Students Told to Stopped Singing the National Anthem

An educational trip to New York and the 9/11 Memorial has certainly become memorable for a group of middle schoolers from Waynesville Middle School.  The students were outside the Memorial and began to sing the National Anthem.  They had gained verbal permission from a security guard but were asked to stop singing just moments into the song.

The group was singing outside of the 9/11 Memorial when they were asked to stop midway through the performance.

“Basically they performed approximately half of the National Anthem, and they were told by security to cease and desist. And they, of course, complied immediately,” said Waynesville Middle School principal Trevor Putnam.

He added that security “explained to them that they treat that (area) as a burial site.”

A video of the performance was posted on Facebook and comments and sharing began in earnest.  Many believe that the students should not have been stopped from singing.

The 9/11Memorial.org states:

With a valid Memorial permit (information available here) to perform musical works on the Memorial Plaza for a 20 minute period on one designated day each month in the spring, summer and fall provided that there is no sound amplification and groups are smaller than 50 people (Note: a $35 non-refundable permit application fee will be charged)

This rule, however, does not seem to apply to these students as they were outside the memorial and not singing for 20 minutes.  Perhaps the security was a touch over-zealous and a tad under-patriotic.

Putnam calls in an unfortunate situation. “I hate that our kids didn’t get to finish,” he said.

However, he says he’s proud of the students making their mark in New York, just as they do in the mountains. “If I’m having a bad day at school, I will go by there and listen to them sing. They have angelic voices and I love to hear them sing.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pkEmwm8dJ8

Update: The Memorial has since issued an apology and has vowed to permit those that wish to sing the National Anthem to do so.

Source: WLOS