My fellow parents of teenagers: I’d just like to remind you that we are actually old enough to have spent the past two decades on the Internet, and that our kids have grown up online. So you really need to get it through your heads that if you choose to document and share your family’s poorly thought-out escapades, it might get around.We are deep in the throes of prom season, and with it, the annual deluge of viral-ready prom related news stories. There are the sweet ones — like the straight kid who asked his gay best friend to go with him. And there are the “Oh my God I can’t believe this is happening in 2015″ ones — like the Wisconsin school that wanted prom to be “a night to protect her character,” or the plus-sized student who faced suspension for her dress because, she says, the assistant principal told her, “You have more boobs than other girls. The other girls have less to show.” And then there’s a group of students from Chaparral High School, and their stunningly retro prom picture.

As Fox 31 in Denver first reported, when a photograph of a group of local prom-goers showed up in the Facebook feed of local CU Boulder student Mairenn Digeorge, she was stunned at the image — five teen females and three males posing with rifles and surrounding a large Confederate flag. The caption was, “The south will rise again.” Arctic Cat 500 Atv Oil CapacityWhile reporter Chris Jose notes that the photo depicted no law-breaking, the wisdom of flaunting a message with such racist and threatening implications, surrounded by guns, is questionable to say the least.Vintage Thundercats Toys For SaleBut one of the parents of the kids in the photo was surprised about the picture too. Restoration Hardware Curtains Reviews

Speaking on condition of anonymity, she said, “When he got out there he was surprised that guns were brought out and the Confederate flag was brought out. There were other parents there fully supporting it and taking pictures.” She added, “I think in their immaturity they kind of think it is a cowboy thing, but to have parents feed into it and support it is really upsetting to me.” You have to wonder why, then, she didn’t speak up at the time and say she’d prefer her son opt out. But the compassionate thing is also to remember that it’s hard to be the lone voice in a crowd, when everyone else seems to take something you object to as totally normal.On Tuesday, one of the girls from the photograph — also on condition of anonymity — echoed that discomfort. She issued an apology, saying, “It’s hard to say sorry when that’s the only thing that can come out of my mouth right now. I feel like there should be a better word for it. I was very uncomfortable with this whole situation and didn’t know what to say or what to do.

I don’t condone any of the actions that were in the picture and I don’t condone anything that has to do with the flag. I feel everyone struggles with trying to do the right thing at the right time. It was just difficult for me to voice that and stop what was going on.”Lots of people, not just in the south, have strong feelings about the Confederate flag, and believe it symbolizes more than its traditional Civil War usage. Debate over that imagery and meaning persists. The tenacious hold that flag has on certain segments of our country hardwired into our American culture. Just earlier this year in Texas, the state’s Supreme Court weighed whether motorists should be allowed to display Confederate flags on their license plates. But while I know I’m just an uppity Yankee, I think it’s fair to say that as author James McPherson says, “The Confederate flag is now symbolic of both slavery and white supremacy and of the relationship between the two of them.” And what’s astonishing and sad about that prom picture isn’t just that it’s a bunch of gun-toting kids gathered around that symbol, it’s the thought that they were ignorant of its meaning.

As Mairenn Digeorge told Fox 31, “If you’re going to take a picture with a flag, you need to know what it stands for. You need to know people are going to be offended by it.”CROSBY, Minn. -- What could have been a tense situation Tuesday morning at Crosby-Ironton High School resulted in a compromise between school officials and a student.Senior Cody Nelson was sent home for the day Monday morning after he arrived at the school parking lot with a Confederate flag displayed from the back window of his white Ford Taurus.Tuesday, he returned with his mother Dorene Nelson and few supportive family friends and met with school officials about his return. After meeting for nearly an hour, Dorene Nelson said Cody would finish out the school week and park on a street on the north side of the school before graduating with his classmates Friday."We went in there with a positive attitude today and not to cause any problems with the school," Dorene Nelson said. "We went in there believing in what we believe in, the Confederate flag and the American flag and respect for the school."

The group met with Superintendent Jamie Skjeveland and Cody's school counselor, Dorene Nelson said. Cody agreed to compromise with the school on where he can fly the flag on his car, family friend Curt Shannon said."The school representatives themselves were very accommodating," Shannon said. "They were very respectful."School officials also said they would look at their policy on school dress and appearance, family friend Joe Pozega said, in order to prevent a situation like Tuesday's from happening again."I think everybody came out happy," Pozega said.Skjeveland said he couldn't comment on the meeting with the Nelsons, citing Minnesota's Data Practices Act, which outlines the privacy of data relating to public school students. The school will continue to focus on its goal of providing a good education for its students, he said, and preparing them for college and the workforce.Cody was relieved, confident and proud, Dorene Nelson said, after the situation Tuesday morning was over."He's got kind of a swagger to him that he stood up," Pozega said.

"And the stress is gone."The group is proud of the outcome, Dorene Nelson said. She's got two more children who will attend the high school, "so each year is a new year," she said."I guess we'll see where we stand on going for the future," Dorene Nelson said. "And we will continue to stand proud for whatever we believe in and we're not going to stop."Cody's flying of the Confederate flag is his right, Dorene Nelson said."We have the right to be who we are and we should stand up for what we believe in and that's what this kid went for," Dorene Nelson. "And I stood behind him 100 percent along with these fine folks."Ryan Johnson and Bill Philstrom stopped by the school's student parking lot Tuesday morning because Philstrom's son brought a note home from school Monday telling parents about the possible situation Tuesday, Johnson said."This struck a chord with me," Johnson said. "People say the flag represents slavery and it doesn't. The Civil War wasn't fought over slavery, it was fought over currency.

It only became about slavery near the end."The Confederate flag is a part of the country's history, Johnson said, and many people don't bother to research what the flag represents."There's a lot of assumptions out there," Johnson said. "People take what's fed to them, they don't do the research."The issue with Cody's Nelson's Confederate flag is an issue of free speech, Johnson said."If someone identifies with the Confederate flag, they have the freedom of expression to fly it," Johnson said. "It's freedom of speech, period. The Constitution guarantees liberty not comfort."The Confederate flag isn't a racist symbol, Philstrom said, and "none of us believes in racism at all."Philstrom's son has been wearing a belt buckle with a Confederate flag on it for a long time, he said, but only yesterday started to get picked on for wearing it."He wore it every other day and today it's an issue," Philstrom said.After the Nelsons went into the school, a group of three vehicles driven by students showed up to show their support.

Two Dodge trucks and a Chevrolet Blazer between them flew a Confederate flag, an American flag and a Gadsden flag, which features a rattlesnake and the words "Don't Tread on Me."The vehicles made laps around the school and parked briefly in two different spots on an avenue across from the student parking lot. At one point, a male student climbed on top of the Blazer and held up the Gadsden flag."Rebel for life, it's not racist," he said as he held the flag.Philstrom's son was among the students in the vehicles and was joined by another student with a Confederate flag belt buckle. At one point they parked on the street next to a "No Parking at Any Time" sign, shortly after which they were asked to move.Students filed into the school while the vehicles were parked nearby and a few commented on their presence, but many seemed to ignore them."All of this is for nothing," a female student said. "I go to school with idiots.""Story of my life," responded the male student walking with her.Two Crosby Police squad cars were parked at the entrances to the student parking lot.