This demands a response:
As a freshman at Flagler Palm Coast High School, Herbert said high school has been tough, especially since he’s gay. “People haven’t been nice, let’s put it that way,” Herbert said.
Herbert said classmates have bullied him before, but now it’s gotten worse. One of his teachers has singled him out. “He stood in front of the class and said ‘you can’t put Mountain Dew or Pepsi in the same fridge or they’ll turn gay’. He [also] came over to me and I was like ‘hi.’ He said hi, like he was imitating me or mocking me,” Herbert said.
Herbert and his mother said they went to school officials several times, but weren’t taken seriously. “As a parent, it’s hard because you feel like you have to be there every day, begging them to please help. That’s how I felt,” Dorene Davenport said. Recently, Herbert and his mom sat down with school officials, as well as the teacher himself. Herbert said the teacher apologized and officials promised to switch his classes, but that never happened.
“I don’t feel safe with him being there,” Dorene said.
Here’s the school’s website. Principal Oliva’s email address is olivaj@flaglerschools.com. A full list of school administration officials—with email addresses—is here. Let ’em have it—be firm, be respectful, but let ’em have it.
Via Queerty.
@39: Your view of history is acutely American-centric, and deeply flawed in consequence. America does not educate its young people in the round on this subject: I have had exchange students from the USA who, although ostensibly history majors, were unaware that Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada had played a part, per capita, every bit as great – and for considerably longer – than the United States.
Both WWs I & II were global conflicts, involving many countires, all stretched almost to breaking point long before America joined the conflicts. By the time he was re-deployed to the Pacific, my father, who had joined the New Zealand army two days after war was declared in 1939, was a veteran of campaigns in both Crete and North Africa long before the United States was compelled to acknowledge that Hitler was also their enemy.
That Germany had not been *stopped* in the more than two years before America joined the conflict is a reflection of the immense power of Hitler’s war machine, not the *cowardice* of the nations he attacked! An even more pertinent fact is this: had Russia not held out in Stalingrad, Germany would have reached the Baku oilfields (his ultimate objective) and the outcome of the war in Europe would have been very different.
Two other things I should mention: the Pacific campaign was not fought solely by America, and although the USA didn’t seek reparations from its conquered enemies, it gained vast resources in overseas funds by charging its allies for the war materiel it supplied. Every bullet, gun, jeep, tank, ship, or plane made available to the Allied military was paid for over the next twenty years. Although I was born two weeks before the end of WWII, I was a grown woman before the “Dollar Debt” was finally paid off.
Sadly, having grown up attending rural schools in a town and state to remain unnamed, I do not doubt that a teach would not only not stop bullying but help with it AND that the school would do nothing about it (both the bullying and the teacher’s participation). Mine was more along the lines of sexual harassment, but still, just as blatant and inappropriate – and just as tolerated by the school (if not encouraged). And the only thing I’ll say about location is no, it was NOT in the South.
@ 39: I thought several times before responding to your post, but would like, just this once, to have my say in an American publication.
Like so many of your fellow Americans, your education seems to have been totally American-centric, and derived from a view of history that owes more to myth and propaganda than to reality. I have encountered similar beliefs amongst exchange students from the USA – memorably, a history major who believed that America fought alone in both the Pacific and Europe.
I quote you:
” America saved the world twice in 3 decades. We claimed not one penny of war damages. We claimed not one acre of soil. We did it because it needed done, not for gain. In fact taxpayer money went to rebuilding the damage the cowards in Europe caused by not stopping Hitler earlier.”
It’s difficult to know which of these myths and fallacies is the most egregious!
To begin with: “the cowards in Europe” were either overwhelmed by the immensely superior power of Germany’s war machine or, like the USA, hoped to stay neutral, but failed when reality struck home. It is worth noting that had Russia not held out so desperately at Stalingrad, Hitler would have gained his objective of free access to the Baku oilfileds, and millions more slaves to operate his factories.
Whether America “saved the world” is a moot point – it entered WWI for reasons of its own, after remaining neutral long enough for the combatants to fight themselves almost to a standstill, and subsequently gained immensely from the divvying up of the Ottoman empire.
WWII was slightly different – the USA entered the conflict over two years after war was declared, when England and its Allies had already fought both the Battle of Britain, and the North African campaign – and then only because it was attacked by Japan (Japan’s relationship with Germany meant that war was then inevitable). Whether it would have joined the Allies to defeat Hitler we will never know – given the strong isolationist sentiment in the USA, and the considerable support Hitler enjoyed from some sections of its population, it’s quite possible they would simply have waited, and allied themselves with the victors.
WWII was a true global conflict – there were few nations not involved, and those who fought, did so to the last of their strength – on the Allies’ side, long before America joined in, Britain was supported by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Rhodesia, Canada, India and nationals from many other nations not formally at war with Germany. Australia and New Zealand, plus many smaller Pacific nations, were deeply involved in the war against Japan – on a per capita basis, some of them even more deeply so than the United States. Many ANZAC troops had already fought both Mediterranean and North African campaigns before they were re-deployed to the Pacific.
Whether the USA claimed territory or not, it gained immense political power from its part in WWII – consider the power derived from its position in NATO and ANZUS, to name but two areas where the US still has a disproportionate level of control.
As for making money out of the war – the defence industry rose to its pr4esent pre-eminence on the sales of war materiel to America’s Allies. The US may not have claimed reparations – but it certainly made vast sums out of the war. (I was born three weeks before Japan surrendered: I was an adult before my country had finished paying the *dollar debt* incurred when the US established the terms of Lend-Lease.)
Response from Kevin McCarthy, Assistant Principal at Flagler to my email in support of Luke Herbert:
While I cannot specifically address this case at this time, I can assure you that administration has not ignored the gravity of this issue. I personally view every one of our students as my children, and take every allegation of
intolerance very seriously. I have lost family and friends to suicide, and never want anyone to have to go through that. Last year we started a Gay Straight Alliance to educate the campus and support all students. We have adopted a sensitivity curriculum, are establishing a peer mediation program, and are proud to have a diverse student population and staff the includes openly gay individuals. Every allegation is thoroughly investigated, and I am hopeful that we will have resolution on this case very soon at which time the school will issue a statement. It will not end there, though. We need to redouble our efforts to increase tolerance and acceptance for all on our campus. I too share
your frustration, sadness, and anger every time I read or hear of a student being hurt. It is critical that we all speak up about and stand up to intolerance.
Kevin P. McCarthy
My email:
I have read about Luke Herbert’s story on several news outlets, and I am tremendously saddened. It would be one thing if you were running a school where the students were allowed to freely bully one of their classmates — and it would still be a horrible, disgusting thing — but you have allowed a TEACHER to bully one of your students, which is unthinkable. You have simply failed. You have failed to establish a safe space in your school in the most fundamental way. It is difficult to create an attitude of acceptance among teenagers, certainly, but hiring a teacher who would pick on a student for his sexual orientation is a brazen disregard for your duty to protect your students. Failing to FIRE that teacher, immediately, is complicity in his bigotry. I cannot see how you can justify keeping this teacher on staff. Luke Herbert has been victimized, and you have been part of that victimization by showing him that bigots can act freely and abuse him with impunity, and he will not be defended by his school system or community. You have failed as an educator and a member of your community, and you ought to be ashamed until you put this right. Luke Herbert deserves an apology, from you, and the offending teacher needs to be fired. Not disciplined, but removed from an environment in which he can continue to victimize children.
@39
I love how people who claim to know “history” only learn the selective parts that build up their fragile egos, and ignore the rest. For example, Hitler & the Nazis had a lot of sympathy throughout the western world. (Ever hear of the MS St Louis?) The main threat in the thirties was Stalin, and so the western democracies, including the US, tolerated Hitler. No matter how awful things got in Germany, at least it wasn’t communist was the conventional wisdom. Among the private industrialists, Hitler was a winner. Henry Ford was not only an admirer of Hitler, he heavily invested in Nazi Germany. Another supporter & heavy investor was Prescott Bush, beloved father & grandfather of future presidents. I suppose these are the “cowards” you refer to in your screed. Except they were American. I doubt you’ll be able to wrap your head around how many Americans supported Hitler, so you’ll either bleat none of that matters or find some minor flaw, thus rendering the whole thing moot. Which is typical of people who have been taught one thing and refuse to admit that it was wrong.
As Venomlash points out, the US in the 30’s were very isolationist, in spite of FDR. Isolationism was a cherished value of the conservatives. The type of folks who tend to look at history in jingoistic, simplistic terms.