To: longnshort who wrote (134897 ) 6/10/2012 4:02:15 PM From: MJ 2 Recommendations Respond to of 224749 PARENTS SHOULD DO A "SPONTANEOUS SING IN OF THE SONGS FORBIDDEN" AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE PERFORMANCE. What can this principal do -----call the police and have the parents and the kindergarten students arrested? mj IN REFERENCE TO THE FOLLOWING: "A Coney Island principal is refusing to let students sing “God Bless the USA” at their upcoming graduation ceremony, sparking fireworks at a school filled with proud immigrants ." The New York Post reports: Greta Hawkins, principal of PS 90, the Edna Cohen School, won’t allow kindergartners to belt out the beloved Lee Greenwood ballad, also known as “Proud to be an American,” at their moving-up ceremony. Five classes spent months learning the patriotic song, which skyrocketed in popularity after the 9/11 attacks and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It was to be the rousing finale of their musical show at the June 20 commencement. The kids, dressed up for their big day, would wave tiny American flags — which, as the lyrics proclaim, “still stand for freedom.” But Hawkins marched in on a recent rehearsal and ordered a CD playing the anthem to be shut off, staffers said. She told the teachers to drop the song from the program. The first reason given, “We don’t want to offend other cultures,” didn’t wash because the multicultural school is filled with immigrants from Pakistan, Mexico and Ecuador, and they “love it,” according to one of the disappointed moms, Luz Lozada. The song was sung by fifth graders, last year, and “Everybody applauded and whistled,” the mom said. “They gave it a standing ovation.” A teacher agreed: “It makes them a little goosebumpy and teary-eyed. I’ve never come across anyone who felt it insulted their culture.”