COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The parents of a South Carolina ninth-grader who say he was accosted by a teacher for walking to class instead of stopping and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance are suing the teacher, principal, school district and state education officials. .
Marissa Barnwell said she walked quietly to class and decided not to stop for promises or silence. A teacher yelled at him, confronted him and pushed him against a wall.
Barnwell was then sent to the principal’s office, which he said he despised because he was afraid of getting into trouble. The principal sent him back to class, but Barnwell said he never told him the teacher was wrong and he was right.
“I was completely disrespected,” Barnwell, 15, said at a press conference Thursday, according to The State newspaper. “No one apologized, no one acknowledged my pain. … The fact that the school is defending this kind of behavior is unimaginable.
Barnwell’s parents sued River Bluff High School teachers, the principal, Lexington School District 1, and the South Carolina Department of Education in federal court, saying they violated the girl’s civil rights and her First Amendment right to free speech. entire.
A state law passed more than 30 years ago requires public schools to play the Pledge of Allegiance at a certain time each day.
But the law also prohibits punishing anyone who refuses to take the oath as long as it does not disturb or offend others.
“The good thing about America is that we have freedom,” said Tyler Bailey, the family’s attorney. “Students in our schools should feel safe, not threatened for exercising their constitutional rights.”
Barnwell said she called her parents in tears and said the teachers, principal or district never responded.
Lexington School District 1 said its attorney was responding to the lawsuit and had no additional comment. River Bluff High School’s website shows teachers and the principal still work at the school.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Barnwell said, adding she told the teacher, “Get your hands off me.”