Do they do the pledge of allegiance in your kids' school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Florida schools still do it in K-5. Private and public, we had kids in both, then moved here.

I think that history books have been pretty scrubbed since my school days plus lots of revisionalism going on plus what kids read in the mass media.

Knowing the pledge - or any U.S. history as is - is going the way of the dinosaurs. Plus many who live here were not born/raised here and don't care about baseball, March madness, hot dogs, U.S. history, etc.

What a way to define American cultural identity.

There is no sense of identity nor belonging nowadays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was an immigrant kid who went to K-12 in Montgomery County public schools where the pledge was said every day during morning announcements.

It had zero effect of brainwashing me or instilling patriotism in any way. It actually probably resulted in the opposite. At some point in high school I chose to stand but stop saying it and I took over 30 years to become a citizen specifically because I didn't feel patriotism toward this country.

Everything else I learned in school about critical thinking and free will and so forth clearly was more effective than any Pledge of Allegiance brainwashing. Raise your kids to be independent thinkers and the Pledge will be nothing but a blip in their day. The fact that it was so ritualistic made it meaningless, kind of like brushing your teeth every morning.

Why stay here if you dislike America so much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Florida schools still do it in K-5. Private and public, we had kids in both, then moved here.

I think that history books have been pretty scrubbed since my school days plus lots of revisionalism going on plus what kids read in the mass media.

Knowing the pledge - or any U.S. history as is - is going the way of the dinosaurs. Plus many who live here were not born/raised here and don't care about baseball, March madness, hot dogs, U.S. history, etc.

What a way to define American cultural identity.

There is no sense of identity nor belonging nowadays.

There's plenty. It's just that hot dogs aren't a major component.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Florida schools still do it in K-5. Private and public, we had kids in both, then moved here.

I think that history books have been pretty scrubbed since my school days plus lots of revisionalism going on plus what kids read in the mass media.

Knowing the pledge - or any U.S. history as is - is going the way of the dinosaurs. Plus many who live here were not born/raised here and don't care about baseball, March madness, hot dogs, U.S. history, etc.

What a way to define American cultural identity.

Pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Florida schools still do it in K-5. Private and public, we had kids in both, then moved here.

I think that history books have been pretty scrubbed since my school days plus lots of revisionalism going on plus what kids read in the mass media.

Knowing the pledge - or any U.S. history as is - is going the way of the dinosaurs. Plus many who live here were not born/raised here and don't care about baseball, March madness, hot dogs, U.S. history, etc.

What a way to define American cultural identity.

There is no sense of identity nor belonging nowadays.

There's plenty. It's just that hot dogs aren't a major component.

It depends on your community. We moved to a smaller area - out of Mo Co. Sense of community centers on parades, local farmers' market, family-run businesses, schools on one compound, generations of families staying in the community, and plenty of successful graduates who move into exciting careers. So yes, a good hot dog is a staple for certain events.

In Mo Co, there was no sense of community, especially for my kids b/c the schools were too big, and the split articulation divided communities.

no thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wasn't born in this country and I am uncomfortable about the idea of my kids doing it

This is why many of us are frustrated. You want to come here and benefit from the economy and from the protection of your rights, but don't feel "allegiance"? This is a civic ritual, and if it "brainwashes" kids into valuing "liberty and justice for all", I'm good.

Simmer down, Jethro. I was born here, and it's likely that many of my ancestors were here long before yours. My daughter is a DAR through multiple branches of lineage. And I'm just as uncomfortable with it as the previous PP. It's not about where you came from, it's about valuing critical thinking and dispassionate assessment over brainwashing and ritualistic, unreasoning loyalty.

Ancestor envy? No, you can't trump my colonial ancestors. Looking around our country, it doesn't seem like we need to worry about an overabundance of loyalty to America.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was an immigrant kid who went to K-12 in Montgomery County public schools where the pledge was said every day during morning announcements.

It had zero effect of brainwashing me or instilling patriotism in any way. It actually probably resulted in the opposite. At some point in high school I chose to stand but stop saying it and I took over 30 years to become a citizen specifically because I didn't feel patriotism toward this country.

Everything else I learned in school about critical thinking and free will and so forth clearly was more effective than any Pledge of Allegiance brainwashing. Raise your kids to be independent thinkers and the Pledge will be nothing but a blip in their day. The fact that it was so ritualistic made it meaningless, kind of like brushing your teeth every morning.

Why stay here if you dislike America so much?

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It depends on your community. We moved to a smaller area - out of Mo Co. Sense of community centers on parades, local farmers' market, family-run businesses, schools on one compound, generations of families staying in the community, and plenty of successful graduates who move into exciting careers. So yes, a good hot dog is a staple for certain events.

In Mo Co, there was no sense of community, especially for my kids b/c the schools were too big, and the split articulation divided communities.

no thanks

That depends on

1. the characteristics you think of, when you think of a sense of community
2. what you do while living in Montgomery County

Montgomery County certainly has plenty of parades, farmers' markets, family-run businesses, schools that are next to other schools, people who live in Montgomery County who were born in Montgomery County, and successful graduates who move into exciting careers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was an immigrant kid who went to K-12 in Montgomery County public schools where the pledge was said every day during morning announcements.

It had zero effect of brainwashing me or instilling patriotism in any way. It actually probably resulted in the opposite. At some point in high school I chose to stand but stop saying it and I took over 30 years to become a citizen specifically because I didn't feel patriotism toward this country.

Everything else I learned in school about critical thinking and free will and so forth clearly was more effective than any Pledge of Allegiance brainwashing. Raise your kids to be independent thinkers and the Pledge will be nothing but a blip in their day. The fact that it was so ritualistic made it meaningless, kind of like brushing your teeth every morning.

Why stay here if you dislike America so much?

I see nothing about "dislike America" in the PP.

Not wanting to be patriotic is clearly not the same as "dislike". People can like the country as a tool, as something they can use, but not as a master or something they need to respect.
It is not my choice but I understand people can have those feelings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Florida schools still do it in K-5. Private and public, we had kids in both, then moved here.

I think that history books have been pretty scrubbed since my school days plus lots of revisionalism going on plus what kids read in the mass media.

Knowing the pledge - or any U.S. history as is - is going the way of the dinosaurs. Plus many who live here were not born/raised here and don't care about baseball, March madness, hot dogs, U.S. history, etc.

What a way to define American cultural identity.

There is no sense of identity nor belonging nowadays.

There's plenty. It's just that hot dogs aren't a major component.

It depends on your community. We moved to a smaller area - out of Mo Co. Sense of community centers on parades, local farmers' market, family-run businesses, schools on one compound, generations of families staying in the community, and plenty of successful graduates who move into exciting careers. So yes, a good hot dog is a staple for certain events.

In Mo Co, there was no sense of community, especially for my kids b/c the schools were too big, and the split articulation divided communities.

no thanks

+1000

It’s not clear what examples any PP can provide that demonstrate a cohesive, team, cultural identity in america right now.
If you think tons of silo’d multiculturalism = sense of America Community then that’s a no. Didn’t work so hot in England tiger. All you have is a bunch of factions.

My parents generation grew up with different temples and churches in every corner in every language but get what? Every generation learned English in a couple years, played in the park and baseball together, watched the same TV shows, listened to the same music on the radio. People came to America and embraced it. They did not come to America and reject it and barely assimilate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

+1000

It’s not clear what examples any PP can provide that demonstrate a cohesive, team, cultural identity in america right now.
If you think tons of silo’d multiculturalism = sense of America Community then that’s a no. Didn’t work so hot in England tiger. All you have is a bunch of factions.

My parents generation grew up with different temples and churches in every corner in every language but get what? Every generation learned English in a couple years, played in the park and baseball together, watched the same TV shows, listened to the same music on the radio. People came to America and embraced it. They did not come to America and reject it and barely assimilate.

First, it's not true that every generation learned English in a couple of years. See here, for example: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102523977

Second, people now are learning English just as they used to.

Third, I find this vision of America to be alarmingly conformist - and I was born in the US.