Should the Pledge of Allegiance be removed from U.S. schools?

[Ahhdurr]

Nationalistic indoctrination. Get rid of it.

[Calfredd]

Yes, I think if you go to an American school that you should do the Pledge of Alliance to the Flag and sing the National Anthem and stand for the flag. Now with that out of the way.

Why are you comparing reciting the Pledge of Alliance to something Hitler would have required of children in school. Perhaps you could explain why you think it is a worthy comparison, or are you just tying to troll?

Probably something like indoctrination which is kind of what it is. I did participate in the moment of silence to honor the troops who do the crap jobs the rest of us don't/can't do.

[Allybeboba]

I thought the pledge thing was a joke the first time I heard about it. Turns out it actually exists. It just seems incredibly silly to recite a pledge every single morning. Also seems "wrong" in my view to force kids who may not know what they are doing to pledge allegiance to something.

It is also seems "wrong" to me that someone can't be proud of their country and doesn't display their country's flag or regularly volunteer to help their fellow citizens. All that just seems unthinkable.

[Breccia]

No and the school prayer needs to return. Atheists can go sit in the corner.

So, facing East five times per day? When you meant "prayer" you meant all prayer, right?

[thedingleberry]

People that are worried about something so trivial as the pledge of allegiance in school must really be living an eventless life. It really has no effect on anything...

[Allybeboba]

People that are worried about something so trivial as the pledge of allegiance in school must really be living an eventless life. It really has no effect on anything...

People in other countries tend to really focus on America a LOT. And I mean a LOT. It is easier to focus on someone else's issues other than your own I suppose.

[thedingleberry]

More importantly, we need to get rid of International Woman's Day. It is sexist against men and I am really offended by this event. At the very least we need a complimentary day to show how little would get done if all the men took the day off. #DayWithoutAMan

[ParanoiD84]

Nope i see no reasons to remove it.

[Deleted]

Suddenly School Shootings make sense now...

[Templar 331]

More importantly, we need to get rid of International Woman's Day. It is sexist against men and I am really offended by this event. At the very least we need a complimentary day to show how little would get done if all the men took the day off. #DayWithoutAMan

There's already an International Men's Day......

http://www.internationalmensday.com/

[Allybeboba]

Why are you comparing reciting the Pledge of Alliance to something Hitler would have required of children in school. Perhaps you could explain why you think it is a worthy comparison, or are you just tying to troll?

You likely won't get a decent answer for this one. I would very surprised if you do. Europeans simply don't have a firm understanding of American culture.

[Spectral]

It's irrelevant how high or low you think it ranks. The fact is that it does cause social castigation, and unless someone can come up with a good reason for keeping it, it should be removed.

People sure use "fact" loosely around these parts.

If you're comparing it to third-world countries, sure, but that is your view. There are many people in the U.S. who would beg to differ.

This isn't an argument.

I'm sure plenty of students/teachers waste time on other things too. Just more of a reason not to make a complete waste of time like the Pledge officially built into the schedule every day.

Are we actually supposed to treat this as a serious point? Are you sure you weren't just shooting to round things out with fifth claim?

[Hisholyness]

5. 30 seconds of a day is nothing. I'm sure kids and teachers waste more time doing other stuff.

Its also the morning announcements and moment of silence. Its all a waste of time

[Allybeboba]

Suddenly School Shootings make sense now...

Just my opinion of course...

The reason we see so many people killed at schools is they are designated "gun free zones". Which means that the shooter knows they will be "safe" to shoot people without any resistance. Most of the "mass shootings" in the US happen in "gun free zones". The office shooting, the night club shooting, the military base shooting(that area was a gun free zone).
A person that wants to kill a bunch a people will go to the path of least resistance. Gun free zones offer them that path.

It has nothing to do with the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem.

[Gestopft]

I said it every day, and it was really more just something I memorized and didn't internalize. It was just repetition, and it didn't indoctrinate me.

As far as whether to keep it, I'm sort of neutral. One nice thing that it can do is provide a little structure, and get all the little kids paying attention. Whether or not it stays in schools, the "under God" needs to go.

[Rennadrel]

I'd say cut it entirely, but really no matter what there's too many people who would be like "nooo we need our blatantly religious pledge of servitude to be pushed on kids who don't even know what half the words mean or they'll grow up to be evil commies or muslims or something!"

On roughly the same tier but less important, removing the 10 commandments from courthouses (I don't know how they ever rationalized that) and "in god we trust" off the money. Again, religious people would go "nooo why are you trampling on our right to impose our religion through the government?!" so I don't know if that'll ever actually happen.

In context of when it was written, like most other components of politics and history, it was done so due to the more widespread adoption of Christianity.

[Activi-T]

It should be removed because it's a lie and that's not the job of an educational institution. "...,Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.", yeah pull the other leg. The US is fiercely divided between political, social and economic classes. Liberty, the reason why you have the highest number of incarcerations per capita in the west is? Justice for all, except transgender people, gays, the poor, disproportionate incarceration rates for African Americans.

[Allybeboba]

So far, despite all the European voters, the Pledge is winning.
Pretty unbelievable!!

[Argarock]

People that are worried about something so trivial as the pledge of allegiance in school must really be living an eventless life. It really has no effect on anything...

I'm fairly certain it's a big part of americans thinks that america is the greatest country in the world..

it's indoctrination at a young age,

when you start having a ceremony, every single day from a young age, regarding a specific thing/topic, whatever happens during that ceremony will take precedens over any other facts you latter learn about that topic.

[Travis B]

So far, despite all the European voters, the Pledge is winning.
Pretty unbelievable!!

Apparently you don't know how to read a simple poll. At the time of your posting, there were 29 votes to remove the Pledge, 15 votes to remove the "under God" part, and 26 votes to keep the Pledge.