To High School Students Wanting to Sit for Pledge:
Back when I was in high school, I sat for the pledge to protest the Iraq War. This was in 2002-2003 when people were hyper-patriotic and nationalistic, slightly more than you see today (though still maddening today).
Anyway, I got sent to the principle’s office and so on and so forth, and teachers and administrators wanted to punish me.
However, thanks to a law teacher, I was well educated. If you decide to sit, please keep in mind Tinker vs. Des Moines. That is a Supreme Court law that states students do not relinquish their Constitutional rights when they enter school. This means you have the freedom to protest, as long as it’s peaceful and not disruptive to school, such as wearing an armband or sitting for the pledge.
They cannot force you to stand, and they cannot punish you. That would be unconstitutional. Do not be deterred in any peaceful protest. You are allowed to have your voice, anyone that that says otherwise is full of shit and doesn’t know the law.
I sat for the pledge all of 8th grade. But the first time, the teacher next door came over and yelled at me for “making a scene”. So the next day I brought in my fucken student handbook that SAYS IN PRINT students may sit or stand while reciting the pledge OR saying nothing at all. That asshole. Then he had the audacity to call me out in front of the class “Why won’t you say the pledge huh? Religious reasons? Did your parents tell you not to?”
I literally said, because I don’t have to. Because I LITERALLY DO NOT HAVE TO. It’s my right and I will take it.
