This year, during the Rebel Report (Walpole High School’s Morning News), students say the Pledge of Allegiance daily, rather than just on Mondays as done in previous years. Since the change, disgruntled students have complained more and more each day that they do not want to pledge allegiance every single morning. Perhaps those students could accredit one or two good reasons why we shouldn’t do it everyday; however, there are immeasurable reasons as to why we should. Students need to realize that they are not just robotically saluting a flag each morning; they are doing something much more significant than that.
The American flag has been a symbol of what our country stands for since way back during George Washington’s presidency. Not only does it hold historic fortitude, but each star, stripe, and color holds meaning as well. The red symbolizes hardiness and valor, white symbolizes purity and innocence and blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice. Each star represents one of the 50 states of America, and each stripe represents one of the 13 original colonies. The flag is more than just what the eye beholds; it possesses utmort importance about our country’s backround and morals.
Countless Americans have fought to preserve the freedoms for which the flag stands for, including many of Walpole High’s friends, family, and alumni. Many have suffered the loss of a son or daughter, brother or sister, father or mother, wife or husband, and the list goes on. These brave sacrifices must not be forgotten, and doing the Pledge of Allegiance daily is a good reminder and tribute to those who are serving our country today and for veterans as well. Students must allow themselves to consider these things each morning when they recite the pledge, then it would not seem like such a hassle.
One of the biggest complaints is simply that people do not want to stand up
every morning for the short 15 to 20 seconds that it takes to recite The Pledge
of Allegiance. The average high school student may be tired and running on
little sleep–everyone has got a packed schedule. While it is early in the morning, and he or she is understandably tired, surely standing up for the short time it takes to say the Pledge is not so strenuous a task for the average high school student, as it is nothing compared to the sacrifices men and women fighting for our country have made and to the freedoms the flag represents.
Think about the amount of time high school students spend on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other online sites, even just in homeroom with the creation of the notorious iPhone and other WiFi-supported phones. Should these trivial activities really come before showing respect to The United States and our soldiers?
Others have valid reasons for not saying the Pledge – such as not being a citizen of our country or being genuinely offended by its mention of God. Some also feel strongly about the right to choose whether they would like to say the pledge or not every single morning. Ironically, the flag is one of the symbols that best represents the right to recite or not to recite the Pledge. However, being too tired, too lazy or too disinterested are ignorant reasons not to say the Pledge.
The American Flag has always been considered a symbol of freedom, democracy, justice and liberty. Saying the Pledge of Allegiance can often instill a sense of pride in being an American and help to develop a sense of community as a nation. Soldiers have fought and died for these values over many centuries, and the flag is the best symbol the United States has got to show it. The least us students at Walpole High can do is lend our support to these freedoms and ideals by standing and reciting our allegiance to the American flag daily.
Hifi • Dec 21, 2012 at 4:25 pm
Ironic, that the kids are the rebels against state indoctrination, and you are the conformist.
BTW, you said their were no reasons.
Enough reasons here for anyone, liberal or conservative, religious or atheist to have the Pledge of Allegiance removed from public schools:
1. Meaning lost in endless repetition, no explanation given, no history provided.
2. Comprises an ideological viewpoint that is forced on little kids by authorities to whom they are dependent.
3. The two above, taken together, is the definition of brainwashing.
4. The absurdity of having to repeat a pledge daily that apparently is only good for 24 hours.
5. The conforming routine of it, which makes you feel like a brain-dead robot sheep as opposed to a citizen of a free country who enjoys individual liberty.
6. Subordinates the people to the government, which we are told on good authority was created by us, with allegiance to us, not us to it.
7. Exalts nationalism over federalism contrary to the basic principles of our Republic. Subsuming states and individual rights to central government is a necessary pre-requisite for a centralized, socialist government to gain traction. This was an explicit goal of Francis Bellamy, the socialist author of the PofA.
8. Encourages jingoism. Antagonistic tribalism. No other countries have their citizens swear a loyalty oath to their government (except Mexico and the Philippines, mimicking the U.S).
9. Concocted by a company that sold flags as part of a plan to compel schools to buy more flags while instilling socialist-style nationalism in American children.
10. Unsavory connection with Nazis. The Pledge originally featured the Nazi-style salute. In fact, Hitler got it from the Italian fascists who much admired, that’s right, kids in America doing it while saying the Pledge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B… (Man, if that doesn’t give you chills)
11. Is patriotic lip-service in place of, even at the expense of, actual civic engagement and action. (Symbolic patriotism)
12. Is uncritical patriotism at the expense of maintaining oversight over government. (Blind patriotism)
13. Considered by many Christians idolatry, taking the name of God in vain, swearing oaths, serving two masters.
14. Divides the nation (and the classroom) along religious lines. Only those represented by the Judeo-Christian “God” need apply as patriots (Ironic that “under God”, comes right before “indivisible.”)
15. Is hypocritical on the part of adults, bullying little kids into doing something that adults themselves don’t do. (You say the Pledge every day, do you, and on a government mandated schedule?)
16. And last, but not least, pledging allegiance to a flag is just stupid.
Last, but not least: Where do you people get this idea that the Pledge of Allegiance has anything to do with honoring soldiers and war? It was written to sell flags and indoctrinate socialist-style nationalism in little kids. Period. No dead soldiers.