School district officials in San Bernandino said that they will discontinue a policy requiring elementary students to kneel down before being dismissed in class, CBSLA reported. Principal Dana Carter at Calimesa Elementary School instituted the policy, calling for students at various times of the school day to kneel and wait for the principal or administrator to dismiss them, news reports said.
Carter began the policy as "a positive way to enforce safety" among students. She said it was a way for students to calm down before they entered the school.
However, several parents soon spoke out against the practice, and they began circulating a flyer to notify others aware of the policy. Their effort forced Carter to end the policy.
One mother found it an outrage that her daughter was forced to kneel before Carter:
"She says that she has to drop down on one knee with her hands at her side, wait for the principal to come out, lift his arms and tell them to go to class," the mother said. "I feel that the principal wants to be like a king, and we don't have kings in America," she added.
More than 280 posts against the policy were reported to have posted on Facebook by early this week, newsmirror.net reported.
"The worst thing was that when we asked the kids to show us how they kneel at school, they looked so ashamed," said CES parent Kerri Williams who has a second grader and kindergartner at the school.
