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Comment by GotAnyMegadeth | Hacker News Reader

You had to recite a pledge of allegiance? Wow. Sounds like North Korea.

The Pledge of Allegiance is recited every morning at almost every school in the United States. It is taught to children much too young to understand what it means. Here are the current words:

"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."

It is said facing the flag, with your right hand over your heart. Originally it was said while saluting the flag, however, it was replaced with the hand over heart gesture during WWII, as it was similar to the Nazi salute.

Congressional sessions also open with the recital of the Pledge of Allegiance.

By the way, the words "under God" where only added on June 14, 1954.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance

It wasn't similar to the nazi salute - it was the same. Bellamy salute. The NSDAP thought it was such a great bit of nationalistic fervor they adopted it.

A Supreme Court decision from during World War II[1] requires schools to allow pupils to opt out of the pledge of allegiance. Most states in the United States still make the pledge a default school activity every day of the school year except for pupils who individually opt out.

[1] West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943) http://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1949/1942/1942_591

I found this to be really regional. I did when I was a kid, then I questioned our teacher why she did not after the first week or so. She felt the whole standing, gazing and hand over the heart was a bit too military for an elementary school.

I've had a few "super patriotic" teachers threaten me with detention for not towing the line. But these tended to be in urban and ex-urban, lower socioeconomic schools. The type of places that wanted to make you into factory workers rather than college students.

Where I grew up the Pledge was absolutely a mandatory part of every school day, and was said before morning announcements through the loudspeaker. Every room had a flag in it, so students in that room could Pledge to it. I grew up in an urban area, so my experiences are skewed urban. I couldn't imagine an individual teacher having a choice in the matter.

Of course, as I posted in the parent, the Supreme Court allows for individual students to stay seated and not salute the flag if they choose.

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