Woo~

Anyways, it's optional. Mostly due to the line "One nation, under God". Due to the religious affiliation, it cannot be "forced" upon others. Due to this, it should also STAY optional in schools and anywhere else.

Also, really, if any are still doing this, then they could potentially be at risk of being in quite a lot of trouble. Not only because it is definitely optional, but because they are also disrupting the child's education by suspending/expelling/etc the student for not doing it, Nya~.

What's so difficult with just giving the students a proper education without all the strings attached like this? Back at my Tech school, they didn't even announce the pledge in the mornings, afternoons, or at all. It was quite a nice change of pace, honestly.

I would say it is ridiculous but then again, I was forced in school to learn to sing the Flag song by heart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFU7YVFrZbw

So what can I say.

And no, whatever the school or the country, it should not be mandatory.

No it shouldnt be. Frankly its slighlty creepy anyway. Theres civic pride and then there is down right obsession.
You are at school to learn, at work to work, not to be taught loyalty to god and country. If you want to do it fair do's, but no one can be forced to do it.

I'm going to agree with most of the opinions above. I do not think anyone should be forced into saying the Pledge of Allegiance while they're in school because nobody should be forced to say anything at all. I do think a person working in a company that requires saying the Pledge of Allegiance can and should be fired for not saying it, but that's because I believe that it's a choice to work for that company and it's their choice to get rid of you if the agreement was that you would have to say the Pledge. I myself am not a fan of the Pledge of Allegiance, but that's more because I don't think people actually understand what they're saying when they recite it.

As for me, I do recite the Pledge because I do love America, flawed as she is, but I don't expect someone to be forced to do it.

  Participating in saying the Pledge of Allegiance is always optional, the school and educational system can't force you say it nor stand up for it. If you are forced to say it goes against everything democracy and America stands for and it would (in my opinion) take away individual rights.

It is optional, as others have already stated.

It comes down to being a personal preference as it can boil down to something as simple as a person shying from making a public display showing their support of those ideals. At the same time it may conflict with personal, religious or societal, views and that would be a very justified reason to deter from saying the Pledge.

Personally I do say both the Pledge and give the Flag Salute but I feel that is as much my choice as it is the choice of others to not do those.

Saying "under god" is offensive yet "in god we trust" is printed on dollar bills and no one whines about that. Interesting...

JigSaw : There are plenty of people who complain about it, actually. There are even petitions all the time to change it back to E Pluribus Unum if I recall correctly. Both that and the pledge are, however, overshadowed by pretty much everything else, and pushed aside, really, Nya~.

MegaRevolution1 : That is probably the case. I use to do pledge in elementary school but that is about it. I think we were all too young to give a dam or get offended by it at the time.

There was a jew girl who gave people dreidels in class to play with. Most of us were not jewish and none of us cared because it was a toy to play with.

I've always found this issue strange. I grew up in Canada and the most we had to do was stand up when the national anthem is played. I think that is more than reasonable.

Saluting the flag and saying the pledge of allegiance seems a bit excessive to force kids/people to do. I understand forcing government employees or military personnel to do so since they represent the country and should be loyal. Not anyone else though.

It shouldn't even exist. Hell, here's what it looked like before World War II:

A nation is like a religion : an accident of birth

Fun story about me and a friend in high school during the Pledge:

I don't even remember how it started, but every Monday during video announcements in the morning, we had to say the Pledge. I worked next to a guy who was too lazy to stand up to say the pledge, so he would pull up a picture of the flag, scoot his chair back and say the pledge-- soon enough, it became a race between us to see who could pull up the flag. But I've been scolded for doing last minute work during the Pledge when I was in high school-- high profile life of a newspaper student...

But to me, it showed that it wasn't worth standing up, putting my hand over my heart and reciting the pledge. Why do I have to feel oppressed for doing it? Why with some teachers, will I get in trouble for doing it our way?

But should we have to say the Pledge? I think not. It's not written into the Constitution as "You there, stand up and say the Pledge once a week/every single morning of your school career." If it were, I would still fight it. I don't see the need to pledge myself so often to a country that lies to me about a of things-- even before I had the views I have today.

Like everyone else, I think it shouldn't be mandatory. Give respect though and stand (or have a computer with a flag in front of you...) and daydream for a moment. If you're really ballsy, just pretend it's not happening.

I don't even remember the last time I said the Pledge since graduating from high school though. It's been nice.

Should countries be able to fire someone from not saying the pledge? Again, I don't think so. That's a discrimination case in the works.

Question-- did anyone else have to say a pledge to their schools? I had to in middle school...

cnsulli : We didn't even have to sing the national anthem. But this is Canada, and I find (and no offence to anyone), that nationalism isn't quite as forced on Canadian's as Americans.

Nationalism has been described by some as a religion; that is quite accurate I find. Think about it, a group of people (country) promise to defend and honor something that isn't really tangible.  They sing and plegde their allegiance to it... much like hymns and prayers. They use an idol (flag) to represent what it is they are praising, just like many religions have. It is also the cause of much aggression and war,  like many religions of the past.

Anyway, I think it's a personal decision; no one should pressure kids into signing or reciting nationalistic rituals.

I understand why schools do this but it should be a optional thing. If the kid doesn't want to stand up and sing the song then why make them. I would prefer not to cause I wish to move to Canada.

there should be no form of punishment for anyone who chooses not to stand or salute or say the pledge. to do so is to force "allegiance" upon a child, less he face reprimand for disobeying orders. ANY teacher who even calls a kid out on it though, asking why they didnt stand, or telling them to do so, etc., should be fired and barred from holding a teaching job immediately. they need to realize their place. they are nothing more then payed employees, and our children are the customers. they are there to teach our children, not to tell them what to do. adult or not, these people hold no power.

The concept of forcing children to solute a symbol, and pledge fealty to it and their country at an age where they have no idea what it means, reminds me more of the occult, and has a whiff of fascism to it. They force fed nationalism to children in Nazi Germany as well, it's not necessarily a good trait. Nationalism shouldn't be forced on anyone at any age, it's is an ideology that favors "us and them" thinking. It's very tribalistic if you ask me, and humanity should be growing out of it.

You can't force loyalty. Making them pretend loyalty is telling them to lie.