Taking the pledge.

   "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

American children are asked to learn this pledge and recite it every day in school. We make fun of countries like North Korea for doing this very same thing, and yet we don't seem to notice that we are no different than those countries that demand blind and unwavering loyalty from their citizens. 

I thought of how we as Americans view the pledge of allegiance when reading about the 6th grader in Florida who refused to stand and say the pledge of allegiance, and the clueless teacher who tried to deny him his right of not having to recite the pledge.  

"An 11-year-old was arrested for causing a disturbance and resisting arrest after he allegedly refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance at a school in Lakeland earlier this month, police said. 
The incident occurred on Feb. 4 at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy, 400 N Florida Ave.
Police said a school resource officer removed the boy from the classroom after he created a disruption.

 "It all started when a substitute teacher asked the student to stand for the pledge. The 11-year-old reportedly refused, saying that he thought the U.S. flag was racist. Then an argument ensued. 
"The School Resource Officer and Dean of Students responded to the classroom and attempted to calm the student down. The student was asked over 20 times to leave the classroom by the Dean of Students," Lakeland police spokesman Gary B. Gross said in a news release. 

Police said the boy left the classroom and continued to make threats and cause a disturbance. 

"The student failed to comply with the officer and the school administrator interfering with the educational process," the release states. 

Police insist that students are not required to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance, per the Polk County School Board Code of Conduct for Students.

"To be clear, the student was NOT arrested for refusing to participate in the pledge," Goss said. 
The boy was ultimately charged with disrupting a school function and resisting arrest without violence. He was taken to a juvenile detention center."

OK, here is the thing. This child should have tried his very best to be calm in the situation, and he should have politely explained that he was not going to stand for the pledge and would gladly resume his school activities after the pledge was complete. Although I will acknowledge that given the circumstances (the teacher sounds like a jerk, and a clueless one to boot) it might have been tough, but the student should have tried. Having said that, we were not in that moment with that child, and  we can't really say exactly what we would have done.

Anyway, because he allegedly acted up, it was an excuse for the authorities to take action against him for his alleged behavior, and not, according to them, for him refusing to stand for the pledge.

You will note how the authorities were quick to stress that the student was "NOT arrested for refusing to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance". This is because unlike the school district in the India Landry story, they knew that they would have a lawsuit on their hands for forcing the child in this case to stand for the pledge.

For the record,  a school cannot force a child to say the Pledge of Allegiance. That is the law of the land. At least it is for now.  The way things are going in this country it won't be long before we are all forced to stand in the public square and say a pledge to our Supreme Orange Leader every morning. Don't laugh. He is stacking the courts with Judges who are loyal to him, and his recent rants and attacks on the First Amendment should have all of us worried; not just sixth graders in Tampa, Florida.