did anyone else from the USA grow up being forced to say the pledge to the flag in school?

HRDS_654, 1 year ago

To make it worse, I found out not too long ago that the version they made me say wasn’t even the original. “Under God” did not exist in the original version of the pledge.

EDIT: For those that were curious, apparently it was added in 1954 under Dwight Eisenhower.

tiredofsametab, 1 year ago

At least through elementary school, yes. I can't recall for middle school if we did it every day or not.

Looking at it now in my 40s, I always think it feels like some sort of weird brainwash-y, cult-like behavior.

OutrageousUmpire, 1 year ago

I thought everyone did. I did for sure. I know in Texas they say the Texas pledge to the Texas flag as well (or at least they did 20 years ago).

BrerChicken, 1 year ago

I’m 44 and grew up in Miami. We had the regular southern patriotism mixed with the Cubans who were very friggin thankful to be living in the US (including my family!) So you better believe we all said it! But the way I saw it, my parents and grandparents left Cuba so that we wouldn’t have to do that kinda of things in school. I love my country, but it’s crazy to put your hands over your heart and pledge every single morning, not to mention that under God part that was added only a couple of decades before I even started to say it.

As a big fan of Groenig’s “Life in Hell” comic strip, I just started saying one of his versions:

I plead alignment to the flakes of the untitled snakes of a merry cow, and to the republicans, for which they scam: one nacho, underpants with licorice and jugs of wine for owls.

just_squanch_it, 1 year ago

Not only that, I was in a private, church-school for a couple years and we also had a pledge for the christian flag as well.

Also, why is there a christian flag?

distantorigin, 1 year ago

As a millennial that grew up in the early-to-mid 2000s, it was absolutely expected pre-middle school that we do this. Pretty gross.

son_named_bort, 1 year ago

Yep, everyday K-12. We also had a moment of silence after the pledge, with the idea that kids would use that time to pray. Of course, nobody did because it was lame.

NotTheOnlyGamer, 1 year ago

I would never say forced - it's just normal practice, but abstention happened. Shared experience is a powerful uniting factor. Reinforced daily, even moreso. Every student remembered the Pledge itself and remembers seeing every other student doing it - regardless of race, creed, or color. We were all Americans. I remember the first times I saw someone not taking part, the first, it was for religious reasons; his parents were part of a religious group that wouldn't let them swear oaths or something like that. The second was much later, and it was how I found out that someone in my class was a resident alien.

It's obviously a stand-in for a religious prayer; I don't think anyone past 4th grade had any misconception about that. It's also a prayer of nationalism and loyalty to the country. If we could bring people back together like that still, it would help.

Lilkev, 1 year ago

It happened every morning in my school, but we weren't forced. I would routinely just stay seated and not say the pledge, personally.

daredevil, 1 year ago

I did not enjoy being forced to say this in school, to say the least.

LennethAegis, 1 year ago

Millennial here. I remember doing this in elementary school in the 90s. I moved in 3rd grade from a place that didn't do it, so it was super weird to me coming in as an outsider.

Horik, 1 year ago

I'm 50, and yes. Except in HS, I sat and dared them to do something about it. My school knew how to pick their battles, they never disciplined me for my acts of civil disobedience (I also protested the dress code when they enacted one).

Nougat, 1 year ago

Went to Catholic school from 1976 through 1987. We did the pledge in the morning through ... fifth grade? Maybe through eighth, but I don't really remember. Definitely not in high school. In those early years, I wasn't aware enough to know that I even could not want to recite it, let alone having the knowledge that I legally didn't even have to recite it, or even stand up for it.

When my kids were going to public elementary, they did it, too. Very early on, one of my kids didn't like to do it, but it was more about social anxiety than making a political statement. So even though I was well aware of the legal rights around the pledge in school, I did encourage that child to participate when they could, because taking part in a group activity like that was a healthier choice than not for them at that age.

We've since all had plenty of political/legal discussions, including around the pledge and its history, so they all make their own choices now, if the high school even has students recite it at all.

Noremac, 1 year ago

We said the pledge in the mornings in elementary school in the 80s. I don't believe it was held in middle or high school. I never thought twice about it and I don't think any of the other kids did either. Can't remember any issues arising over it then. I couldn't really care less about whether or not schools continued to hold it now.

exohuman, 1 year ago (edited 1 year ago)

I am twice your age and we did it for a while then the schools just stopped. The cult I was in didn’t like the pledge though so I would just stand and murmur certain parts (like “under god”) to avoid being punished.