Friday, December 24, 2010

MA: Permission slips for Pledge of Allegiance

We read:
"The principal of a public school in Brookline, Mass., is asking parents to fill out permission slips before their children can participate in a weekly recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Gerardo Martinez, the principal of The Devotion School, informed parents that the school would begin reciting the pledge in January over the public address system.

Attached to the letter was a form that asked parents to check either: 'Yes, my child will participate in the weekly Pledge of Allegiance' or 'No, my child will not participate in the weekly Pledge of Allegiance.'"

"It's actually not a permission slip," said Superintendent Bill Lupini, in an interview with Fox News Radio. "There's no intent this was a permission form." Lupini said students will not be forced to recite the pledge, regardless of a parent's wishes...

An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in Boston also had some concerns about the situation. Sarah Wunsch told the newspaper the permission slips were "really strange." "It suggests that this is a decision for parents alone," she said, noting that children don't lose their right of expression once they walk into a school building.

Source

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Any students who refuse to stand and pledge their allegiance to the nation that's providing their free education, shouldn't get one.

Anonymous said...

Public displays of pledges of allegiance to the state are so "1984" and would typify North Korea. And even creepier when children are required to do it so that it looks like state indoctrination.

Stucco Holmes said...

A pledge is not needed.

When Frank Costello was asked to give an example of his being a good citizen testifying before the Kefauver Commission, he said "I paid my taxes."

Anonymous said...

"It suggests that this is a decision for parents alone," she said, noting that children don't lose their right of expression once they walk into a school building."

Isn't that exactly (expressing themselves) what Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold did when thay walked into Columbine High School on April 20, 1999?

Anonymous said...

It's funny how when I was a kid, and the teacher said, "Class rise. We will now recite the pledge of allegiance" the class rose and said the pledge. We were taught to obey and follow the leading of our teachers, and we did, otherwise, there were consequences. Today, teachers don't lead, they follow right along with their students.

-sig

Anonymous said...

So we shouldn't be too hard on the ex-Hitler Youth (like the ones who headed the UN and now the Vatican!)

Firebird said...

But i bet theres no permmision slips for singing the MEXICAN NATIONAL ANTHEME