Many apologies if this has been done a million times before…
It is my understanding that in American schools each morning it is required for students to stand and recite the pledge and swear loyalty to America.
I think this is very very wrong. I don’t believe it is right to force children to swear aliegence to a country they did not choose to live in. I don’t beleve it is right to brainwash children into believing their country is especially blessed over any other.
In my childhood I was an Austalian (guess how freeky my accent is!) and they have a similar practise there but not being Australian I refused to do it and was exempt. What would happen in an American school if this happened?
Is it right or wrong to salute the flag? I think wrong and I cannot shake the uneasy feeling that this practise has parallells in fundamentalism…
I agree that forced oaths of loyalty are a Very Bad Thing. On the other hand, I think that most Americans, and especially the schoolkids, don’t think of the Pledge as some kind of solemn oath. Most just stand up and go along with it, not really taking it too seriously. That said, I would be very upset if I had a child that went to a school that required it as a matter of policy. I would be more upset if the (public) school allowed group prayer, but that is a different question.
I said it in grade school when I was growing up (1970’s) but we didn’t have it in middle or high school (approx. age 11-17). Most kids didn’t take it seriously once they’d been in school a couple years, and just kind of mumbled along after the teacher as part of the morning ritual (“I pwedge awwaga to the faa oda Unida Saa…”), much like putting away your bookbags and having #2 pencils ready. I have no idea if it was mandatory or not.