The national movement surrounding San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick’s decision not to stand during the National Anthem at football games is pretty impressive. It has reached down into high schools and other professional sporting events, as well as into our state legislatures. A principal down in Collier County, Florida has created quite a stir after an ill-advised ranty video he made last week found its way into the news. Principal Ryan Nemeth explained that anyone not standing during the playing of the National Anthem before high school games would be kicked out of the venue, with no refund.
Lely High School Principal Ryan Nemeth told students during video announcements they'll be ejected from school sporting events if they refuse to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Nemeth told students the issue is very important to him, and the policy applies to students at all school-sponsored sporting events.
"You will stand, and you will stay quiet. If you don’t, you are going to be sent home, and you're not going to have a refund of your ticket price," he told them.
Florida’s ACLU reached out to the Collier County School District to say “Hey, seriously man?” Greg Turchetta spoke to the news on behalf of the Collier County District and began the process of walking back the contents of the video, saying it was really all about one event.
Turchetta said Nemeth's announcement stemmed from last Thursday's volleyball game when 25 to 30 students were being disruptive during the anthem. He said they weren't protesting.
"They may have been laughing and joking, you know, it's the beginning of an athletic competition. They just came in, I've seen it sometimes when people don't even realize what's going on... oh the anthem is on, and they might have been slow to react to it," said Turchetta.
The school district is claiming that there happened to be a rowdy crew of kids at a game. That made Principal Nemeth think they were putting on some kind of National Anthem protest and he wanted to nip it in the bud. Well, even if that is true—which it may be—this is a crap decision anyway. But don’t worry, Turchetta has an even better state requirement to speak to this issue:
Turchetta said principals are not making messages across the district. Students can peacefully protest during the anthem as long as they have written permission from their parents and aren't causing a disruption.
Oh boy. Not unlike car rental places, many adults believe you have no rights until you are 25 years old. Then again, Florida is still arguing legislation that informs students of their right to opt out of The Pledge of Allegiance. You can watch Principal Nemeth being “taken out of context” right here.