Do kids in school nowadays still say the Pledge of Allegiance on a daily basis?

We did at my school.

That might depend on the school district. When I was studying to teach high school a couple years ago, the schools I visited all said the pledge, but they were also located in the Bible belt.

We do everyday in my highschool.

Pretty sure they still do, but of course a student can opt not to participate. Well, they are supposed to be allowed to opt out, some teachers and schools seem to be unaware and harrass a student that refuses. There was a case last year in MD I know of. My sister refused, this was 25 years ago, and they made my mother come into school to deal with the situation. The school was flat out wrong. But, my mom did tell my sister to just do it, which she refused. My sister still hates my mother for that.

@JLeslie At my school they played the pledge over the loudspeaker, and most kids just stood there looking at the flag during it, not saying anything. I don’t think people are opting out due to dissent so much as it’s laziness, in our case. The teachers never cared or did anything about it. That’s awful about your sister, though. D:

ETA: My high school was in upstate New York, so not exactly bible belt, although extremely conservative.

@Mariah What if a child doesn’t stand?

@JLeslie You know, I never saw that happen. I can’t picture any of my teachers having had an issue with it, but you never know.

In North Carolina, yes. In Philadelphia, no

Certainly not outside the USA. That would just be weird.

They still say it every day at my school, and while we are required to stand, most people just stand and listen, but don’t recite it.

It was always read over the loudspeaker at my high school, and most people stood up. It is my understanding that students cannot be forced to stand or recite the pledge, but few people seem to really take advantage of that. When my sister graduated from high school, she said most people were still going along with it. The e-mails are probably just more propaganda about what a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad generation I’m in.

@gmander Brilliant!

In my school they still say it on the intercom but you don’t have to say it. ):

My 2nd grader said they say the Pledge of Allegiance everyday.

I recall saying grace before snacks in Kindergarten and lunch in first and second grade everyday. The teacher would pick a new kid to say it every day. No one complained or thought anything of it, it’s just what we did. It was a public school. We didn’t say grace any more starting in 3rd grade. I don’t know why, other than someone realized it wasn’t something that probably should be taking place in public school.

They do in our schools in the upper Midwest. The kids are not required to recite it, although most do. I don’t think that they are required to stand either, but they do.
I have a friend from Scotland who now resides in my community. She is not a US citizen but a longtime resident. When she is at a school or community event she stands out of respect, but does not recite the pledge. After the pledge is said, she very quietly says, so only she can hear, “and God save the Queen.”
:)

Not in Germany. Given events 70 years ago, that would just be outrageously inappropriate.

@ragingloli Lol.

I think we did in middle school, but in highschool, no way.

@Blackberry
Seriously, when I think of children citing a “pledge of allegiance” to their country every day at school, then I think nationalist indoctrination á la 3rd Reich.

The certainly do here in the South, where people still believe that what the flag stands for is worth fighting for.

@ragingloli Indeed.

They still do at my daughter’s elementary school here in Illinois.

My son is in 3rd grade now. He’s been to school in Delaware, Texas, Kansas, and Maryland and he has said the pledge every day each year so far.

My daughter is in middle school, and my son in high school, in “liberal” California. They say the Pledge of Allegiance everyday.

@jca -Don’t believe alarmist things on the internet.

I just asked my daughter, who is a 7th grader in a Denver metro area school. She said they read it over the announcements every morning, and the kids stand up, but most don’t say it. She said substitute teachers get mad and say they are disrespecting the flag when they don’t say it.

@ragingloli

When we say the Pledge of Allegiance here in the US, the primary thing we’re pledging to is the Republic, which is based on the Constitution, which is based on individual liberty, which is one hell of a far cry from either the statist Nazi idiocy, and the various authoritarian forms which preceeded it.

You see, we were never trained to be good little serfs and vassels.

that is some nice piece of propaganda you have there

They’d quit saying it daily where I went to school once I was out of, say, second grade – and I’m almost 40.

However, I’m pretty sure that “offending people by using the word God” isn’t the reason people worry about the “under God” phrase as much as not wanting to establish religion in a public institution vis-à-vis the First Amendment.

Well, there are two different things about the pledge that trouble some people. The under God part, and the nationalistic type thing. I personally agreewith @CaptainHarley that our pledge is supposed to give liberty and justice to all, which certainly was not what was going on during Nazi Germany. Although, there are certainly Americans who do take things beyond pariotism to nationalism, which makes me anxious. The under God should simply be removed. Of course, anyone reciting the pledge can just leave that part out, and say it as it was originally written. My sister did not stand or say the pledge, because of the under God part, that was her objection to the whole thing. I think its not worth fighting over. I stand, I love my country, I say the pledge, I am fine with it being said in school, and I also fully support letting people opt out, it should not be mandatory.

Saying grace, as @knitfroggy pointed out, makes me queazy. I would actually make a fuss if I knew that was going on in a school my child went to, and if it continued I would try to file suit.

I think people are missing the point of @ragingloli‘s comment about pledges. The ideals of a country and the realities on the ground can be quite different. When the Nazi Youth were taught to recite various loyalty oaths, the words they said were all about the triumph of courage over fear, devotion to the defense of Germany, and creating a brighter future. None of them mentioned exterminating the Jews.

So similar arguments could be made in defense of those statements as have been made about the Pledge of Allegiance (unless anyone here is against courage, self-defense, or a bright future for our children). What really matters is whether or not we are living up to our ideals. We need to be sure that what we say in the Pledge and what we do in our lives aren’t at odds with one another.

I also wonder how many people would be shocked to learn that the Pledge of Allegiance was written by a socialist and was originally performed like this rather than with the right hand over the heart.

@ragingloli

Why thank you! I made it myself! : ))