears that not everyone is being raised to be more concerned about the next line of video games or MTV like shows.
More people should be raised to question and be critical and like this kid to keep their spirit of what America is, can, and should be and not completely denounce it.
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