This prom photo-- featuring a group of students huddled around a Confederate flag while holding guns-- is stirring up major controversy, and now one student pictured is saying that the idea simply wasn't cool.

The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, says she's seen the error of her ways. “It’s hard to say sorry when that’s the only thing that can come out of my mouth right now,” she said to Fox 31 Denver. “I feel like there should be a better word for it.”

Perhaps inadvertently, these eight students of Chaparral High School in Parker, Colorado, have created a national media firestorm. The unorthodox photo was taken just before prom, with several of the kids' parents looking on. Once the photo was posted to social media, though, it became clear that what may have started as a joke may have gone a bit too far.

One parent (who wasn't present when the photo was taken) is now speaking out, claiming that her son only participated in the photo because of peer pressure.

“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,” she said.

She continued to explain that at school, her son was "hanging out with boys who think it’s cool to be on the rebellious side, and they stand for a ‘pro-America’ type of thing." She did not, however, approve.

“I had previously seen one of the kids he hangs out with hanging that flag in the back of his truck, and we warned our son. We said, ‘Do you know what this means?’ and he said, ‘It just means pro-country, Southern stuff,’ and we said, ‘No, it means a lot more than that — it can be considered racist, and it’s going to bring out a lot of emotions, so don’t go close to that.’”

“Why didn’t the parents stand up and say, ‘Guys, this is wrong’?" added the unidentified mom. "'Do you know what that flag means? Do you know the history behind it?’ It would have been a teaching moment.”

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