Reports came that parents in Lake Ronkomkoma, New York were outraged when their daughter was allegedly forbidden from choosing President Trump as her favorite hero for a class project while at the same event another student was allowed to choose former President Obama.
Long Island News 12 reported that sixth graders at Samoset Middle School had a class project to choose one figure they looked up to as their favorite hero. The students should also write a report on why they believed the person they chose represents a heroic figure.
Bella Moscato told her teacher that she wanted her report to be on President Donald Trump, but she alleges that she didn’t get the same support as other students received. She claims the teacher barred her from choosing the president for the project in front of her classmates and told her to find herself a new hero.
“She said that I wasn’t allowed to do Donald Trump because he spreads negativity and says bad stuff about women,” said Moscato for News 12. “The thing I didn’t get is she was okay with someone doing Barack Obama, but not okay with doing Donald Trump. That’s what got me angry and I didn’t like that.”
Moscato’s parents were in outraged after they heard that their child’s request to write about Trump was denied while another student was allowed to choose Obama as his or her favorite hero.
Arthur Moscato, the girl’s father, spoke out about his daughter’s treatment at a school board meeting, telling the board, “My daughter’s hero is the president of our country. I can’t believe that anybody in the school would tell my daughter that something — that that guy can’t be her hero. I’m incensed by this.”
Valarie Moscato, the girl’s mother, called the incident “frustrating” and stated that she believes her young daughter should have had her First Amendment right to express her opinion protected by the school system.
“It was really upsetting to me that she was trying to shut her down,” Valarie said.
Dr. Kenneth Graham, the school’s superintendent, claimed that the student wasn’t actually forbidden from choosing the president for her project. He released a statement in which he claimed that Moscato’s story was “not accurate.”
However, the Moscato family spoke for News 12 and told them that this is an attempt to pin the story on their daughter, rather than address their teacher.
“My story is not inaccurate. My daughter didn’t lie,” Arthur said during the board meeting, adding, “No one should make a child feel that way.”
Many people on social media agreed with Moscato, several people are even announcing support for the student’s project on Twitter.
In response to all the chaos, the school board stated that they would not be discussing the alleged incident with the public, but they would be investigating it completely to see what really happened.