Monday, December 27, 2010

Students Disciplined for Spreading Christmas Cheer

Students at Battlefield High School in Haymarket, Virginia walked the halls before school singing Christmas carols and passing out candy canes, but administrators who punished the students said that "not everyone wants Christmas cheer."



-- From "Candy Cane Controversy at Battlefield H.S." posted at NBC-TV4 Washington, D.C. 12/22/10

On Monday, 10 boys -- who call themselves members of the Christmas Sweater Club -- went to school carrying bags of candy canes. While singing carols, the young men distributed the treats in the school hallway.

According to school authorities, the treat-sharing degenerated into a food fight. As a result, each of the 10 candy cane sharers was given two hours of detention.

Parents of the Christmas Sweater Club think that their children are being wrongfully punished.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Christmas Sweater Club Punished At Local High School" by Peggy Fox, TV-9NEWS NOW & wusa9.com 12/22/10

The boys say they were just tossing small two-inch candy canes to fellow students as they entered school. The ones in plastic wrap that are so small they often break apart.

Skylar Torbett, also a junior, said administrators told him, "They said the candy canes are weapons because you can sharpen them with your mouth and stab people with them." He said neither he nor any of their friend did that.

The boys admitted their incident may have caused litter since some kids dropped their candy canes on the floor. But Cameron Gleason said he spent an hour cleaning up the dropped candy.

Mother Kathleen Flannery said an administrator called her and explained "not everyone wants Christmas cheer. That suicide rates are up over Christmas, and that they should keep their cheer to themselves, perhaps."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.