Pledge of Allegiance

I had to recite it during my American citizen ceremony thing at the court house.
I was really small at the time and I remmeber being most uncomfortable beign held by this old lady who made me place my hands over my heart and say things that were French to me at the time.

not tryign to offend.... but
if it was the national anthem, I will stand
but I don't really see what purpose the pledge serves.....
one nation under god.... puts me off

Aren't there better things for people to recite and remember?

not tryign to offend.... but
if it was the national anthem, I will stand
but I don't really see what purpose the pledge serves.....
one nation under god.... puts me off

I completely agree with you on this one.  I actually like the Star Spangled Banner but detest the Pledge of Allegiance.  If I had to move back to the USA and were coerced into saying it, I'd find a way out of it.  A classmate of mine who was a Jehovah's Witness was granted amnesty from having to fall into line, so I'd use that one if I had to, whatever it took.  Blech.

I agree.  Although I don't think it's sinister (there's no sinister text in the pledge as far as I'm concerned), I think it's inappropriate for 5 year olds to be taught to recite something they don't even understand.  I think teaching civics would be so much more beneficial.  Teach them about our system of government when they are young.  And as they get older teach them their rights and responsibilities as American citizens.  Lower the voting age to 16, so that High School students can be encouraged to go out and vote in elections.

It is illegal to force kids to say the pledge.  You didn't need to opt kids out of it in my school. 

I wish that had been the case at my school.  We (as kids) didn't know our rights, so we were all told by our teacher to do it, and we all did as we were told (this was back in the good old days, of course).

The only exception we knew about was the Jehovah's Witness I mentioned earlier who was exempted from it.

I agree.  Although I don't think it's sinister (there's no sinister text in the pledge as far as I'm concerned), I think it's inappropriate for 5 year olds to be taught to recite something they don't even understand.  I think teaching civics would be so much more beneficial.  Teach them about our system of government when they are young.  And as they get older teach them their rights and responsibilities as American citizens.  Lower the voting age to 16, so that High School students can be encouraged to go out and vote in elections.

I completely agree that all kids should learn about their country's government and how it works and about all the different branches, but I don't think letting 16 yr olds vote is the answer.  Honestly, I'm not even sure at times if 18 is responsible enough! When I was 18, I sure didn't feel as though I was ready to vote for president. Fortunately, the next presidential election wasn't until I was 21, but I still don't know if I was informed or just "following along" with what I was told by various people....at least at 29 this past year, I felt I finally knew enough through my own research to understand what I was doing and what my options were.

It is illegal to force kids to say the pledge.  You didn't need to opt kids out of it in my school.  But if your kids are little and they don't say it I can see the teacher mentioning it. 

Speaking as the mother of a boy in kindergarten, I didn't even think about kids saying the Pledge until I witnessed it firsthand. And my son has never mentioned anything about it at home.

I'm guessing a lot of parents are like me: not totally 100% on top of my game all the time, and not remembering/thinking about things like this that may be happening at school. So, many kids wouldn't even know that they didn't have to say the Pledge. Who at school would tell them that?

I do think the Pledge is harmful.  Yeah, I think the under God thing is offensive, even though I am not an atheist or agnostic, but I would think that the Pledge is inappropriate even if that wasn't added to it.

I don't think I mind the Pledge of Allegiance as much as I minded the prayers and hymn-singing in UK state schools.  You could have your kids excused -- yes, but that only makes them stand out as odd and they hate that.  AND I remember when they added the "under God" thing!! And in those days we had to recite the Lord's prayer, which I did kind of mind.
What really bothers me is how when they have local parades and wreath-laying (e.g. Memorial Day, Veteran's Day) the men and boys hardly ever take off their hats when taps is played.  I think that is so disrespectful to the fallen we are supposed to be honoring.  The attitude seems to be "Oh wow here's a fun event we can take the kids to"  No one seems to think about what it really means.

I thought they took 'under God' out of it a few years ago, since it wasn't in the pledge originally?

No, it was still in there!

Speaking as the mother of a boy in kindergarten, I didn't even think about kids saying the Pledge until I witnessed it firsthand. And my son has never mentioned anything about it at home.

I'm guessing a lot of parents are like me: not totally 100% on top of my game all the time, and not remembering/thinking about things like this that may be happening at school. So, many kids wouldn't even know that they didn't have to say the Pledge. Who at school would tell them that?

I know.  It is an issue and if they didn't know no one would probably tell them.  I think it is more of an issue as they get older and start to question things.

I dunno ... way I look at it is if you go to a State school, you can expect them to require some kind of "allegiance", same as if you go to a Church school you would expect them to require prayers, etc.  Indoctrination at age 5 or 6 is a little young but I'm not that bothered.  I think things have changed a lot in education -- once upon a time there was a lot of memorization required, not just ABC's but poems and songs and so on.  So the Pledge was just another thing you had to learn.  I did teach it to my kids but I certainly never required them to recite it!  I thought of it as just another part of their American heritage that they should know about.

I never got the pledge or allegiance... in my town it everyday from the first day of kindergarten through the last day of high school... I'm sure I never even gave it a second thought and just did it because that's what you did...
Doesn't mean anything to me now and it certainly hasn't brainwashed me- I know all the words, but they are meaningless to me.  

Now, Civics class, on the hand, was a great class.  It was really, finally, great to be able to understand the US government and I lapped it up at the age of 13 when I took it. But then again, I've always been a dork!!!
I need a UK govt civics class!!!

But sending a child to a Church school is a matter of choice.  Sending your child to a state school, other than for the wealthy, is not choice, it's the only option.

Vicky

But sending a child to a Church school is a matter of choice.  Sending your child to a state school, other than for the wealthy, is not choice, it's the only option.

Vicky

But thank goodness it is an option!  In some countries, only the wealthy can go to school, period!

But if the State is funding the education system, don't they get to make the calls?