Students in a Byron high school classroom wanted to show their solidarity with Ukraine recently, after Russian troops attacked that country.

So they asked their teacher if she would display a Ukrainian flag in the classroom. The flag went up and, incredibly, the high school administration told her to take it down again.

Seems the district has a policy about what can and cannot be displayed in classrooms. Byron Public Schools Superintendent Mike Neubeck said the district’s attorneys are reviewing the policy, and he told Minnesota Public Radio he’s concerned that allowing teachers to hang the Ukrainian flag could lead to future problems.

“If we have Ukrainian flags hanging up, and someone wants to come and hand a different type of flag, we can’t say yes to this group and no to this group,” he said.

Well, yes they can. This notion that “if we let one person do it we have to let everyone do it” is a fallacy used by people who don’t want to take responsibility for making decisions. If someone came along and wanted to hang up, oh, say, a Nazi flag in the classroom, the administration should have no problem saying no, even if there was a Ukrainian flag there. It’s just easier to say “No flags at all” than use some judgment.

If someone wants to hang a flag in school, why not let them explain why they want to do that and what it is supposed to represent. Certainly there should be no problem explaining the meaning behind the Ukrainian flag to support that nation’s fight for freedom and its stand against tyranny.

Hard and fast rules should have reasonable exceptions. We think supporting Ukraine by putting a flag in classrooms is a perfectly reasonable exception to the Byron rule.