Alex Barbour

Evidence #3
URL: http://www.npr.org/2011/09/19/140600621/parents-fight-over-pledging-allegiance-inschools
Residents are waving the flag in Brookline, Mass., both for and against the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Courts have ruled that public schools cannot compel students to recite the pledge, so in
Brookline, as elsewhere, the pledge is voluntary.
But critics say there's still pressure on students to conform, and they want the pledge out of the
classroom altogether.
A Concern About Peer Pressure
Brookline parent Martin Rosenthal says he is very patriotic. He proudly put his hand on his heart
and pledged allegiance to the flag at a recent community event. But, he says, the pledge has no
place in the classroom.
"You're asking kids in school to take a loyalty oath in front of their classmates," he says. "I just
don't think that's right."
Rosenthal says the pledge has no educational value and even flies in the face of the kind of
critical thinking schools should be teaching. But, he says, he's most bothered by the peer pressure
students may feel to recite it.
"It's like if you don't agree with the group, we're gonna ostracize you," he says. "If you don't
swear allegiance, you're considered disloyal. That's what I'm getting."

Since he filed his proposal, Rosenthal says he's been assaulted by calls and emails that prove his
point messages like "Go f - - - yourself you socialist pig," and "You liberal a - - - - - - - are
ruining this country."
"I mean, I have a thick skin, but I don't think it's right to put 6- to 7-year-olds in that situation
and the school committee doesn't get it," Rosenthal says.
School committee Chairwoman Rebecca Stone says no students have ever complained they were
bullied for not pledging. And schools are very careful to make sure the pledge does not feel
coercive.
"We don't have a problem," she says.
Kids Say They Don't Feel Pressure
At Brookline's Runkle School, as in most, the pledge is led once a week over the intercom.
"Nobody should be asked to stand, nobody should be asked to salute, or to place their hands over
heart; they are not told how to respond," Stone says. "They are given the opportunity to hear and
recite the pledge if they so choose."
After dismissal, outside another Brookline school, eighth-grader Noam Fink agrees that there is
no pressure to pledge. In fact, she says, sometimes there's pressure not to pledge.
"I did it once," she says. "And I was one of three people standing up and it was awkward 'cause
everyone was staring at you."
Pledging seems to be more common in the younger grades. Though, as fourth-grader Milena
Kitterman puts it, it's up to you.

"If you wanna do it, it's cool to do it," she says. "But if you don't want to do it, you just sit in
your seat and wait till it's over and it's no big deal."
She and classmate Kate Staff say they like pledging.
"It just feels very special to do it," Kitterman says.
"I feel like I'm really actually an American," Staff adds.
Stone says many in Brookline want more of the pledge, not less. "There is no question that this is
a cherished, civic tradition and cherished, civic traditions count for something," she says.
A Distraction
Indeed the flap over the flag ricocheted all the way up to the candidates for president. Speaking
on Fox News, Newt Gingrich was indignant.
"I would hope that any tax-paid school will say the Pledge of Allegiance, and frankly I'd wonder
whether taxpayers ought to subsidize it if it's not going to teach people how to be patriotic and
how to be pro-American," he said.
In Brookline, equally enraged residents are now hanging flags outside their homes in support of
the pledge. Resident Sandra Maloney says people should stop whining about peer pressure.
Brookline parent Sandra Maloney is calling on other residents to hang flags outside to show
support for keeping the Pledge of Allegiance in public school classrooms.
Brookline parent Sandra Maloney is calling on other residents to hang flags outside to show
support for keeping the Pledge of Allegiance in public school classrooms.

"Grow up," she says. "Part of growing up is having pressure put upon you so that you are able
cope with life as you get older. We are trying to teach our children to stand up for themselves.
This is part of education."
But at home, where his phone has been ringing nonstop, Rosenthal says the harassment he's
experiencing is more than just teasing on the playground. The public threats even prompted the
police chief to get involved.
For all the vocal opposition, there's been relative quiet from the side of civil libertarians. Even
stalwart Harvey Silverglate came down in favor of the pledge in schools, saying it does have
educational value. He says letting students wrestle with whether or not to pledge is kind of like
Liberty 101.
"Let me tell you something in an un-free country it's very easy because the authorities tell you
what you have to do," he says. "So in a constitutional democracy, of course it's hard because you
have to make your own mind up. But we should really thank our lucky stars that's what we've
got."
Silverglate calls the whole debate over the pledge a distraction. But thanks to the First
Amendment, he says, it's a distraction people have a right to raise.