Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigD
I agree – though practice may differ from principle.
As I described in post #32, my experience 1960-1975 was that, per 1943’s West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette SCOTUS decision, reciting the Pledge was in fact entirely voluntary.
There’ve been enough reports from people with more recent experience, that I suspect that some US public schools are out of compliance with the law. Such things do happen, and can be very trying (no pun intended) for those involved. |
I had a teacher in the 4th grade who got mad at me for not standing up during the pledge; I was fixing up some last minute 'bell ringer' assignments, and she saw me not standing and came up to me, grabbed my arm, pulled me up, and said 'You're being very disrespectful.' Well, of course, being nine, I was flustered. But I wish I would have known back then that I could have looked her in the eye and told her it was my right not to pledge, as it was not critical to my learning, and plus, it was a Supreme Court decision. I realise that the biggest problems where this occurs is Elementary schools, where kids can't stand up for themselves, really, and they don't know that they don't have to.
