Most students are saying it out of requirement... a sort of unquestioning compliance--which is not what freedom and liberty (and probably happiness) are about.
We get so caught up in flags and symbols. We rush out on the field, in our team jerseys, and we play against one another. However, a better game might come from players that think and ask questions... people who show respect--but not out of scripted requirement.
Opting not to stand for the pledge (in the role of educator) can feel awkward.
This is, no doubt, how students that take pause and don't script-out likely feel. They're not looking to be anti-American. It feels strange to stand and strange not to stand. Perhaps the requirement to stand puts people that are questioning on the spot (and people aren't on a track.)
For those that feel a deep love and appreciation of the greater ideals of their country (and truly stand for those ideals,) that's something different. However, to have the pledge, as a general expectation, can feel pretty oppressive.
Furthermore, the phrase "under God" begs the question: what does under mean? We are saying a pledge that (is supposed to) represent a system beyond kings and kingdoms--yet seems to embrace the kingdom mentality... which seems less like a democratic mentality and more like an authoritarian one.
Some say God is within & others have a different name for (or conceptions of) this mysterious force of life. That is what freedom of religion is about... and, you know, separation of church and state. The "under God" part was added in 1954.
Also, freedom of speech is about not having to speak just as much. When there is a flat out expectation (which teachers may judge students by,) to stand and recite, we are not doing young people justice.
It seems best to expose young people to examples of truth and justice (and mindfulness) in our behavior and hold our government (and the corporations it is entangled with) accountable to these principles.
Furthermore, on a deeper level, institutions, however well-intended, that serve factory farmed animal products for lunch, can hardly fly under the umbrella of justice for all.
This planet features 8.7+ million species, of which, we are just one. We've got a lot to learn... and a lot to teach (by higher example, rather than blind recitation.)
Countries can change dramatically--yet their flags often remain the same. What are we standing for? What did people stand for in the past (during segregation, for example.) What will people be standing for in the future?
Will we stand for inhumane military actions? Will we stand for power accumulating in the hands of the few? Will we watch our rights slip away? Will we stand for the continual degrading of our ecosystem?
Will we be un-American just for asking questions? Will we be un-American for questioning the power?
The flag says "for which it stands" not "for which it is supposed to stand."
Furthermore, speaking of children in particular, how can a person pledge loyalty to something--when they haven't even learned what that something is?
Any country's citizen's can do that. Sometimes, when we see footage of other country's peoples rallying around flags, we call it brainwashing.
The pledge was, in a sense, marketing. We can say it was intended to encourage patriotism--but one has to ask, rather, if it teaches nationalism.
If we must have a pledge, let that pledge be for higher values values that we use, as appropriate, to keep our country's leadership in check---and to create positive change.
That said, perhaps we could simply teach empathy, awareness, the preciousness (and underlying unity) of all living things.
In other words, we could teach respect for the world we share and are a part of---the one that corporations (and the politicians they buy) are actively steamrolling under the American brand.
Liberty and justice for all... desperately needed.
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