Pledge of Allegiance In Schools

I am a student at Salem State University and I’m creating this blog for my social studies course in Curriculum Block. This blog will focus on a common issue arising in education lately that has to do with the Pledge of Allegiance. This is a hot topic in many states because a lot of people feel that the Pledge of Allegiance is violating the separation of church and state. It’s the words “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance that have people so fired up. According to ProCon.org “Under God” wasn’t even in the Pledge until President Eisenhower and Congress added the phrase in 1954.

Recently many parents and schools have petitioned to have the Pledge of Allegiance removed from schools or at least to have the students have the option to not recite it. Many people view these petitions as unpatriotic and un-American, even the presidential hopefuls had something to say about a school who wanted to remove the pledge back in 2010. During this time the public Brookline schools in Massachusetts made a move to ban the Pledge of Allegiance in their schools. Every politician seemed to have something to say about it including Rick Perry, Scott Brown, and Mitt Romney whose quotes you can see on http://bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/2011_0910prez_hopefuls_blast_brookline_pitching_pledge_sparks_gop_furor. The one that really seemed to rub people the wrong way was Rick Perry’s comment. He stated, “Massachusetts is one of the cradles of American liberty, and it would be a sad day if their children can no longer recite the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag or freely express that we are, indeed, one nation under God”. A lot of people seem to have the same view as Gov. Rick Perry, that we are indeed one nation under God. The problem is that in 2012 we are not. Studies show that throughout the years the belief in God and religion in general has been steadily decreasing. According to HuffingtonPost.com 78.4% of the U.S. population describe themselves as Christian, 16.1% identify as unaffiliated, and 4.7% identify as non-Christian religions. So if the Pledge of Allegiance says that we are "one nation under God" does that mean that those who have a different God or no God at all are not American?

 It seems ridiculous that schools would require a Muslim or atheist child to recite this line when it is speaking of a God that is not their own. Even though it seems unconstitutional to force children to recite this in school many states still require their schools to say the Pledge of Allegiance every day. A good site to look at to familiarize yourself with the different states' laws on the issue of the Pledge of Allegiance is http://undergod.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000074 . This site has information on what states require the Pledge and what states allow students to refuse to recite it and it's shocking to me how many states still mandate it.

I remember being in elementary school and getting in trouble for not standing up, putting my hand over my heart, and not reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. My brother and I grew up as atheists and knew even in elementary school that we did not believe in what they were making us say, so we refused to do it. I never believed that I was being unpatriotic or un-American, although I never understood why people couldn’t just say the Pledge at home if they wanted to. It should be a choice that children are allowed to make and not something their forced to do every morning. In my opinion only saying the Pledge of Allegiance because you’re forced to seems just as unpatriotic as not saying it at all. Being forced to say it doesn’t give one respect for their country because it’s just something that they have to do.  I believe by the time I had gotten to high school the rule had changed in Massachusetts and every student had the right to refuse to recite the Pledge. I believe that the Pledge of Allegiance should be removed from schools altogether for many reasons but if that never happens I believe that students should at least be given the right to refuse to say it.