DENAIR, Calif. -- A Stanislaus County school is forcing a student to take an American flag off of his bike. Thirteen-year-old Cody Alicea put the flag there as a show of support for the veterans in his family. But officials at Denair Middle School told him he couldn't fly it. He said he was told some students had complained. So now the eighth-grader folds up the flag and puts it in his backpack while he is in class.

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Outside of the school, a large U.S. flag flies from atop a flagpole.

DENAIR, Calif. -- A teenage boy is proudly flying an American flag on his bike again after a flap from his school.
Cody Alicea, 13, said he put a flag there as a show of support for the veterans in his family.
But officials at Denair Middle School told him he couldn't fly it. He said he was told some students had complained.
Alicea said since the controversy, people have been honking and waving at him as he goes down the street.
However, the school said it changed its view, and now Alicea can fly his flag.
Denair Unified School District Superintendent Superintendent Edward Parraz said he got calls from halfway around the world about the flag; even some soldiers in Afghanistan called to complain.
The story has gained national attention, from Rush Limbaugh to the Drudge Report.
A group of Stanislaus County mothers said they plan on walking their children to school with flags in hand to show their support.
State Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, said in a written statement Friday that the school's original decision was "anti-veteran."
"Many American men and women have given their lives to defend our right to fly the flag -- Cody should have that right, too," Denham, who was just elected to Congress, said in a written statement.

Seriously, I just don't get how this happens. What kind of dumb *** do you have to be to think this might be the right thing to do?

Seriously, I just don't get how this happens. What kind of dumb *** do you have to be to think this might be the right thing to do?

Its actually pretty worrying that the folks who made that decision are still teaching there though.

For everyone who thinks this is ridiculous, here's a question: Would you have a problem with a kid walking to school flying an Iranian flag? What about Turkish? French? British?

Its actually pretty worrying that the folks who made that decision are still teaching there though.

For everyone who thinks this is ridiculous, here's a question: Would you have a problem with a kid walking to school flying an Iranian flag? What about Turkish? French? British?

Not if the flag in question was the national flag where the kid was walking to school.

Ed Parraz, the Superintendent of the Denair School District told us a school supervisor asked Cody to take down the flag. The supervisor will not be fired or face repercussions. Parraz says the supervisor had information that Cody Alicea's safety was at risk because of the flag. Some students had complained about it and had apparently made threats.

"The last thing we wanted was to deny Cody his rights," said Parraz speaking about the boy's wish to fly the American flag.

Parraz said national flags were banned from campus after a Cinco De Mayo incident when tensions escalated between students displaying the Mexican flag and those waving the Stars and Stripes. Recently, several students complained and there was even one threat.

I don't see how the school feels their further explanation is helping. I do see in that statement a certain viewpoint that is a problem, and the administrators should seek immediate counciling from R Lee Ermey and/or Ted Nugent.

So to make sure I understand... if the school finds a piece of paper on a student with teachers names on it, they assume its a hit list and kick the child out of school... but if a student makes a threat against another student to the school administration, they make the targeted student stop whatever activity caused the threat...

You're assuming that the threat was heard by a teacher or someone of authority at the school. Some kids say that so and so is threatening kids there's not much they can do, it's hearsay.