2008 Woodie Awards
Students lack flag respect
Benjamin Billman
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: Opinions
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Let's play a game. I'll describe a scene, and you tell me where I was.
There were a lot of people around, music playing overhead, laughing, dirty jokes and people on their cell phones. That about sums it up.
Oh yes, where was I? I wasn't at a 14-year-old girl's birthday party (apt as the description may seem), I was at the National Hockey Center trying to listen to the National Anthem before the beginning of the hockey game.
Shocking as it may seem, this all occurred in the student section, and what I can't get over is that it was during our National Anthem. Frankly, it's a bit disturbing the lack of esteem we fail to give our national symbol.
Granted, I am one of the many people who have spoken out against our government's policies, and many of them are indeed quite foolish (to put it lightly). But that doesn't by any means detract from my respect of the symbols of our nation. The flag and National Anthem are things that stand above the government and should be treated with respect and dignity, not the rude and (as there were children standing nearby) bad example-setting behavior of the National Hockey Center.
Studying overseas helped me get a new look at how we treat our national icons beyond what people from other cultures do. A conversation with a chap from a pub in Northern England clued me in on this. He mentioned the head of the nation for England is their queen. For America though, our national symbol is the flag (because our president changes every four or eight years). He expressed disbelief that we rally around our president, but ignore the flag on all but the most solemn of occasions.
Frankly, I don't care what you do in private, even to the flag. But in a public setting, you're surrounded by hundreds of children who are not only looking at the huge edifice surrounding them, but also at the students. When you goof off and don't take your hat or bandana off you set a bad example for the children. I was ashamed for my university, and you should feel the same.
There were a lot of people around, music playing overhead, laughing, dirty jokes and people on their cell phones. That about sums it up.
Oh yes, where was I? I wasn't at a 14-year-old girl's birthday party (apt as the description may seem), I was at the National Hockey Center trying to listen to the National Anthem before the beginning of the hockey game.
Shocking as it may seem, this all occurred in the student section, and what I can't get over is that it was during our National Anthem. Frankly, it's a bit disturbing the lack of esteem we fail to give our national symbol.
Granted, I am one of the many people who have spoken out against our government's policies, and many of them are indeed quite foolish (to put it lightly). But that doesn't by any means detract from my respect of the symbols of our nation. The flag and National Anthem are things that stand above the government and should be treated with respect and dignity, not the rude and (as there were children standing nearby) bad example-setting behavior of the National Hockey Center.
Studying overseas helped me get a new look at how we treat our national icons beyond what people from other cultures do. A conversation with a chap from a pub in Northern England clued me in on this. He mentioned the head of the nation for England is their queen. For America though, our national symbol is the flag (because our president changes every four or eight years). He expressed disbelief that we rally around our president, but ignore the flag on all but the most solemn of occasions.
Frankly, I don't care what you do in private, even to the flag. But in a public setting, you're surrounded by hundreds of children who are not only looking at the huge edifice surrounding them, but also at the students. When you goof off and don't take your hat or bandana off you set a bad example for the children. I was ashamed for my university, and you should feel the same.