The Pledge

The past couple of days I have seen a post that is going around on Facebook about whether or not children should learn and recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States. Have you seen the post?

I grew up, standing up each morning, facing the flag in my classroom, and reciting it every morning. It was a part of the start to the school day. You probably did it too.

I have to admit I thought nothing much about it as a kid. I didn’t really understand ‘pledging an allegiance’ to anything. I just learned the lines and said it. Rote learning. Repeated over and over.

I was an American child in a public school. I did what every other child did.

I have always considered myself proud of where I was born and I was and I am still to this day patriotic. I knew early on that living in the United States was a really good thing, that this country had amazing places to see, that it was open to endless opportunities, and I felt relatively safe here. Once I got into college and I experienced a wider view I saw more realities of it, the inequality and the injustices, but I still felt blessed to be here. I majored in “Mass Communications” so my classes taught me about the news, about how it is presented, and it just made me deeply aware daily of the good and the bad that happened in the United States. We studied the news.

I realize not everyone had that same introduction and deep dive into the news as I did. But, regardless of it, I have always been very proud to be an American. I never doubted my loyalty to my homeland. I didn’t wish to live anywhere else.

So, when I saw the post about the Pledge of Allegiance in schools I thought to myself “is everything questioned now?” Come on!

So, I googled. Guess what? Only 10 to 15 other countries on earth (that’s not a lot) have a formal Pledge of Allegiance. I learned that it was very rare to have any pledge of allegiance to a country said in schools too.

A bit of history: The first time it was recited in American schools was in 1892, after a woman came up with it for a magazine celebrating Columbus Day. Oh, and when she wrote it the line “Under God” was not a part of it. “Under God” was not added until 1954. I was born in 1956 and I started kindergarten 5 years later. By then it was a part of the daily morning start at school.

So, why did this Facebook post about the Pledge of Allegiance show up now? And, who sent it out into social media world?

Is it a coincidence to be seen now with all the division and craziness going on in our country’s politics? I think not!!

I admit I am teetering on the fence on the requirement of the Pledge in schools and whether or not our children should be required to learn it. Does being born in our country mean you must learn the words of allegiance? Do all Americans have to know it? Does allegiance allow questioning our government? Even disagreeing? Does ‘allegiance to one nation – with liberty and justice for all’ – sound a bit to unreal? And, if you say it but don’t live up to it, then what?

The post I saw on Facebook created lots and lots of comments. I scanned through them. Some people absolutely love the pledge, and some others find it wrong to force it on children. There were all kinds of opinions as you can imagine! Like everything these days!!

If anything, I am glad it sent me off to do some research about the Pledge of Allegiance and to learn its history. Sometimes what we take for granted, or we think ‘well, it’s always been that way’ so it’s got to good, is not enough. Knowing more is understanding more.

Is the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States a bad thing? Of course not. Is it required though? Do we want our children to learn it at a young age?

Hmmmm.