When Sean Harrington entered his freshman year at Arlington High School, he noticed something peculiar: There were no American flags in the classrooms, and no one recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
So Harrington enlisted the aid of his fellow students, and now, three years later, they have succeeded in getting flags installed in the classrooms. But the pledge still will not be recited.
The Arlington, Mass., school committee has rejected the 17-year-old's request to allow students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance, because some educators are concerned that it would be hard to find teachers willing to recite it, according to a report in the Arlington Patch... (boldface mine--Darren)
"If we can't find one teacher who is willing to say the pledge, then the system we have is cracked," he told FOX News Radio, noting that a number of teachers signed his petition. link
That the pledge is voluntary was decided by the Supreme Court during World War II. That a school refuses to allow it to be said--Harrington is correct, the system is cracked.
Update, 6/30/10: Oh, what a Solomonic and magnanimous compromise. Not.
Student Sean Harrington appears to have won his fight to bring the Pledge of Allegiance back into his Massachusetts high school -- except the principal's proposed solution leaves the daily honor to the nation's flag literally hanging in the hall.
Charles Skidmore, principal of Arlington High School in Arlington, Mass., has offered to allow students to recite the pledge before school begins -- but in the school's foyer and not in the classrooms, as 17-year-old Harrington had hoped.
13 comments:
It surely can't be because every teacher is a Jehovah's Witness or foreign citizen. What gives?
no, it's not that they don't want to recite it because of religion or anything like that...it's because everyones worried about being sued, since everyone is trigger-happy on lawsuits....can't even wink at someone these days without being sued for "making someone feel uncomfortable"
Because overt displays of patriotism don't project the proper degree of sophistication and intellect. Hayseeds salute the flag. Slack-jawed yokels repeat the pledge of allegience with sincerity.
When you've moved beyond the idea of the nation-state to become, at least in your own mind, a citizen of the world putting your hand on your heart is roughly the equivalent of scratching your rear end.
Interestingly enough, that's exactly the same attitude you get from self-important little twits who can't imagine any other relationship between government and the individual but freedom. All that "greatest generation" stuff is interesting but it has about as much to do with current realities as dinosaurs.
Pfft. I teach, AND recite the pledge every school-morning.
Last year, my students didn't say it at the start of the year. (They all stood, and were silent.) By the end of the year, most were saying it with me, completely voluntarily.
I think most students don't say it now simply because they don't have the role models. Which if you think about it is rather sad...
I think that teachers will do what they have to do to keep their jobs. Right now, they think they have ACLU and union bosses on their sides. I don't know how this position is defensible. If nothing else they can stand respectfully.
Forced, regimented flag worship will not buy you the heart-felt patriotism you hope for. I don't understand why otherwise intelligent people can't comprehend something so simple.
Untwist your knickers and let it go.
No one's talking about forcing anyone. Perhaps you should, as they would say at my alma mater, RTP (read the problem). RTFP (read the full problem).
You might want to reveal that insight to the enviro-wackos, radical feminists, race-hustlers and creationists. They all seem to be under the impression that inculcating heart-felt environmentalism, feminism, racism and creationism can be accomplished quite nicely in the public education system.
Well said, Allen (in Michigan)
Ahh yes. Freedom of Speech. Wherein he wants to force people to listen to his chosen form of speech. It isnt good enough for him to be given the chance to pledge allegiance if he wants with other like minded people. He wants to DEMAND that other people watch him. Pathetic.
Yes, this is such a horrible thing--so horrible that your Congress says it, and probably your city council says it (mine does). They probably even say it at PTA meetings at your school.
You want to force people *not* to say things that you don't want to hear. Pathetic.
I dont care if he says it or not. The school never stopped him saying it. He was never once punished for saying it. Hell, they even offered a way that he and other people could get together and say it all together if they wanted. But that wasn't enough for him. He was just a whiny little kid who wanted EVERYONE to have to join in with him.
I'm sure you feel the same way when your Democratic Congressmen and Senators recite it--on the public dime, no less--in the House and Senate.
You're full of hatred, I definitely sense that.
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