Dan Holden's Fire for Teaching Social Studies

I know that the concept of freedom of speech can be taught to seventh-graders without buring the American flag.

Kentucky teacher Dan Holden had to know that what he did in his classroom was sure to elicit strong reactions from parents and students.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A middle school teacher who burned two American flags as part of a civics lesson has been removed from the classroom.

Dan Holden, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Stuart Middle School, burned the flags Friday as part of a lesson on freedom of speech, Jefferson County schools spokeswoman Lauren Roberts said.

Remember that this is a Middle School.

It's not like Holden is employed at UW-Madison and burned two flags. I'm not sure. I suspect that professors there manage to work the desecration of American flags into their classes on a routine basis, under the guise of academic freedom of course. As I said, I can't back that up, but I'm certain that UW-Madison supports the slandering of the executive branch of the American government.

The point is Holden's class is be filled with impressionable twelve and thirteen-year-old kids, not discerning young adults.

The students were asked to write an opinion paper on the flag burning, Roberts said. The burning did not appear to be politically motivated, she said.

If Holden wanted his students to write an opinion paper, he could have shown video of American flags being burned in protest.

There was no need to start a real fire to teach the lesson.

And when is burning the American flag NOT "politically motivated"?

An opportunity was lost to teach students that freedom of speech must be exercised responsibly.

Holden, who has taught in the district since 1979, has been reassigned to non-instructional duties while the incident is under investigation.

Roberts said at least one parent complained to the district.

"Certainly we're concerned about the safety aspect," Roberts said, along with "the judgment of using that type of demonstration in a class."

Pat Summers, whose daughter was in Holden's class, said more than 20 parents showed up at the school Monday, upset over the incident.

At least Holden was temporarily removed from his teaching position as the incident is investigated instead of being granted hero status, like Ward Churchill or Kevin Barrett.

It's appropriate for him to be put on non-instructional duty while officials look into exatly what happened and what motives Holden may have had for doing something so extreme.

Of course, there was no need to burn the flag to teach the lesson. The guy should not have been setting anything on fire. At the very least, Holden must have broken some fire codes. I'm surprised he didn't set off any smoke alarms.

When I first heard of this story, I thought the teacher was probably a young lib looking for some attention and a few interviews on cable news channels.

As it turns out, Holden is no kid.
From WAVE 3:

The teacher, Dan Holden, started his teaching career with Jefferson County in 1979. But JCPS officials tell us his actions this past Friday may have put his career in jeopardy.

A lesson meant to evoke thought and emotion did just that -- and then some. Holden burned the American flag in his seventh grade social studies class Friday, then asked his students to write about how that action made them feel. He even asked students to have their parents weigh in.

What are the odds of a teacher with that many years of experience being canned? I don't believe his career is in jeopardy.

I'm sure JCPS officials would like to crown him "teacher of the year."

The fact that he suggested that his students have their parents weigh in on the flag-burning shows that Holden wanted to stir things up. He had to know that some parents would be upset by his teaching style.

...JCPS spokeswoman Lauren Roberts told us "the issue is the possible endangerment of children by having an open flame in the classroom. That is definitely the issue. Then the issue of the actual burning of the flag and the symbol of that is highly offensive to people."

Roberts wants to make it clear that the real concern here is having an open flame in the classroom, not the offensiveness of burning the American flag.

At least she acknowledged that people could find the "lesson" offensive.

I think the fact that it was totally unnecessary to burn flags in order to teach about freedom of speech makes Holden's actions extremely suspect.

Here's some reaction from parents of students in Holden's class.

One mother of a student wrote in an email:

"My oldest son has no father because his father died for what the flag represents. This man could have said 'if I burn this flag, how would that make you feel?' He didn't have to destroy our symbol of freedom and our symbol of what we have lost in order to have our freedom."

Another parent, Patrick Bissig, also objected to the effect the stunt had on his daughter.

"I think she was confused," Bissig said. "Because here is an individual that she wants to respect as a teacher. And here is the flag of the United States of America. She felt very uncomfortable."

Holden has been teaching in the district since 1979. That's a long time; certainly long enough to know that burning American flags, burning anything, is not appropriate.

I assume this isn't something he's been doing for years as a teacher. What would have caused him to introduce such a radical exercise into his lesson plan?

An overwhelming urge to express his disgust for the Bush administration, the country?

There's no doubt that it was meant to be seen as a political statement. I think there's a strong possibility that it was a calculated effort by Holden to join the ranks of the lib, crackpot teachers run amok.

Whatever his motivation, there's no doubt that the ACLU is in his corner and working to assure that Holden gets back into the classroom as soon as possible.

It's unfortunate that the opportunity was lost to teach students that freedom of speech must be exercised responsibly.

I suppose if Holden suffers some serious consequences, that lesson will be learned, by both students and teachers.