Todd Livingston, athletic director for the South Portland schools, created something of a social media furor recently when he tweeted out new protocols for athletes, coaches and fans to follow during the playing of the national anthem.

Livingston said the directive was not related to the national debate now raging about professional athletes refusing to stand for the anthem, but instead is an extension of the school department’s core values of “respect, excellence and tradition.”

In his tweet, Livingston said that when the national anthem is played, all those in attendance should stand and place their right hand over their heart. In addition, anyone not in uniform who is wearing a hat should remove it.

In his 15 years as a coach and administrator, Livingston said he’s never seen a student refuse to participate in the national anthem. He said the new protocol stems in part from a coaches retreat when a consensus was reached that “our players should address the national anthem in the appropriate way.”

He added, “This is just something that the coaches and I agreed to work with our teams on,” while also recognizing that, “just like the ‘Pledge of Allegiance,’ (it’s) certainly their choice” not to participate.

However, following Livingston’s tweet, a number of students have asked school administrators to clarify that people can’t be compelled to take any kind of action during the playing of the national anthem, something both Superintendent of Schools Ken Kunin and high school Principal Ryan Caron agree about.

Ellen Stanton, a high school senior, said it feels similar to the last school year, when students argued that they should not be pressured into standing and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

“Both cases deal with civil rights as it overlaps with patriotism. Both situations involve people confusing peaceful protest with a rejection of American values, when, in fact, peaceful protest is a right of all Americans,” Stanton, 17, said last week.

Jasmine McKenzie, also 17 and a senior, said that, just like last school year it’s important for the staff to emphasize that participation during the Pledge and the anthem is optional.

“I feel like, with some specific wording that is being used, it may be assumed by reading these (tweets) that (students) are being required, when that is not the case,” McKenzie said.

Stanton added, “It would help if the administration clarified that there are multiple ways, including peaceful protest, to be respectful during the national anthem.”

But while Paul L’Heureux, state adjutant for the American Legion Department of Maine, understands students have the right to not participate in either the Pledge or the national anthem, he argued they should keep in mind that somebody paid for that right.

“Sometimes people forget what that stands for. Even though you have the liberty not to, many veterans died in order for that freedom to be acquired,” L’Heureux said. “We look at that (gesture) as respect for those who have protected those rights.”

Staff writer Kate Irish Collins contributed to this report.

This is how Todd Livingston, athletic director for the South Portland schools, wants athletes to show proper respect for the national anthem.