[dekeguy]

I don't think anyone would seriously challenge the kid's action in courageously standing up for his honestly held convictions. However, as the point has been made several times in this thread one can do so without being rude and ill mannered. I suspect this kid figured out what he could get away with and pushed the point to the consternation of his teacher and probably some if not most of his classmates. Telling his teacher to go jump off a bridge undermines his stance on principle and reveals him as a rude attention seeking little nerd. I think it comes under the heading of knowing when to stand up for what one believes and when to shut up.
I am a combat veteran and I willingly put my neck on the line to defend the freedoms this kid exercised. No problem so far. But, when he was rude and disruptive he lowered himself to the level of a spoiled brat and that alters things a bit.
I am reminded of the dialog in, I believe, "A Man For All Seasons" when King Henry VIII begins to exercise powers he had previously refrained from employing to force his will.
Sir Thomas Moore is talking with his successor as Lord Chancellor, Sir Richard Cromwell. "Ah Master Cromwell, this is an evil day, you have taught him what he CAN do, not what he SHOULD do".