Preston Flanders is an avid hunter and longtime gun enthusiast. So, it made perfect sense to Preston to be photographed with one of his rifles for his official senior portrait.
“I grew up hunting and my parents hunt, my grandparents hunt,” Preston told television station WCAX. “I’ve been hunting since I was eight, it’s when I passed my hunter safety scores. I’ve gone to several different courses, I shoot at ranges, I like shooting. That’s what I like doing.”
But when the student at Mill River Union High School submitted the professional photograph, school leaders rejected the portrait.
“I just think that senior pictures are supposed to be showing what you enjoy doing, so I tried to do that in mine,” the teenager said.
Television station WCAX reports that the rifle violated a school policy banning images of guns and specifically depictions of gun.
Preston’s parents appealed the school district’s ruling, but it appears at the moment the administration is not going to budge.
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“I really enjoy [shooting] and I see people sporting with books, pom-poms for cheerleading, or a baseball bat, but I’m not allowed to use what I’m passionate about in my senior photo,” Flanders said.
So, how does the school teach kids about the Civil War or World War II if they aren’t allowed to show images of weapons in textbooks?
Most observers on social media sided with the school – saying it’s not appropriate for the young man to be holding a weapon.
“What happened to traditional poses. Future employers may find this a reason not to hire someone. As I always say, once you put it on the internet, it’s out there somewhere for all to see. Every action has consequences, good or bad,” one critic noted.
“Senior portraits have gotten out of hand, anyway! Whatever happened to the girls cape portraits and the guys tuxedo portraits. That’s the real senior portraits,” said another.
However, defenders of the young man said there’s nothing wrong with the photo.
“Snowflakes,” said one defender. “He enjoys shooting. People have different sports they enjoy. It’s amazing to me a football player dressing in his uniform is not inappropriate but someone holding a gun is. Shooting guns is an Olympic sport but American football isn’t that I know of. We have a warped sense of reality in the U.S. Guns are not bad unless carried by a criminal.” Just my opinion.”
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