Despite the fact that schools forcing all students to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance is a violation of a student’s Freedom of Speech Rights, school districts across the country continue to force and require students to stand for it every single day. In some cases, teachers may not be offended by the act of a student sitting during the pledge, but more frequently than not, teachers have punished those students by making them leave the classroom or sending them to the principal. Some teachers have been so personally offended by the act that they in turn gave those specific students lower grades in their class from then on, which goes against the most basic rule of thumb as a teacher: not grading students based off of your feelings towards them, but grading them based off of their quality of work.

So why do schools across the country continue to force their students to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? It appears that schools in the United States continue to desire to create citizens that are loyal to the country. However, their method of forcing students to stand for the pledge seems to be contradictory to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution by shoving social principles down the throats of school students.

The requirement of the Pledge of Allegiance can place teachers in a difficult position at times. On one side, the school wants their students to experience freedoms and on the other side, schools want to limit the freedoms that students can experience. It is best for teachers to always respect the rights of their students, so when a student refuses to stand, and you cannot simply accept it, then you must ask them why. They have no obligation to give an explanation, but if you must act upon them not standing, that is your choice. Do not make it confrontational. If they give a supposedly acceptable answer, that is consistent with their constitutional rights, then respect those stated rights and allow them to express their feelings silently while the pledge continues. Portsmouth High School Senior, Jacob Teti said “I personally have not stood for the Pledge of Allegiance probably since middle school. I sit during the pledge for so many different reasons, but my main reason would be because I don’t think it’s fair to pledge allegiance to a country that continuously shows disrespect to their citizens. The allegiance is totally outdated and I just don’t think that it really applies to this country anymore.”

No student has to say it or stand up for it, and not participating in the pledge doesn’t make him/her unpatriotic or disrespectful, yet the stories of schools where kids get punished by ignorant teachers are all over the place. These students are not intentionally disrespecting anyone or anything, they are simply choosing to sit instead of stand for a pledge that’s over in under a minute. Teachers need to understand the real reasons behind why some students choose not to stand for the pledge, because they are not what you’d expect.

Below, are some unfortunate examples of students who exercised their right to sit rather than stand during the pledge and were threatened and eventually punished by their teachers:

 (Research By: Hemant Mehta Posted to www.patheos.com On: September 17th, 2015)

• In California’s Lakewood High School, a senior student was threatened with punishment after she exercised her constitutional right to opt out of the Pledge. When the student’s father contacted the school’s assistant principal to resolve the issue, his concerns were not adequately addressed by the high school administration, which seemed to have no idea that the student’s rights had been violated. On Monday, September 14, after she remained seated during the recitation of the Pledge, she was confronted by her teacher, Mr. Gjonovich, who wanted to know why she was opting out. Even though she was under no obligation to explain her decision, the student respectfully told the teacher that she did not believe in pledging and was exercising her constitutional right not to do so. Nevertheless, the teacher told the student that her decision was extremely “disrespectful” and “arrogant”, and then told her in front of the entire class that she must stand in the future if she wants to stay in his class.

• In Delaware’s Delcastle Technical High School, when a student quietly remained seated for the Pledge, his teacher, Amy Dunn, insisted he stand up for the Pledge and when he refused, she demanded that he stay in the classroom after class was over. After class, Ms. Dunn told him that he is required to stand up during the Pledge and that it is “disrespectful” to remain seated. She then threatened the student with punishment if he remained seated again. Afterwards, Ms. Dunn approached the student in the hallway, in front of his peers, and loudly told the student that he was disrespectful to her and to his fellow classmates for remaining seated. The student informed Ms. Dunn that he is not legally required to stand up for the Pledge but she strongly insisted that the law required  him and all other students to stand. Finally, the student sought advice from several other teachers on the issue, and most of them told the student exactly what Ms. Dunn had said. The student reports that several of his friends also wish to remain seated but, in light of Ms. Dunn’s actions, they are too afraid to sit down during the Pledge, despite the fact that they have the constitutional right to do so.

• In Florida’s Hobbs Middle School, a student has been forced by his teacher to stand in the front of the classroom and recite the Pledge of Allegiance to his classmates everyday, despite his request that he be allowed to remain seated. The teacher has refused to allow the student to remain seated and has wrongfully embarrassed and mistreated this student for exercising his constitutional right to opt out of the Pledge. Furthermore, this student is autistic and has been identified as requiring special accommodation for his educational needs. The student is fearful of angering his teacher who has tried to persuade the student to change his mind about participating in the Pledge. When the parents contacted the student’s ill informed school officials on September 4, 2015, about this issue, they were told that Florida law supersedes the student’s constitutional rights and that the student must stand for the Pledge, which was later found to be completely false. The student continued to recieve this embarassing and unfair treatment until the school year ended. 

The American Humanist Association and the American Atheists‘ legal departments have sent out numerous letters to these three school districts in question, along with hundreds of other districts across the country. AA has received a letter promising a resolution for the Hobb’s Middle School in Florida case, while the AHA awaits responses in the other two. The AA will promptly check in with the student’s parents on the situation and if nothing has been resolved, they intend to take this case to a civil court and fight the Florida’s school district for wrongfully forcing a middle school student who has reading and writing disabilities, to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance in front of his class each day, against his will. They do have a strong enough case to take legal action and they promise to take action if nothing changes.