Emma Ruby
Audio By Carbonatix
It’s election week. Do you know where your kids are?
Over the weekend, a photograph of teenagers holding up a banner that read “Fuck Harris And Fuck You For Voting For Her” circulated on social, with most of the group wearing shirts bearing similar pro-Trump messages. The kids in the photo are simply identified as Dallas private school students.
The strong language and the perceived privilege of the photo’s subjects quickly captured the internet’s attention.
“I’m glad most of these fools aren’t old enough to vote yet,” wrote one user on r/Texas, where the post has over 3,000 upvotes.
“A bunch of rich kids have conservative views? Where could they have learned this from?” another Redditor quipped.
Others called into question the ethics of putting minors on blast for their political beliefs.
“This is pretty inconsequential,” one Redditor wrote. High schoolers are dumb and their political opinions are so skewed towards the views of each other and their nearest respected figure. I don’t feel like this picture is even anything to acknowledge.”
“Bro these kids are dumb and brainwashed but why are you trying to dox them?” asked another commenter.
(It’s worth noting that the kids’ faces are obscured and no identifying information was included in the original post.)
Dallas-based writer and former Observer columnist Jim Schutze confirmed on his Facebook page that this description was accurate and that the teens in question were students at the June Shelton School in Dallas.
Contrary to online assumptions that the teens attended a Christian school, the Shelton School is a school for students with language-based learning differences and has no religious affiliation.
Schutze also revealed that the photo was taken at the home of Dallas City Council candidate Kristal Roberts.
Roberts is running on a platform that includes low taxes, safe roads and clean parks and, according to Schutze’s post, does not agree with the sentiment reflected on the flag.
“The day after Halloween, my family hosted an event for the students of our son’s class. (The event had nothing to do with my campaign),” Roberts tells the Observer. “Several students showed up in various outfits, and some brought flags draped around their necks. I was unaware anyone was bringing the flag in the photo. As soon as I saw it, I instructed the students to put the inappropriate flag away.”
In a statement to the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Democratic precinct chair Pat Hicks claimed that students were told the party would be “America themed” and that Roberts sent the photo in question to a parents group chat after the event.
“I shared the photo with those parents as a courtesy, as I thought they had a right to know,” Roberts tells us.
Roberts did not answer our question about who took the photo or where she was at the time it was taken, though she did clarify that she invited other parents to chaperone the event and they declined.
The Shelton School did not respond to our request for comment.
