While visiting my mom over the weekend, she was telling me some of the past week's happenings. One of her activities is to volunteer as a teaching assistant for the first grade in the little school where I grew up. (It's pretty small; when I graduated from eighth grade there, there were 17 kids in my class.)

Anyway, one thing that rather shocked both of us was her revelation that most kids there nowadays don't know the Pledge of Allegiance. We couldn't decide whether that's because most of the kids are children of immigrant farmworkers and don't know English or because they don't say the Pledge at the beginning of the school day like we used to. But both of us thought it was kind of bogus.

Is this elementary school an anomoly or is the Pledge of Allegiance no longer required to be recited at the beginning of each school day any more? If it isn't, what happened? Is this typical of public schools? [?]

Was reciting the Pledge of Allegiance ever a requirement?

Regardless, my youngest daughter just turned 6, finished kindergarten, and knows the Pledge of Allegiance by heart from reciting it at the beginning of every school day. It surprised me when I first heard her repeat it and made me rather proud.

My son just finished kindergarten, and they said the pledge every day.  It was only the teachers 2nd year of teaching, so I doubt it was "old school mentality"
Maybe I live in a more patriotic area, here south of Dayton, OH.  You should probably contact your local school board with your concerns.
Airborne!

My daughter is right here, so I asked her.

She did up through the 4th grade. But not in 5th and 6th.

That sounds like about the same time I stopped in my schooling.

They stopped saying it in 5th grader for me and I have never heard it again.

yeah we did u to 8th grade course for 7-8th i was in a private school. didnt do it in sixth grade "i pledge alegance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for whitch it stands"

". . . One Nation, Under God, indivisible, With liberty and Justice for all."

"I love the part, and to the republic for which it stands", but the republic died its death in the early days of FDR with the WARS & EMERGENCY POWERS ACT, that has been carried forward by every adminstration right up to today, and get this, each and everyone of you, have been declared the enemy of the state!

You do not hear your elected officials call it a republic do you? They say, "DEMOCRACY" and for good reason, Americans do not know their own history, so how can they miss what they do not know?

FASCISM IS ALL THE RAGE HERE IN THIS ONCE GREAT NATION, WITH THE CORPORATIONS RUNNING EVERYTHING, EVEN WHEN THE CHIEF LEO REFUSES TO SIGN YOUR TRANSFER FOR CLASS THREE WEAPONS, YOU CAN CREATE A CORP., AND BY PASS THE LAW ENFORCEMENT REQUIREMENT, REAL NICE, BUT BY DOING SO YOU CUT YOUR OWN THROAT, BY GIVING UP MORE OF WHAT little IS LEFT OF YOUR FREEDOMS!!!!

And now for something completely different...

I DON'T LIKE THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE! [%|]

Except for the "republic" part and the "liberty" part, I think the whole thing is a piece of Reconstruction-era "one-nation" (a la "one-world") propaganda. After the Civil War they wanted to brainwash kids to think that the nation was "indivisible," so nobody would ever have the balls to go their own way again no matter how tyrannical the federal government becomes.

It irritates me too that the primary pledge is to the flag, with the republic seeming like an afterthought and NO MENTION of the Constitution.

And "under God"? Why should the children of athiests, agnostics (such as myself), Shintos, Wiccans or whatever be forced by state schools to recite those words?

Don't get me wrong: I wish the schools would spend a lot more time teaching the facts of the Revolutionary War, Founding Fathers, etc. and let kids develop their own reason-based appreciation for this country. I'm just against mindless indoctrination.

"I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the limited Republic that it creates. One Nation, united by reason, striving towards liberty and justice for all."

I'm going to have to agree with Fuzzbean(for the most part): I hate the pledge too.
It was written by a socialist to get kids to worship the state. Here is JBirch ML version:

"I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America and to the Republic which it defines: a Nation of Sovereign States, united under God, with Liberty and Justice for all."

Nitpickin' commies aside, I just asked my 8year old and she says they did it every day in her class this past year. Maybe we should get rid of the pledge, it's just a throwback to the good ol' days, ya know, when kids didn't shoot each other in school.

Leave it to the Libs to screw up a perfectly innocent thread.

We would probably be better not instilling even the tiniest iota of patriotism in our youth, huh?

Here in Georgia, in a Columbia County school, the kids last year were required to say the pledge, but did not have to stand to do so- aka participation of the group is mandatory, individuals is voluntary.

In my book, pledging allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America is much more powerful, meaningful, soulful.

By "Lib", I hope you mean Libertarian - NOT liberal.

I can easily picture Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and Barbara Streisand standing around a flag, flashing those COMMIE smiles for the cameras.

I can't easily picture them pledging their allegiance to the Constitution.

FWIW - I was overjoyed the first time I heard my son recite the Pledge too.

Tate

I just wish that schools would take more time in teaching about the Constitution the whole Constitution not just the parts that teacher thinks is important. I would like to see the students know all the amendments. Sorry to get off the subject but I thought it was an important point.


Six

Fuzzbean and lib76 got it right.

I remember thinking to myself when saying it "Self, these teachers are trying to brain wash me".

If we are libs, you who just go along without out considering what you're pledging must be, be, baa,  baaa

If repecting our flag and what it stands for, namely our country, our constitution, and our freedoms, is "just going along" and makes one a sheep, then BAAAAAAH, BAAAAAAH.

Put your tin foil hats back on.

Lets just draw a line in the sand then after all that good stuff make us up a new and beter constitution,nation,and f**k it even a new pledge! what do ya say we teach some of these youngsters to fire a automatic rifle and we will be on are way.

In Kali public schools my children’s classes never had the pledge of allegiance. Here in the free state of Arizona at my son’s school the whole school assembles in the main court yard for a flag raising ceremony along with the national anthem fallowed by the pledge of allegiance. At my daughters school the pledge is during the first class of each school day. The pledge is mandatory by state law in Arizona they also have to memorize the preamble to the constitution to pass on to the to the next grade.

My kids love it here.

THISISME

thats interesting, i never thought of it like that. hmmmm....

Ah, I see now who I'll be able to trust when the flag is on one side and the Constitution on the other.

the pledge of allegiance should never be mandatory either. to do so would be a sign of insecure government. i would rather see kids willingly say the pledge, not to state or government, but to the ideals of liberty. liberty is better protected under a constitutional republic. and our natural rights are given to us by our creator (G-D) does'nt necessarily mean the G-d of the protestants, or jews, or gea, or whoever. if your are an athesist your god is simply science.

liberal lib [uzi]

I agree the pledge of allegance should not be mandatory, but maybe a pledge to a president should be, this would help create unity in a diverse nation. [smoke]