Around New England

Social Media Photo of Confederate-Flag-Wearing Student Has School Official Suggesting Banning Cell Phones During School Day

October 2, 2018

A student wore a Confederate flag to school during a homecoming-themed America Day event last week at Monument Mountain Regional High School in the western Massachusetts town of Great Barrington, leading to a media brouhaha after photos of the student were posted on social media.

But a member of the school committee that oversees the school thinks the real problem is news media publishing social media photos of students in school, according to the Berkshire Eagle.

Richard Dahomey criticized newspapers for publishing the image, according to the Berkshire Eagle.

The Berkshire Eagle story calls the Confederate battle flag “a racially charged symbol,” and also states that “school authorities seized it.”

The incident occurred Tuesday, September 25.

School Committee member William Fields, a retired teacher, mentioned during a committee meeting this past Thursday that one school he is aware of makes students put their cell phones in a basket at the beginning of the school day — “But this talk of policy changes was quickly squelched for heading into the perilous land of restriction — one packed with land mines of rebellion,” the Berkshire Eagle story states.