152 replies to this topic

[Stab The Judge]

my high school wasn't strict about it when i still went there, you didn't have to stand if you didn't want to. don't know about now.

[sean]

Freshman year, I used to stand but not say it. I didn't used to stand but then my teacher (who was a nut job) talked me and one of my friends to stand up. In retrospect, I wouldn't do that again, but at the same time it doesn't really matter.
Sophomore-Senior year no one in my homeroom cared, so no one ever stood up, and we frequently talked through the pledge. My teachers never cared either.

[Sarah DiTullio]

At my school we have to say it with the morning announcement over the loud speaker. Everyone stands up, but not everyone says it, including me. I don't put my hand over my heart either. Maybe I should decide to sit down one day. All my teacher says is when people stay seated is "Cmon, stand for the troops that are dying for us."

[tiredoflies]

what about standing up for the National Anthem?
If you read and analyze what it says, it doesn't really seem that great.

[Tron]

I rather pledge to try to make a better place out of this world.

[Alex]

Tron, on 10 February 2010 - 07:16 PM, said:

I rather pledge to try to make a better place out of this world.

i hate people like you

[JohnWayneWasANazi]

Alex, on 10 February 2010 - 08:11 PM, said:

i hate people like you

Ease up. I was like that when I first came to this site, too.

[Alex]

JohnWayneWasANazi, on 10 February 2010 - 08:23 PM, said:

Ease up. I was like that when I first came to this site, too.

so far every post he has made has annoyed me. i waited long enough and i don't remember you ever annoying me or mabye you did i just forgot.

[Tron]

thinking about it, that would also kinda be brain wash, and it wouldn't change anything and reading that post i sound like a d bag who says things he hardly understands and dose nothing but sit on his lazy ass. i suppose im kinda like that because all i do is just very local. and well, not to post off topic to much, but i also think the worker should own the company .

Edited by Tron, 10 February 2010 - 10:42 PM.

[Alex]

Tron, on 10 February 2010 - 10:41 PM, said:

thinking about it, that would also kinda be brain wash, and it wouldn't change anything and reading that post i sound like a d bag who says things he hardly understands and dose nothing but sit on his lazy ass. i suppose im kinda like that because all i do is just very local. and well, not to post off topic to much, but i also think the worker should own the company .

do you understand what you are saying?

[Tron]

I try to the best i can, but the reson i came here main is not to talk to much but try to learn more. and yes, i generalaly try to think out what i say, now lets not derail this thread so much and take this to pm, hm?

[ArtIsResistance]

Once I was old enough to understand, I stopped standing for the pledge. When asked, I told said teacher that it was really none of his/her concern. If they continued to push the issue, I would simply get into one of my rants, rendering them speechless. Needless to say, they usually only bothered me once or twice about it then realized that they were simply not going to win the argument. I refuse to pledge blind patriotism to an inanimate object, this country, and/or the crooked politicians and the corporations who have their hands in said politicians' pockets. I have a huge problem with putting so much emphasis on countries. My compassion for other human beings doesn't stop at the border and no matter how they try to brainwash me, that is not going to change.

Fightin_da_Man, on 26 June 2009 - 01:53 PM, said:

School officials CAN search your locker, backpack, or pockets without a warrant, with reasonable suspicion (this is a lower standard than "probable cause");

Indeed. As far as I know, at the high school I attended, they would regularly search random lockers while classes were in session. I think it's wrong... and a total invasion of privacy, but it happened.

[nvr2punk33]

Decay153, on 13 June 2009 - 02:37 PM, said:

I mean how ridiculous it is to pledge allegiance to an object; one only glorified for nationalistic reasons.

but it symbolizes u pledging to our fantastic nation (not). net literally pledging to a flag you pledging to figures who pay god above the flag. oh no one is made to do so in school if u r told to say no if they make u u can bring ur school to court

[Alex]

nvr2punk33, on 23 February 2010 - 02:39 PM, said:

but it symbolizes u pledging to our fantastic nation (not). net literally pledging to a flag you pledging to figures who pay god above the flag. oh no one is made to do so in school if u r told to say no if they make u u can bring ur school to court

o you're back. wonderful

[James]

Let's not.

[NICKxSUTTON]

JohnWayneWasANazi, on 07 February 2010 - 12:16 PM, said:

I stand for the pledge. Not because I believe in it, but because I don't care enough not to. Really, what will happen if I stand? Will I go "Sorry, can't partake in the revolution today. I said the pledge back in high school."

How is it easier to stand? People actually give you shit for it. I use to get shit for it but I like pissing my admins off when they try to restrict me and take away my freedoms. But when they aren't we actually laugh and joke around alot.

Alex, on 07 February 2010 - 01:17 PM, said:

i didn't stand for it for a few months back in high school and it just got annoying dealing with people so i don't and i guess you could say i gave in or whatever but it's not like not standing really does much.

I don't really see how someone saying "You should stand for the pledge would deter your ways." I mean I don't laugh during flag pledge anymore but I outright refuse to stand for it, because if I do stand orderly because nobody else does, why would anyone else sit in for it?

Sarah DiTullio, on 10 February 2010 - 06:08 PM, said:

At my school we have to say it with the morning announcement over the loud speaker. Everyone stands up, but not everyone says it, including me. I don't put my hand over my heart either. Maybe I should decide to sit down one day. All my teacher says is when people stay seated is "Cmon, stand for the troops that are dying for us."

Lol they use to give me a whole lot of that shit before too. I was like "Saying a chant to a dyed piece of cloth doesn't mean I hate the troops. In fact I love troops, because if they weren't the troops, I would be the troops. And I ain't dying to make some guys pockets fat."
And to straighten things about why we say it. We say it to enstill this false sense of patriotism in our country and to think we need to defend it without question because we are overlywealthy in the moral department (hence one nation under god) And saying this everyday will drill this message into our brain that we need to bear arms because uncle sam says it's in our best interest. I remember a time when the leader of our nation brought us into battle (literally and not figuratly) I think that's why it's so easy for them to wage war. They really don't have anything to lose, and they think they are actually doing the right thing.

But besides the flag, my freedom of expression is consistantly being taken away at school and i'm fed up. I think i'm gonna tell someone so I can get rich

[Alex]

NICKxSUTTON, on 23 February 2010 - 10:32 PM, said:

I don't really see how someone saying "You should stand for the pledge would deter your ways." I mean I don't laugh during flag pledge anymore but I outright refuse to stand for it, because if I do stand orderly because nobody else does, why would anyone else sit in for it?

i just don't think it really matters. i'm an anarchist but no standing won't do anything. i don't have anything against people that stand or don't it. it just isn't worth the effort to me.

[Kellie]

An interesting piece in washingtonpost.com about a local incident:
Click here for the source.

A Montgomery County teacher has agreed to apologize to a 13-year-old student whom he reprimanded and sent to the office for twice refusing to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance, said a lawyer who represents the student.


The unidentified student was embarrassed and humiliated after the teacher called a school security officer to escort her to the counselor's office, said Ajmel Quereshi, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland who is representing the family. The student has not returned to Roberto Clemente Middle School in Germantown since the incident in late January but plans to return to class this week, he said.

A Montgomery County schools spokesman confirmed that the issue is being resolved. The middle school's acting principal sent a letter home with students Wednesday that explains the situation and how the school is addressing it.

In addition to an apology, the mother of the girl was told that the teacher, who has not been identified by either side, and school administrators plan to lead the girl's class in a discussion about the incident and their constitutional rights, Quereshi said.

"It's not an issue of just the pledge. It's a larger issue about their First Amendment rights," Quereshi said. "It's an important lesson that should stay with them."


The Supreme Court ruled in 1943 that students cannot be forced to salute the flag. Maryland law explicitly allows any student or teacher to be excused from participating in the pledge, according to the ACLU.

The Montgomery school system's student handbook contains a section about "Patriotic Exercises" that reads: "You cannot be required to say a pledge, sing an anthem, or take part in patriotic exercises. No one will be permitted to intentionally embarrass you if you choose not to participate."

The incident began Jan. 27, when the girl did not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance during her first-period class. The teacher demanded that she stand, and when she did not, he ordered her to leave the classroom and stand in the hallway. He threatened to give her detention and sent her to the counselor's office, where she stayed for the entire first period, according to a letter the ACLU sent to the middle school's acting principal, Khadija F. Barkley, on Feb. 5.

Barkley referred questions from a reporter to the county schools spokesman Wednesday.

That was the first time the girl had not stood for the pledge, Quereshi said, and she had a personal reason for not doing so, although she did not want that reason to be shared publicly.

"She does not have to have a reason," Quereshi said. "If the student decides to sit peacefully, that's within her constitutional rights."

The next day, the girl again refused to stand for the pledge. The teacher asked a school security officer to escort her to the counselor's office, according to the letter. Students in the class mocked the girl, Quereshi said.

The school system confirmed the sequence of events. The teacher's actions were a clear violation of the school's regulations, which are based on state law, school spokesman Dana Tofig said Tuesday.

"The policy is very, very clearly stated," Tofig said. "Our teachers are expected to know the students' rights and responsibilities. . . . A mistake has been made, and it will be rectified."

[JohnWayneWasANazi]

YAY MY COUNTY GOT MENTIONED ON TEEPEEYOU!

[Fightin_da_Man]

Moco, lol.