Should American students be obligated to swear their allegiance every single day?

Ella Andersen, Staff Reporter
Originally published June 15, 2017

Every morning at 9:40, the daily announcements commence. They play a clip of a song then ask us to stand and respectfully observe the Pledge of Allegiance. Some classes may not participate in standing, but some do. Whether students feel they want to stand or not, they may do it just because the rest of their class is, or their teachers make them.

My class stands every morning when we’re asked to pledge, except for one day —the day after the election. There was an eeriness that filled the room and we all knew we weren’t going to stand that day. I thought it was the end of us standing, but the next day everyone was up again to pledge their allegiance to our country, regardless of our new leader.

Is America so afraid of betrayal that it needs us to pledge everyday?

There is a state law that requires public schools to recite the Pledge of Allegiance everyday. Despite this fact, we’re still a minority in schools that pledge allegiance. Ingraham High School and Roosevelt High School, fellow Seattle Public Schools, don’t pledge allegiance.

Why do we have to recite the Pledge every morning when other schools in our district do not? Are we not loyal enough to our land of the free?

Due to controversy about beliefs and whether someone can be made to stand — which they can’t, given their First Amendment rights — the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington put together a piece in June of 2012 addressing what is okay during the pledge.

Teachers may not force students to stand, as it is an infringement on their rights, and no punishment may be given for not standing; that being said, if they chose to opt out, students may not disrupt others who are partaking in the pledge.

The whole idea of having it be state law to pledge allegiance in the first place seems odd. Why is it necessary? We live, work, learn, teach, talk, laugh, love in this country every day and is that not enough?

There is also the issue of “under God,” which is very religiously biased and could o end students with other practices.

The Pledge asks us to align with our nation as one, indivisible, but the truth is that in the current situation, our nation is split, and who knows how long that’s going to last. What the pledge is trying to do is impose a strong sense of nationalism, no matter what’s happening, even if we’re definitely not one nation indivisible, and there is most de nitely not liberty and justice for all, and depending on your view, you may not even think there should be.

Pledging allegiance to the flag is completely unnecessary and extremely repetitive, especially when it’s to be done every single morning. There’s no need to  recite it every day, or even every week. Everyone knows the Pledge and will never forget it as long as they’re in this country, and there is no need to prove our loyalty when it can be proven through simply living.