School Officials in Mass. Town Won't Let Students Recite Pledge of Allegiance

[HK4U]

This is what you get when you turn over the education of you children to a bunch of liberal/Marxists.

FOXNews.com - School Officials in Mass. Town Won't Let Students Recite Pledge of Allegiance

School Officials in Mass. Town Won't Let Students Recite Pledge of Allegiance

By Todd Starnes

Published June 29, 2010

| FOXNews.com


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.

Harrington had presented school officials with a petition signed by 700 people, along with letters of support from lawmakers including Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

But the request to have the pledge recited failed when the committee's vote ended in a 3-3 tie.

"I was really heartbroken," Harrington told FOX News Radio. "It's hard to think that something so traditional in American society was turned down."

His fight has received quite a bit of support from the community. "When I was going to school, it was an honor and a privilege to pledge allegiance to the flag," Francis De Guglielmo, 55, told the Patch. He called the ban an "absolute travesty" and a "disgrace."

Harrington, who will be a senior in the fall, said he will continue to fight. "I'm not a person who quits and I don't back down. It's a very righteous cause and needs to be followed through until the end."

Some committee members voiced concerns about forcing people to do something that might violate their beliefs – including religious beliefs. Among the no-votes was committee member Leba Heigham.

"Patriotism is a very personal thing for all of us, but I do not think it is in the school committee's best interest to mandate that any of our employees recite the pledge," she told the Patch.

Harrington said the recitation would have been strictly voluntary.

"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.

He said the school's ban on the pledge sends the wrong message. "It tells me that we've basically cast aside what our country is founded on," he said. "It's saying that we don't really care, and it's sad."

Arlington's superintendent of schools did not return a call for comment

 

[utimmer43]

WOW! If I was a student there, you had better believe we WOULD say the pledge every day... and dare someone to stop us.

Absolutely disgraceful.

 

[jibbster]

they are chipping away at our society and our values one chisel stroke at a time, and most people won't notice until there is a gaping hole.....then they will wonder why "nobody" prevented it :fie:

 

[THE DUKE OF ESSEX]

And so it begins

 

[HootmonSccy]

Maybe the board needs to go back to school.. They seemed to be confused on the definition of the word VOLUNTARY!!! IF the teacher does not want to recite the Pledge, hey that's there right (I guess), but you can then ask for students to volunteer to lead the pledge.. OH> I see the issue now with that suggestion... They don't understand the meaning of the word Volunteer!!! :fie:

IF I was Harrington, I would at least start a "Voluntary" reciting of the pledge around the flagpole outside of the school (They do still have flag poles at schools don't they????) before class starts..

Sounds like they need some Marines to go to the Board meeting and kick some ass!!!

 

[utimmer43]

IF I was Harrington, I would at least start a "Voluntary" reciting of the pledge around the flagpole outside of the school (They do still have flag poles at schools don't they????) before class starts..

Considering it took three years to get flags into the classrooms, it would hardly surprise me if there were no flagpoles outside.

 

[Ektarr]

So this kid's in Homeroom one morning, before the first bell rings and he stands up...spontaneously...puts his hand over his heart and begins reciting the Pledge. No class is in session yet...the first bell hasn't rung...so he's not being a disruption to the class. Whaddaya think would happen? If he's reprimanded, he can claim they're interfering with his 1st Amendment Rights. If it's true that others in the school are sympathetic, they might be inspired on subsequent days to join in.

Good luck to this kid...I hope he prevails.

 

[JJFlash]

WOW! If I was a student there, you had better believe we WOULD say the pledge every day... and dare someone to stop us.

Absolutely disgraceful.

Damn straight.

 

[6shootercarry]

I LIVE IN THIS CESSPOOL OF LEFT WING LIBERAL SOCIALIST FILTH!!!

SO HELP ME GOD IF THEY EVER TOLD MY DAUGHTER OR SON THAT THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SAY THE PLEDGE I WOULD DRIVE THEM TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY AND LEAD THE ENTIRE CLASS IN THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE WITH A BULL HORN!!!

THIS IS THE KIND OF CRAP THAT GETS ME REALLY PISSED!!!

Peace...

 

[JJFlash]

Geez, I kinda like those REALLY BIG letters, easy on the old eyes. Could ya'll start posting like that? Appreciate it. :biggrin:

I'm serious, 6SC, you guys have got to get out of there. My blood pressure (always slightly elevated) would go thru the roof living in one of the Peoples' Republic states. I'm afraid it's all too far gone to ever be "fixed". Come join us in flyover country. It's good livin'.

 

[jibbster]

Geez, I kinda like those REALLY BIG letters, easy on the old eyes. Could ya'll start posting like that? Appreciate it. :biggrin:

I'm serious, 6SC, you guys have got to get out of there. My blood pressure (always slightly elevated) would go thru the roof living in one of the Peoples' Republic states. I'm afraid it's all too far gone to ever be "fixed". Come join us in flyover country. It's good livin'.

Ha ha..I feel your pain.... those were almost my wife's exact words when she told me we had to leave Kalifornia... before I stroked out or killed someone! :no:

Now I am in Idaho, and nary a liberal be found on most days leasantry:

 

[handgonnetoter]

Maybe the Communist school teachers and administrators would rather have a flag of lets say, China or the former Soviet Union up in the schools. They are weak people who believe in nothing, but their own selfish misguided wants and desires. If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. Morons with a college education - I would expect more from them.

 

[JJFlash]

...nary a liberal be found on most days leasantry:

Ain't that nice? We got a few here because it's a University town, but they pretty much keep their heads down, cause they know they're surrounded. :laugh:

 

[Hiliner]

It is so pathetic...yet the grade school kids can get a condom...pathetic.:fie:

 

[CathyInBlue]

Okay. I am Cathy In Blue and this is Reality Check...

No oath, pledge, or contract entered into by a minor is enforceable. They're minors. Hence, it matters little whether or not they say the pledge at all, let alone taking up time during the school day to do so.

If you, the child's parent, feels so strongly about this issue, then I invite you to purchase a flag to hang on the wall in your home or on your own flagpole and have them recite whatever pledge you deem appropriate for your children. This is directly analogous to issues of prayer in school. No one can be prevented from saying an oath/pledge/prayer, but neither can they be lead in the recitation of one by officials.

On top of the Pledge of Allegiance being essentially meaningless for children, being as it is unenforceable from a legal stand point, it has been adulterated by an illegitimate act of Congress to shoe-horn the words "under god" into it and establish it as a religious oath. The PoA existed just fine for years and years and years, and then Congress felt the need to legislate its content, when there is no delegated authority to Congress to do so. Shall Congress now dictate the lyrics to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star next? This is not a legitimate use of federal authority, and as such, I have no duty to adhere to it, and neither does anyone else.

I would be happy, ecstatic, to have a copy of the American flag, as well as the flag of my state, as well as the Gadsden flag on poles on the walls in my classroom. However, none of them would have a golden fringe. I would not, however, attempt to coerce any children to recite an oath of any kind. That is not the purpose of my classroom.

When I changed buildings from the elementary school to the combined middle-high school, there was no more recitation of the PoA. This puzzled me, but not in any way that gave rise to any kind of moral righteous indignation. It was just another change in routine that I had to adjust to, like not having show and tell anymore. What's more, even for being heartland USA, Midwest, Middle America, no one raised a stink about it 25 years ago. I find it dubious that this is a legitimate issue of contention now.

So long as the students are not being disruptive, there is no grounds on the parts of the administration to prevent them from making such an oath. Of course, there's always the addition of peer pressure which the school has no business adding to the concerns of non-citizens (legal aliens) or Atheist kids for conspicuously not reciting the PoA or particular, Congressionally demanded words of it. But absolutely, there is no legitimate grounds upon which the administration can stand to demand that anyone, employee or student, to recite an oath.

 

[HK4U]

Okay. I am Cathy In Blue and this is Reality Check...

No oath, pledge, or contract entered into by a minor is enforceable. They're minors. Hence, it matters little whether or not they say the pledge at all, let alone taking up time during the school day to do so.

If you, the child's parent, feels so strongly about this issue, then I invite you to purchase a flag to hang on the wall in your home or on your own flagpole and have them recite whatever pledge you deem appropriate for your children. This is directly analogous to issues of prayer in school. No one can be prevented from saying an oath/pledge/prayer, but neither can they be lead in the recitation of one by officials.

On top of the Pledge of Allegiance being essentially meaningless for children, being as it is unenforceable from a legal stand point, it has been adulterated by an illegitimate act of Congress to shoe-horn the words "under god" into it and establish it as a religious oath. The PoA existed just fine for years and years and years, and then Congress felt the need to legislate its content, when there is no delegated authority to Congress to do so. Shall Congress now dictate the lyrics to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star next? This is not a legitimate use of federal authority, and as such, I have no duty to adhere to it, and neither does anyone else.

I would be happy, ecstatic, to have a copy of the American flag, as well as the flag of my state, as well as the Gadsden flag on poles on the walls in my classroom. However, none of them would have a golden fringe. I would not, however, attempt to coerce any children to recite an oath of any kind. That is not the purpose of my classroom.

Although I disagree with you about the pledge and the in God we trust I do agree about the gold fringe around the flag.

 

[utimmer43]

Umm Cathy, I didn't read anywhere in the article, or in anyone's post where anyone said anything about forcing anyone to recite the pledge.

...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...

 

[jibbster]

This has nothing to do with being an enforceable pledge or oath...Where the #*&$!)* did you come up with that one???

This has everything to do with our country and our children having pride to be American citizens, and teaching them from a young age to pledge allegiance to our country and to have the pride that many other nations have for their country. The problem is, our nationalism has been whittled away, chip by chip, piece by piece...now it's politically incorrect to say the pledge, or to talk about your religion, or anything else of the sort, for fear of offending someone. While in other countries, especially those of our non-allies, they are taught from a young age to have pride in their country, to show their allegiance.....this is why we are getting our asses wiped with our own hands.... its become not OK in America to be proud of America and to fight for what our country has stood for the last 235 years...we wouldnt want to offend anyone, make them feel uncomfortable, give them pangs, , make the woozy, anything else of the sort.

My grandfather came here in the 1920's. He never got handouts. He worked hard and built his own business. He would never teach us his native language becasue "we were Americans". He would never rely on the government to take care of our family. He would proudly pledge allegiance to the US flag, and would probably openly challenge those that refused.

We aren't teaching our kids about important parts of our history in schools, now the IB/PYP are coming in to schools and making that even worse. We can't pledge allegiance in class. We can't bring our friends Christmas cards because it might offend them. We can't bring birthday invitations, unless we invite the whole class, because someone might get their feelings hurt. We can't fail kids because their self esteem, so lets give them numbers instead of letter grades.

We are raising a bunch of neutered ninis who don't stand for anything any longer and who are afraid to offend anyone...and the system is spearheading that effort.

So, IMHO, this has nothing to do with enforceable oaths, and everything to do with another chip out of our American heritage and values.......Globalization, here we come.....

 

[CathyInBlue]

If there's not a legally binding reason to say an oath, an oath of office, an oath to tell the truth in court, an oath of new citizenship, then it's literally verbal masturbation.

And there are plenty of reasons not to say it if one so believes. Arkansas 10-Year-Old Won’t Pledge Allegiance Until Gays Gain Equality :: EDGE San Francisco

And as for showing pride to be an American, last time I dipped my toe in Christian dogma, pride was a sin. Has Jesus come down and changed that since last I looked? Is pride no longer a sin?

A native born American can be satisfied to be an American, happy to be an American, can consider being an American to be a good or even great thing without being coerced into taking an oath. Indeed, it would be far, far more effective in demonstrating the greatness of America and the power of being an American to NOT institute coercive pledges upon natural born citizens, than it would be TO institute coercive pledges upon natural born citizens.

Illustrate our respect for minority rights or require kids to recite a pledge?

Maintain fair taxation and private property rights or require kids to recite a pledge?

Guarantee freedoms of religion, speech, press, and self-defense or require kids to recite a pledge?

I think I know what's a more efficacious means of demonstrating the greatness of MY America. You can represent YOUR America in what way seems best to you. Apparently, that way is to emulate the likes of North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela.

 

[THE DUKE OF ESSEX]

At our gun club we recite the pledge of allegiance at our monthly meetings. It is the first thing we do after coming to order. Last month though, as everyone stood at attention, and a hush came over the room no one started the pledge. Usually the President starts it, and no one wanted to infringe on his position I guess. After about 15 seconds (which seemed like an hour) My wife started the pledge of allegiance and a chorus of 300 voices filled the room. That night my wife and I spoke of the incident and wondered if the club was getting away from it's traditions and philosophy. I think sometimes we the people forget why we recite the pledge, and why it means so much in this Republic we hold so dear. Especially in times like these.