Comments on: What the world needs is more freethinking kids like ten-year-old Will Phillips

By: GregH

GregH — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:09:43 +0000

A lesson in life he should have been taught in school…#1 DO WHAT YOUR TOLD, your a naive kid. #2 LIFE’S NOT FAIR. This kid should be smacked.
…So should Mick Foley…come get some! you has-been.

By: LeeJH

LeeJH — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:56:58 +0000

adminstation?

By: Maggie

Maggie — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 13:50:58 +0000

He has a great future ahead of him as a Human Rights lawyer. Phillips, if you dont’ make it in the USA, come to the UK, we need more stupid shits like you. As for his being a “free thinking kid”, yeah right, his parents didn’t feel him that crap from the day he was born.

By: Kit

Kit — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:43:54 +0000

Nope, no parental influence here…
When little Susie refuses to do something in school and cites her Biblical stance, she’s under the undue influence of her parents, when a liberal’s kid mimics what he hears at home it’s just that we don’t understand how smart and precious and adorable and by gosh smart and did we mention how *smart* kids today are!
I have plenty of friends on both sides of the political fence, and from their kids aged 12 and under I hear darn little that Mumsie and Pops aren’t already spouting 24/7.
Every nation stands to salute their flag, many have pledges to support their nation,and even when guests in another nation, most DO stand in respect but do not make the hand over heart gesture nor do they pledge.
Getting rid of the religious nonsense added in would be a great step, and I teach my kids to leave that part out, as it has nothing to do with supporting the country.
But others remain silent throughout and I have never seen them hassled.
Reality is that the kid was rude.
And those of you who think he came up with this on his own, please go back to worshiping your brilliant wonderful angelic perfect kids while you still can.
After all, eventually they’ll be teenagers and they WILL start thinking for themselves

By: h allison

h allison — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:42:56 +0000

I always found saying the pledge of allegiance to be a very daunting and totalitarin one. Reminded me of what the Nazi’s did in Germany.

By: Broga

Broga — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:24:05 +0000

valdemar. Many thanks for the source of the patriotism quote.

The USA is indeed awash with bigotry and religious enforcement. I recall some USA friends staying with us and they and their children, early teenage, where they could be described as freethinking, pugnacious debating atheists. In fact, I often played the devil’s advocate defending christianity just to enjoy the discussion and they really knew their stuff. Back in the USA I heard much later from a relative who visited them that they attended church and the father parked the cars for the congregation. The explanation: you either get on board or your kids will be ostracised, bullied, not able to play on the local basketball teams etc.

By: Buffy

Buffy — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:12:12 +0000

DS, Frankly I don't think yours is an honest question so I won't bother with a lengthy answer. If you care to seek facts here is a handy chart that shows how few rights we really have here in the US.

By: Me

Me — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:07:17 +0000

I have no problem believing that a child can come to the conclusion that gay folk are no different to the rest of us. I realise that it may have looked like that is what I was saying, because I am a terrible writer, but it’s not.

What I’m saying is that I find it hard to believe that the kid has a strong enough conviction to stand up in front of his class and ostracise himself by making a big deal out of it. It’s one thing to support gay rights, it’s quite another to notice that the country as a whole doesn’t support gay rights and that therefore the pledge of alleigence is hypocritical, and thus refusing to recite it and openly challenging the teacher on it, at 10 years old. It just seems like too abstract a concept for a 10 year old to grasp and act on without some kind of nudging from an authority figure.

If the teacher had been saying something like “do you think the USA grants equal rights to all of it’s citizens” or something similar, a direct line of reasoning to the child’s ideals, then I wouldn’t have a problem accepting it. At the very least I’d claim that the kid and his parents had a conversation about it the night before, whether it was instigated by the child or not.

Then again maybe I’m just incredibly out of touch with the way children work. The only regular contact I have with a kid younger than 18 is my 10 year old cousin who is more interested in his nintendo DS than anything else, so I’m probably heavily biased.

Barry:
Back in primary school we had to sing songs at every assembly and at some point I decided to stop singing certain lines that referenced race (there was one song that had the line “the ink is black / the page is white / together we learn to read and write / to read and write”) because my mind at the time registered it as racist (I still do now, kinda, but for a different reason.) Luckily I’m too young to have been caned (I’m 21.) Just thought I’d throw that out there.

By: Barry Duke

Barry Duke — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:52:14 +0000

I posted this story because it struck a particular chord. When I was 12, and attending a school in South Africa, I refused to stand up for the national anthem at the Monday assembly.

By that age I had already developed a strong hatred of the apartheid system. Much to the horror of my parents, I flatly refused to participate in any displays of patriotism.

That act of defiance earned me a severe caning.

By: Stuart H.

Stuart H. — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:54:53 +0000

“10 year olds simply don’t come up with stuff like this by themselves, that’s why they’re called children instead of short-adults.”
Hmm, haven’t watched much childrens TV in a while then?
My kid’s eight and more than capable of arguing back to teachers against injustice to her fellow pupils at school, as teachers have mentioned several times on parents nights.
Wish I could say she got it all from me and the Mrs telling her to keep asking questions of adults when they don’t make sense, and not to believe them until they do, but I’d have to be honest and say it’s at least as likely she gets it from The Simpsons – or any number of newer kids cartoons whose dialogue quality never ceases to amaze. (Ssshhh – don’t tell the fundies, they’ll think it’s an atheist plot!)