10 Year Old Takes Stand Against Pledge of Allegiance, by Sitting
A 10-year-old boy Arkansas boy got into a bit of trouble at school when he refused to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance. The thing is, he had his parents' permission not to.
According to KNWA-TV, the boy, whose first name was not released, came home from school a couple of weeks and told his parents he didn't feel right saying the pledge. He said he didn't believe there was "liberty and justice for all," especially for gays. His parents said he didn't have to say it if he didn't want to.
Last week, there was a subsitute teacher in the class, and she kept prodding the boy to stand. Finally, he exploded and yelled at her. "Don't push him - four days of hassle, hassle, hassle and raise your voice," said Laura Phillips, the boy's mother. "He's going to lose his temper."
Phillips said she and her husband reprimanded the boy for talking back to a teacher. But other than that, they fully support their son. "He is not anti-American," Phillips said. "He is very proud to live here, but he knows even at 10 he can make changes." She said she told her son others might have problems with his stand, but he said he is ready for them.
"We would like to have the school make sure the teachers know the kids do have the right to sit down and make their own choices, even if he is only 10 and in 5th grade," Phillips said.
The West Fork School District responded by saying that it doesn't require students to say the pledge. The school did not punish the boy.
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The boy could have at least shown some level of respect by standing. I have no problem with not saying the Pledge, but I do have an issue with not standing. Further, to those who are against the Pledge, consider yourselves fortunate that you were granted citizenship upon birth. Natualized Citizens must take a pledge. Should we stop that too? Just curious.
We had the same problem in our school . My kids now in 4th and 5th grade have never stood for the Pledge. And yes, early on we had these same problems.
The state and district policy always has been that kids don't have to participate, but who knew? After 3 years of working with the district: teachers are informed of the policy, yearly; it is in the parent handbook; it is read to parents at back to school night; and the principal now starts the daily call to the pledge with "If you are going to say the Pledge, please stand. If you aren't going to you may stand or sit quietly." I like the idea of signs! It is very important to be clear about this, what with principal, teacher and peers acting as if participation were expected behavior as it is with every other school activity.
Now are kids have company in their seats during the Pledge for no other reason than the policy and choice is clear to everyone.
Moby,
We'll believe you're serious when we see you out standing at attention to the flag every morning, like you want to make kids do. People who want to pressure little kids into their way of thinking and acting are just plain bullies.
However, good point about Naturalized Citizens. I'm all for kids in school saying the Pledge ONCE in kindergarten and then it's done with. Even better, have them sign it and put it in a file where it can be pulled out to show to any doubters. Would signing it in blood help? Or.... is it not really a pledge but a ploy to create ardent, unthinking nationalism so that socialism will go down easier. (Oh, that's right, that's why Bellamy wrote the Pledge of Allegiance in the first place!)
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What is wrong with showing respect for this country? What is wrong with teaching children that this is the best country in the world? What is wrong with teaching them to respect symbols of freedom, liberty and to at least respect those who have come before them and sacrificed so much so that they live in a free country? Children are taught to think certain ways everyday of their live, but suddenly, when it comes to encouraging them to be respectful of their country, you want to allow them to think for themselves? Right.
Moby,
I agree, let's show kids that we respect freedom. Nothing wrong with that - first by respecting and supporting their freedom, second by living free ourselves. This 10-year old knows more about the pledge than any 5th grader I ever heard of (my daughter is one). He knows what "liberty and justice" mean? Amazing!. And he is already light years ahead of his peers in not bowing to peer pressure; but more than that, not even caving in to direct threats from grown-ups (who apparently never got the message about liberty after all those years of saying the Pledge.
And let's get one thing clear, the flag or pledge to it have never been about honoring soldiers and war. (America's worship at the altar of militarism is another subject.) The aim was pure and simple nationalism.
How soon we forget that Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nazi Germany were among the first to be persecuted for refusing to stand during the Sieg Heil salute, which so closely resembles our Pledge of Allegiance salute. Even the appearance of forcing a loyalty oath on our citizens, especially hapless children , crosses a line that is un-American.
Everyone should understand that there is more to the Supreme Court ruling that applies here than just declaring it unconstitutional to force kids to stand for the Pledge. The majority opinion in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, written by Justice Robert Jackson in 1943, became one of the great statements in American constitutional law and history.
"If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics , nationalism, religion , or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."
The true legacy of Barnette is less its jurisprudence than its defense of the principles of freedom. Justice Jackson continued, "Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard."
So stop and think for a minute what kind of patriot you, yourself, are by where you stand on this basic principal we call freedom.
This type of respect needs a different name though.
True respect must be earned, and I see no reason why it should be less earned from a child than from the rest.
Perhaps he should be made to explain why is not willing to pledge. If he is willing to put as much effort into that, then more power to him.
Standing is capitulation if you are refusing to pledge to express you grievance or unwillingness to vow allegiance.
The fact we make children do this before they have the experience and knowledge to make a qualified decision is shameful in my opinion. It just teaches them to accept and idea without understanding it or questioning it.
Not healthy for a free people.
Mandating someone give allegiance to a country's symbol or flag is the first sign of fascist nationalism - I have no idea why this is even in our country. The founding fathers would be in horror if they knew that school children regularly gave allegiance to a national symbol, they would view it as an act of infringement on the rights of the individual and an act of fascism (though the term did not exist at that time).
Indeed, the very idea of a Pledge of Allegiance is invalidated when the Pledge is mandated.
I have given my daughter permission to leave the words "under God" out when she recites the pledge at school , and I do so in solidarity with her.
She is 8, and is autistic . She is very concrete in her perceptions and decided at the age of 5 that she did not believe in God. I believe in God strongly, but I also believe that God created my little autistic child and understands the permutations of her mind. I believe strongly that no one in a country which claims religious freedom for all should be required to recite a pledge of national allegiance which forces them to subscribe to or confess a belief in God whether they in fact believe in God or not.
Therefore I have encouraged my daughter to be true to herself and to leave the words "under God" out when she recites the pledge. It shouldn't be there in the first place, and if anyone at school ever challenges her, I will be right there to back her up to the hilt.
Respects the differing religious beliefs of their 8 year old autistc child? Color me impressed, Babaroni!
It's not everyday you run into admirable parents like you.
*Takes a bow*
Pledging loyalty to your country is a great thing, most would agree on this. I've said the pledge of allegiance many times in my life, and I've sat out a few times.
In all of the classrooms in my school back in high school, there were signs that in so many words said you didn't have to stand for the pledge if you didn't want to. In an English class one year I sat on the desk that the sign was posted on the side of. The teacher forced another student who chose not to participate in the pledge, so for the remainder of that class I chose not to stand for the pledge either.
I didn't do it out of spite for my country, I did it because one of the great things about our country is that we're free (unless the government decides it needs to protect us from ourselves, which is a whole other gripe all together). If the other student didn't want to stand, he shouldn't have to. His reason doesn't matter, it's beside the point. I don't care if he was a Jehovah's Witness or just some dumb kid who thinks that sitting during the pledge make him 'edgy'. It shouldn't matter, and in fact doesn't matter.