Student Suspended over Pledge of Allegiance
Bishop Edens is a 14 year-old student at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Junior High School in Dilworth, Minnesota. Bishop was suspended from school on Friday because he would not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
On Thursday, three of Bishop’s classmates were disciplined for not standing so Bishop decided to support his friends by breaking the rule on Friday.
He was sent home on Friday but invited back to school when the principal learned that her rule was unconstitutional.
Principal Colleen Houglum said that she suspended the students because the school handbook says “all students will stand” during the pledge but it adds that the students do not have to recite it.
The principal told the students on Thursday that it was disrespectful to sit during the pledge, especially now with U.S. troops at war.
The students countered that the soldiers were fighting to protect our freedom and that the principal had taken away their freedom to decide whether or not to participate in the Pledge.
So what is the law regarding the Pledge of Allegiance? In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a school cannot force a student to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
The case involved a group of students in West Virginia who refused to recite the Pledge because it was against their religious beliefs. The court ruled that our nation does not need to require patriotism. The decision said that America’s strength is that it allows for dissent and that patriotism is voluntary.
Minnesota’s law follows that court case. Minnesota requires all students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a week, but says that any teacher or student may opt out of the pledge.
Bishop Edens has the right not to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. That right is granted by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Source: Education Week
BLOG QUESTION
Should students be required to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school?
On Thursday, three of Bishop’s classmates were disciplined for not standing so Bishop decided to support his friends by breaking the rule on Friday.
He was sent home on Friday but invited back to school when the principal learned that her rule was unconstitutional.
Principal Colleen Houglum said that she suspended the students because the school handbook says “all students will stand” during the pledge but it adds that the students do not have to recite it.
The principal told the students on Thursday that it was disrespectful to sit during the pledge, especially now with U.S. troops at war.
The students countered that the soldiers were fighting to protect our freedom and that the principal had taken away their freedom to decide whether or not to participate in the Pledge.
So what is the law regarding the Pledge of Allegiance? In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a school cannot force a student to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
The case involved a group of students in West Virginia who refused to recite the Pledge because it was against their religious beliefs. The court ruled that our nation does not need to require patriotism. The decision said that America’s strength is that it allows for dissent and that patriotism is voluntary.
Minnesota’s law follows that court case. Minnesota requires all students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a week, but says that any teacher or student may opt out of the pledge.
Bishop Edens has the right not to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. That right is granted by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Source: Education Week
BLOG QUESTION
Should students be required to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school?
2 Comments:
I don't think every kids should stand. I'm not an American and sometimes I feel umconfortable saying that I love America. I think kids should only stand when he/she want to and if this person don't want to stand then he/she can sit. I really think that the school should make a discipline such as "you have to santd during the Pledge!" They should think about the foreigners, too.
I don't think the have to stand I'm south american and speak spanish why should I?
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