Taking a Stand - or Not

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-26-2005
Taking a Stand - or Not
45
Mon, 10-02-2006 - 12:07am

Over the summer I had the subject of particpation in the pledge of allegiance was on my mind, and I had told my kids that I may not want them to say the pledge once school starts.

I explained what a pledge was and what the word allegiance meant and we talked about that a bit and I told them I would let them know before school started.

The week before school started one of my sons had his first football game. Before the game began, the announcer asked us all to rise for the pledge of allegiance. It has been my practice for years now to not be present when the national anthem is played or the pledge is recited at events, however this time I chose to just keep my seat.

I was sitting in the third row, and I didn't look back or around to see if anyone was taking notice of my non-participation, but I got a touch of the butterflies in my stomach thinking that other parents were likely taking notice and making a mental note not to let their kids come over to my house to play in the future.

On the way home after the game I told my kids about how it had made me feel to keep my seat, and I didn't feel it was right for me to put that kind of pressure on them, so I wouldn't require them to keep their seats at school during the pledge. They really didn't have much of a response.

At the end of the first week of school one of my sons told me "hey dad, I forgot to tell you. - I haven't been saying the pledge at school. I've been sitting down." I was shocked, and proud. I asked if any of his classmates had given him any grief. He said no one had, and in fact two of his friends had followed his lead and sat down after they saw him not standing.

The following week he told me there was one girl that was giving him some grief and had told him she was going to tell the teacher, but that didn't concern him. He knew his rights, he knew the reasons he had for not participating, and he was very confident of himself. He wasn't giving in. Then last week he came home from school and told me I needed to make a phone call to the school because his teacher had made him stand for the pledge. He stood there as I made the call to the principal. It was a short conversation. He heard me speak pleasantly to the principal as I simply said his teacher had made him stand for the pledge, I said thanks and hung up the phone. He wanted to know what the principals response had been, and I told him she had said that saying the pledge was optional and she would inform his teacher of that. He seemed pleased. The following day his teacher explained that she wasn't aware that saying the pledge was optional, and apologized to him.

This has all been a great learning experience for my kids and for myself. I know I'll never duck out when they play the national anthem again, or worry if people are looking at me when I don't stand for the pledge. It seems kind of odd, but my son has set the example for me, and I couldn't be more proud

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-07-2005
Thu, 10-12-2006 - 4:07am

<<>>

Pearl Harbor cause you weren't alive then, I suppose. And if you had been in the Trade Center or on a plane and died, then I'm sure your freedoms would have been attacked.

<<>>

Wrong again. And if not Pearl Harbor, then somewhere else.

<<>>

Yeah, especially as I'm an anti-war protester, just not a fanatic.

You should listen to Rose. If you sell everything you own right now you should be able to make that move.

zz

To Rose: I believe he doesn't go to the debate boards because the heat's too high. Better to stay here and pick on teens' moms, lol.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-1999
Thu, 10-12-2006 - 7:53am

<>


And you honestly believe they wouldn't have invaded, given a chance?

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2004
Thu, 10-12-2006 - 11:33am

No John, it’s not an inside joke; it’s a widespread joke.
“Crooks and liars” is just one of many sites are all over the web which are nothing more than snippets of news wires which are then blogged by unknown contributors ranging from intelligent to absurd. They’re the Jerry Springers of the news feeds.
Here’s another similar one for you:
http://www.guerrillanews.com/
Here you can read all about conspiracy theorists who insist the buildings in the 911 attack did not “collapse.” They were blown up by our own government. The problem is the “contributors” have no knowledge of what happens to steel when it gets very hot. No – it doesn’t melt.

No, I have not watched your video.
Yes, I am fully aware of the huge controversy regarding the Military Commissions Act which I am not about to debate on a Parents of Teens board.

While you may couch your agenda here by posting proud examples of your little political malcontent who thinks as you do, I have to wonder why you pop back here and do this. Could it be problems with debate boards you've previously visited?
Here’s a tip John: When someone disagrees with you, don’t question their intelligence.
Go back and try again and let us discuss our teens.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-29-2005
Thu, 10-12-2006 - 11:52am
LOL!!!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-26-2005
Thu, 10-12-2006 - 5:27pm

daddieo, i don't question the intelligence of those who disagree with me. i do question the intelligence of those that don't demonstrate critical thinking abilities.

my two recent posts here were to inform parents of rights regarding their children that they may not beaware of, and to encourage parents to have discussions with their children about these rights.

i understand your knock on crooksandliars.com. i had never been to the site before because it seems to be popular with some liberal co-workers of mine who don't impress me as being critical thinkers. however, the link was not to anonymous posts by bloggers....it was a link to a MSNBC broadcast that did a good job of explaining the problem with the Military Commissions Act. i found the link on digg.com....it would have been nice if the link had pointed to youtube instead...but i went with what i had.

regarding debate boards....never been there. not much interested in debating...educating is more my thing.

Pages