Pledge of Allegiance in School?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify - no one can make your child pledge allegiance. Make sure your child knows this. They don’t have to stand, or recite, etc.
they may want to stand and just keep their mouth closed. Just reminding everyone that no one can make them pledge.

We teach ours to stand and actively participate in the pledge and to be proud of being American.

We teach ours to be engaged citizens and critical thinkers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify - no one can make your child pledge allegiance. Make sure your child knows this. They don’t have to stand, or recite, etc.
they may want to stand and just keep their mouth closed. Just reminding everyone that no one can make them pledge.

We teach ours to stand and actively participate in the pledge and to be proud of being American.

We teach ours to be engaged citizens and critical thinkers.

Ours are all that AND proudly stand and participate in the pledge. Apparently you do not appreciate the many freedoms that we have that other parts of the world wish they had. Try living overseas for a while, it might open your eyes to how wonderful the USA really is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify - no one can make your child pledge allegiance. Make sure your child knows this. They don’t have to stand, or recite, etc.
they may want to stand and just keep their mouth closed. Just reminding everyone that no one can make them pledge.

We teach ours to stand and actively participate in the pledge and to be proud of being American.

We teach ours to be engaged citizens and critical thinkers.

Ours are all that AND proudly stand and participate in the pledge. Apparently you do not appreciate the many freedoms that we have that other parts of the world wish they had. Try living overseas for a while, it might open your eyes to how wonderful the USA really is.

Like freedom of the press? Freedom of speech? The current government does not seem to approve of those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like a bad idea to have kids pledge unquestioning loyalty to an increasingly fascist state every day, IMHO.

then vote and change or put your tail between your legs and move out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes at my kids private school. So all other countries pledge allegiance to the country they live in-as you should. Not pledging allegiance to a cansidate but the country as a whole

No they don't. I lived in eight countries in Europe and Africa and never heard of anything remotely like the pledge. It's a weird American invention that most other cultures find bizarre at best.

Other countries have citizenship oaths, sure, but you only recite them when becoming a citizen for the first time. (Fun fact: the Canadian citizenship oath involves swearing loyalty to the king of England.) Having a pledge that you say on a daily basis, which the US didn't even officially adopt until the 1940s, is pretty unusual. I'd be more on board with something that's actually in our founding documents, like, everyone reciting the preamble to the Constitution.

But as to the OP, our school doesn't do it, in part, because there's no practical time/place. You'd basically need to have a homeroom in the morning with an available flag, which is more a thing in elementary school. I went to a college basketball game recently that had no flag in the arena, so we saluted like a digital projection. It was awkward.

[Anonymous]

For people who don’t see the point, I think it’s nice and builds a sense of group identity and unity that we don’t have nowadays. Yes, I know the words “under God” are in there, but the reality is that our history includes being a Christian nation. That doesn’t mean we are majority Christian now or that we demand citizens uphold Christian values, but I think it’s worth recognizing that history and acknowledging it (including our past mistakes), rather than try to sweep it under the rug.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For people who don’t see the point, I think it’s nice and builds a sense of group identity and unity that we don’t have nowadays. Yes, I know the words “under God” are in there, but the reality is that our history includes being a Christian nation. That doesn’t mean we are majority Christian now or that we demand citizens uphold Christian values, but I think it’s worth recognizing that history and acknowledging it (including our past mistakes), rather than try to sweep it under the rug.

When were we a Christian nation?

The Founding Fathers went to great lengths to separate church and state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For people who don’t see the point, I think it’s nice and builds a sense of group identity and unity that we don’t have nowadays. Yes, I know the words “under God” are in there, but the reality is that our history includes being a Christian nation. That doesn’t mean we are majority Christian now or that we demand citizens uphold Christian values, but I think it’s worth recognizing that history and acknowledging it (including our past mistakes), rather than try to sweep it under the rug.

When were we a Christian nation?

The Founding Fathers went to great lengths to separate church and state.

Not technically founded as Christian nation. Founded in a time of traditionally Christian values and principles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify - no one can make your child pledge allegiance. Make sure your child knows this. They don’t have to stand, or recite, etc.
they may want to stand and just keep their mouth closed. Just reminding everyone that no one can make them pledge.

We teach ours to stand and actively participate in the pledge and to be proud of being American.

We teach ours to be engaged citizens and critical thinkers.

Ours are all that AND proudly stand and participate in the pledge. Apparently you do not appreciate the many freedoms that we have that other parts of the world wish they had. Try living overseas for a while, it might open your eyes to how wonderful the USA really is.

They may have been true a year ago, but we are swiftly seeing our freedoms disappear. Sadly, we are no longer a wonderful place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For people who don’t see the point, I think it’s nice and builds a sense of group identity and unity that we don’t have nowadays. Yes, I know the words “under God” are in there, but the reality is that our history includes being a Christian nation. That doesn’t mean we are majority Christian now or that we demand citizens uphold Christian values, but I think it’s worth recognizing that history and acknowledging it (including our past mistakes), rather than try to sweep it under the rug.

When were we a Christian nation?

The Founding Fathers went to great lengths to separate church and state.

Not technically founded as Christian nation. Founded in a time of traditionally Christian values and principles.

Ah, yes, the good old slavery days. Good Christian values indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For people who don’t see the point, I think it’s nice and builds a sense of group identity and unity that we don’t have nowadays. Yes, I know the words “under God” are in there, but the reality is that our history includes being a Christian nation. That doesn’t mean we are majority Christian now or that we demand citizens uphold Christian values, but I think it’s worth recognizing that history and acknowledging it (including our past mistakes), rather than try to sweep it under the rug.

The “under god” bit was added in 1954, Congress passed the law during the Cold War to distinguish the United States from the atheistic Soviet Union. It’s reactionary and doesn’t reflect our nation as it was intended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like a bad idea to have kids pledge unquestioning loyalty to an increasingly fascist state every day, IMHO.

You should find a country you are happy to live in or make measurable steps to change your situation. I don't want to live around a bunch of whingy whiners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teach your kid to be proud of America and all of it’s freedoms.

I can’t teach a lie. Freedoms dwindling and children embarrassed by USA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like a bad idea to have kids pledge unquestioning loyalty to an increasingly fascist state every day, IMHO.

You should find a country you are happy to live in or make measurable steps to change your situation. I don't want to live around a bunch of whingy whiners.

See, I think people like you should move to China or Russia where an autocracy is well established and thriving since that is what you want. We live in a democracy here and you're not going to change that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a proud American in many respects, but saying the pledge in a daily school context doesn't make sense to me. If you're working for the US government, in the military, or becoming a citizen? Totally get it. But rattling it off before math class or a basketball game always feels weird. Plus:

- My kids' school has a significant international population for whom the US pledge of allegiance literally doesn't apply.
- I don't like invoking the divine outside my own religious observance. It just feels disrespectful.
- I don't think you should take an oath, even a benign/positive one, without really knowing what it means ... and I had no clue what I was saying when I learned the pledge in the early '90s

How else are we going to impose institutionalized indoctrination?!