Pledge in Schools

Pledge in schools

Reciting the pledge at school is something that many people have grown up with. It has been part of the daily routine at many schools for years. While the majority of students proudly stood with his or her right hand over his or her heart and recited the pledge, there was occasionally one or two that sat or stood quietly during the process. But that was ok; nobody really thought much of it. It was understood that while reciting the pledge was strongly encouraged, it was not mandatory. (In 1943 the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that children may not be compelled to recite the Pledge.) Very few -if any- of the students ever gave the meaning of the words much thought, it was just something that was said because they lived in America and were proud of it. To take the Pledge of Allegiance out of schools now would be a terrible blow to this country and promote discord at a time we need unity.

First-graders, some of Japanese ancestry, at the W...

English: The Bellamy salute is the salute describe...

English: Dorothea Lange picture of Japanese-Americ...

On June 27, 2002, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco

banned the Pledge of Allegiance in schools citing the phrase "under god" as unconstitutional. The court said, "The Pledge, as currently codified, is an impermissible government endorsement of religion because it sends a message to unbelievers 'that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored by members of the political community.'"(CNN PG2) It was also stated by Judge Goodwin, writing for the majority,

that the school district is " conveying a message of state endorsement of religious belief when it requires public school teachers to recite, and lead the recitation of the current form of the pledge." "Given the age and impressionability of school...