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Should teachers force kids to say Pledge of Allegiance?
One of my seventh-grader's teachers monitors every face in his class to make sure each is enunciating the Pledge of Allegiance every morning.
Those with insufficient enthusiasm get yelled at as he details the sacrifices of America's veterans for the children's freedom. It's the same speech every day, according to my daughter, and does not make them more patriotic.
I knew there were lots of lawsuits over students being forced to say the pledge, so I decided to check what the latest developments were. In 2005, a Boynton Beach High School student refused to say the pledge and got kicked out of class. He sued the school district and the state. A judge ruled the 1942 Florida law requiring students to recite the pledge was unconstitutional, but an appeals court disagreed, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. The law allows an opt-out with parental permission. The student negotiated a settlement with Palm Beach County schools that no student is required to say the pledge, but this seems to conflict with the state law.
More recently, the state Department of Education has wrestled with whether kids who have permission not to say it should sit down or stand up while others recite it.
One of my seventh-grader's teachers monitors every face in his class to make sure each is enunciating the Pledge of Allegiance every morning.
Those with insufficient enthusiasm get yelled at as he details the sacrifices of America's veterans for the children's freedom. It's the same speech every day, according to my daughter, and does not make them more patriotic.
I knew there were lots of lawsuits over students being forced to say the pledge, so I decided to check what the latest developments were. In 2005, a Boynton Beach High School student refused to say the pledge and got kicked out of class. He sued the school district and the state. A judge ruled the 1942 Florida law requiring students to recite the pledge was unconstitutional, but an appeals court disagreed, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. The law allows an opt-out with parental permission. The student negotiated a settlement with Palm Beach County schools that no student is required to say the pledge, but this seems to conflict with the state law.
More recently, the state Department of Education has wrestled with whether kids who have permission not to say it should sit down or stand up while others recite it.
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It's less of a burden than jury duty. And in most places, you actually don't. I guess Florida's retarded like that. At least we don't ban speech because it's "hateful". 
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