First of all, let me start by saying that I hate kids. They drive me nuts. Especially those smarty pants who thinks they know everything in the world. However, today I am paying tribute to a 10-year-old boy in Arkansas name Will Phillips. Unlike any other 10-year-old, Will Phillips gained worldwide attention when he refused to stand up in class to say the Pledge of Allegiance, an oath of loyalty to the republic of United States of America. The pledge which reads: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands: one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all," is predominantly sworn by children in school. What prompt the young man to his decision is because he saw a problem with the pledge of allegiance. "I really don't feel that there's currently liberty and justice for all," said Will.
To be specific, Will's refusal to say the pledge has to do with his strong stance towards equality for the GLBT community. Talking to Arkansas Times, Will's mother Laura Phillips said that "he's probably more aware of the meaning of the pledge than a lot of adults. He's not just doing it rote recitation. We raised him to be aware of what's right, what's wrong, and what's fair."
After discussing with his parents whether his decision not to stand for the pledge due to the injustice which prevents gays and lesbians from the right for marriage and adoption was against the law, Will took his stand -- or rather, his refusal to stand with the rest of the kids -- when it was time to say the pledge. This started on October 5 (Monday), when a substitute teacher happens to be in charged of the class. When the other kids in the class stood up to say the pledge, Will remain seated. Though the substitute teacher who knew Will's mother and grandmother tried to make him stand up, Will respectfully refuse.
Will did it again the next day, and the next day, with the substitute teacher getting more agitated each day by his refusal to comply. On Thursday (October 8) the two came head to head. "She got a lot more angry and raised her voice and brought my mom and my grandma up," Will told Arkansas Times. "I was fuming and was too furious to really pay attention to what she was saying. After a few minutes, I said, 'With all due respect, ma'am, you can go jump off a bridge.'"
With that, Will was sent to the principal's office. While the principal gave Will's mother a call, Will was given an assignment to look up information about the American flag and what it represents.
"She said we have to talk about Will, because he told a sub to jump off a bridge," recounted Will's mother. "My first response was: Why? He's not just going to say this because he doesn't want to do his math work."
Eventually, Laura learned from the principal about Will's refusal to stand for the pledge, where the principal admitted it was Will's right not to stand. It was then that Laura requested an apology from the sub for her son, which the principal told her 'I don't think that's necessary at this point.'
Laura posted the incident on Tweeter, a social networking site, and family friends who were ticked off by the happening alerted the news media. Support has poured in from around the country and attention is shifted to the small town boy.
Although some of Will's classmates are being supportive, there are also those who oppose to Will's stand. According to Laura Phillips, those who oppose Will's stand "are much more crazy, and out of control and vocal about it than supporters are."
Predictably, as Will's refusal to stand is over equal rights for gays, things took a more personally turn: "In the lunchroom and in the hallway, they’ve been making comments and doing pranks, and calling me gay," Will said. "It's always the same people, walking up and calling me a gaywad."
"It's really frustrating to him that people are being so immature," said Laura. To help him deal with peer pressure, Will's parents have printed various posts in his support, telling him that “people here might not support you, but there are people all over that support you."
When asked by the interviewer from Arkansas Times about what it means to be an American, Will answered: "Freedom of speech. The freedom to disagree. That's what I think pretty much being an American represents."
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