im 20 for reference. ever since i was a kid, up until hs, we were forced every morning to stand, look at the flag and hold our hearts and say:
“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”
i didnt stand a single time because i disagreed with being forced, and i was berated by the teacher in front of everyone, and he threatened to kick me out of class if i ever did it again. i was about 11-12 then, it was 2015.
I went to elementary school in the late 60s and early 70s and yes, we said the pledge every day. I didn’t think anything about it back then.
As a Boy Scout in the mid 70s, we said the pledge at every meeting. Again, I gave it no thought.
In the 90s, I was in a Ham Radio club and they said it before every meeting. I found it odd, but went along with them.
In the last few years, I joined the local HOG (Harley Owners Group) chapter and they said it before every meeting. Now I’m beginning to question why, as an adult in a seemingly innocuous club, am I supposed to pledge my allegiance to the flag. This isn’t the military, there’s no reason for it.
If you’re wanting me to say the pledge to the flag, you’re just wanting me to show my patriotism and that word is about as vile to me now as a racial slur.
If I ever find myself in an organization that wants me to stand and recite the pledge, I’ll be walking out the door.
We did that in class, but only when I was a very little kid, like in elementary school in the 70s.
In retrospect, it’s creepy, but by the time I was old enough that I might have questioned it, we weren’t doing it anymore.
This Whitest Kids You Know video about it sums it up pretty well. (Although the dig at Ritalin at the end is kinda weird)
We said the pledge in the mornings in elementary school in the 80s. I don’t believe it was held in middle or high school. I never thought twice about it and I don’t think any of the other kids did either. Can’t remember any issues arising over it then. I couldn’t really care less about whether or not schools continued to hold it now.
At least through elementary school, yes. I can’t recall for middle school if we did it every day or not.
Looking at it now in my 40s, I always think it feels like some sort of weird brainwash-y, cult-like behavior.
I’m 50, and yes. Except in HS, I sat and dared them to do something about it. My school knew how to pick their battles, they never disciplined me for my acts of civil disobedience (I also protested the dress code when they enacted one).
Millennial here. I remember doing this in elementary school in the 90s. I moved in 3rd grade from a place that didn’t do it, so it was super weird to me coming in as an outsider.
You’d get screamed at by the teacher and more than likely end up getting a stupid long lecture about the importance of patriotism if you refused
Like damn bro sorry y’all haven’t done shit to make me proud except scream at me that I should be proud
that’s essentially what happened. i was so scared and embarrassed at this grown man going off on me for doing nothing except exercising my right to sit.
Went to Catholic school from 1976 through 1987. We did the pledge in the morning through … fifth grade? Maybe through eighth, but I don’t really remember. Definitely not in high school. In those early years, I wasn’t aware enough to know that I even could not want to recite it, let alone having the knowledge that I legally didn’t even have to recite it, or even stand up for it.
When my kids were going to public elementary, they did it, too. Very early on, one of my kids didn’t like to do it, but it was more about social anxiety than making a political statement. So even though I was well aware of the legal rights around the pledge in school, I did encourage that child to participate when they could, because taking part in a group activity like that was a healthier choice than not for them at that age.
We’ve since all had plenty of political/legal discussions, including around the pledge and its history, so they all make their own choices now, if the high school even has students recite it at all.
As a genX-er, I grew up having to say it through elementary and middle school. I quit participating in the mid ‘80s. We were forced to attend John Birch Society events in school hat would talk about how horrible Russia was and how they fed propaganda to the kids from an early age. Reagan would always talk about all the horrible things USSR would do with their childhood propaganda too. I realized right away that everything the school was doing was the same thing.
I got labeled as a bad kid. Not Christian enough and not obedient enough.
We were forced to attend John Birch Society events in school
Damn, that sounds unconstitutional as hell. I imagine you went to some time of Christian private school?
Nope, public school
Well, then, it was definitely unconstitutional as hell!! Just brazen indoctrination from on a hilarious/terrifying level…
Holyshit, I’ve heard stories, but hearing your firsthand account sounds so dystopian.
Also Gen X (1971) and while I remember it in first grade (so this would have been around 1976-77) I don’t think it continued much past 1st grade. MAYBE 2nd. So I lucked out there I suppose. I cannot imagine getting indoctrinated by JBS though. I’m sure it would have gone down well in a lot of the midwest where I grew up, but I suppose I also lucked out there in that the school board and staff were pretty apolitical when it came to school structure.
The irony, to me, is that town is liberal now. The surrounding county is super maga but the city is all hippie liberal. But as a child, this Colorado town was Texas red. Don’t spend money on education because we need a better high school football stadium type of town.
From the Pledge of Allegiance to in-school John Birch society events is a hell of an acceleration. Holy shit.
I did not enjoy being forced to say this in school, to say the least.
Yes, I did. I didn’t think anything about it at the time, but as an adult is seems weird, and like someone else said cultish. Yet, I am conflicted, because one of my concerns about the USA is increasing partisanship driven diverging cultures. Having kids say the pledge of allegiance is generally unoffensive, especially when compared to our ongoing culture wars.
it’s weird as fuck, and especially the “under god” part like the rest isn’t all that terrible ig but why must u shove god into everything
It was tacked on in the 50s (note how it kinda messes with the cadence) because of godless commies. There have been other little tweaks as well, some making it worse (e.g. “under god”) and some better (abandoning the, herrrm, “Roman” salute). While always a bit weirdly nationalistic, the core of the modern pledge was written by a Christian Socialist and replaced one that was worse and more explicitly religious.
I guess it’s not so weird that it exists and I assume many countries have some sort of boilerplate loyalty oath they can bust out as needed, but it’s pretty messed up that it’s mandatory for kids on a daily basis and fetishizes the flag as an object. I am quite fond of my country, and I think there are a lot of worse places to live, but our history is pretty messed up and our views on what exactly constitutes freedom and democracy are not unquestionable just because some clever provincial elites came up with a halfway workable system in the late 1700s. I suppose it’s marginally better to build a national cult out of institutions and symbols than individuals, but it’s still a terrible idea to treat patriotism like religious dogma.
I got sick of it and made up my own pledge:
I pledge my cheeses to the hag
of the untied snakes of harmonica
And to my public, the Richard Stans
One nation, under Zod, invisible
With liver, tea, and just us for allForced? No. But I was was questioned or disciplined by a few teachers for not saying it.
Starting September 12, 2001 it became mandatory in high school, with disciplinary action taken if you refused to stand during the pledge
