In Canada they make you sing the national anthem in English and French in elementary schools. At least they did when I was a kid. I don’t know about now.
I also had this French teacher who was fiercely patriotic. She’d recount stories of her ancestors that fought in civil wars and were on the front lines of the musket brigade.
In my Catholic highschool we had to recite the Our Father and Hail Mary. Only they’d do it weirdly where the principal would say the first half over the PA and the students would say the other half.
Well, at my school, there was no forced punishment for not doing the pledge. It was pretty much dependent on the home room teacher, but I never heard of any conflicts anyway. My homeroom teacher didn’t care.
Honestly, I know I wouldn’t have had bullshit like that, but hearing about other schools make me pretty glad I went to a school where they tolerated pretty much everything.
Well as someone who is going to be a middle school teacher, I would encourage students to pay attention to world events and come up with their own opinions. If they believe that they have suffiicient grounds not to stand for the pledge, then more power to them. But as a teacher, I’d probably be forced to stand, which doesn’t bother me. I was kind of stupid as a junior in high school, and while I still don’t agree with making people stand for the pledge, I’ve realized that the pledge of allegience isn’t about world events, it’s about what this country stands for. The pledge of allegience outlines the founding principals of this country, and as someone who believes in this country and what it stands for, then I pledge allegience.
Sure, we all may not agree with our country does and how it runs, but as far as those fundamentals go, I’m all for it.
I agree with Sorc on this one. Here in Texas, we have to say the Pledge of Allegiance every day in school, and recently, we’ve had to say the Texas Pledge of Allegiance as well. Now that I’m in PESH, or my new Senior High School anyway, we don’t say either of them anymore, I’ll be darned why.
I’ve been saying the pledge of allegaince since I was in kindergarden and I don’t understand the whole controversy with it. It’s disrespectful to most if you don’t say it or don’t even bother standing up, but hey, do what you want. I remember though, my teachers would get mad if you didn’t even bother standing up or reciting it at all, and I could understand why. Now, when people just stood up and didn’t bother saying the Texas pledge of allegiance, well, I could understand that.
Unlike Steve though, you’d just get a chewing out from the teacher if you didn’t bother standing up and saying the pledge, a well-deserved one to me anyway. It wasn’t like she cussed you out or anything. You didn’t get any real trouble, you were just perceived as a lazy person, and usually, as far as I can tell, that was the main reason why most people didn’t do it.
It could’ve been worse. You could’ve had a state religion and schools and kindergardens could’ve had it written in law that they’re to indoctrinate children, pupils and students with Christanity. You know, like it, at least formally, is in Norway.
Pledging allegiance is, from my point of view, a form of subserviance. Basically, you swear that you will give your allegiance, come hell or high water, to a country which may or may not act alongside your beliefs.
However, that’s just my opinion and not reflective of any sort of higher truth.
Subservience indeed. One thing is standing for the country itself, but some people keep trying to pass on the image that the rulers are the nation. One way or another, people who don’t share those beliefs shouldn’t be forced to pledge allegiance. Besides, how many people actually believe that stuff, and how many are just force fed it and forced to act that way just to please the rulemakers?
I also think this is connected with that whole “with us or against us” crap that seems to be the current administration’s general attitude. At this rate, they’ll be calling people unpatriotic for refusing to bother with the pledge, or for not being baseball fans, or for not endorsing whatever idiotic thing comes up next. What are they going to do next, call people terrorists for having divergent opinions?
Wow… Middle School. In my middle school, they had us stand for the pledge every Monday.
It wasn’t required at my middle school. On the loudspeaker the vice principle would say “For those willing, please rise for the pledge… yada yada…”.
The only time I actually had to stand was throughout the few months I went to Elementary in the US, but for most of that time, I was too young and ignorant to know any different.
In high school, we never even heard the pledge on a regular basis. The only times I can think of were on Veteran’s Day and whatnot. I’ll keep track this year though.
At my school, we had principal that used to be a drill sergant (or some military thing, I don’t remember what exactly), and everyday we heard the pledge of allegiance, and every Monday the Star Spangled Banner. I didn’t stand for either most of the time, or just stood silently, I don’t remember which. The point of this story is that the guy was the biggest fucking doucebag ever, period.
Nah, I’m not saying he’s a douce because of the military thing. Practically nobody (teachers included, in fact, most of my teachers that year openly bitched about him) liked him.
