Essay Example on Standing for the Pledge of Allegiance in public Schools

Should students stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in school The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by socialist Minister Francis Bellamy It was first written in the Youth's Companion on September 8 1982 ushistory org I believe standing for the Pledge of Allegiance should be a choice not mandated followed by punishments I believe it is a freedom Bellamy wanted everyone around the world to use the Pledge of Allegiance The original way the Pledge of Allegiance was written was I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all ushistory org They added words the flag of the United States of America in 1923 Then everyone said the pledge like I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and the republic for which is stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all doi org In 1954 President Eisenhower wanted to add the words under god creating the now 31 word pledge Bellamy s daughter did not want this change Today we now say the pledge as I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all There is a flag code and the flags code says the pledge should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with your right hand over your heart 

When not in uniform men should remove any non religious headdress with their right hand and hold at left shoulder the hand being over the heart In uniform remain silent face flag and render the military salute There was a Court case filed called West Virginia State board of Education v Barnett in 1943 arguing whether the pledge is breaking of the First Amendment Freedom of Speech en wikipeadia org The First Amendment is Free Speech which people believe should not allow anyone to force students to salute the American flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance in schools The Court s 6 3 decision by Justice Robert H Jackson is remembered for its forceful defense of free speech and the constitutional rights general as being placed beyond the reach of majorities and officials en wikipedia org In 1940 Barnette turned over a decision on the same issue It was Minerville School District v Gobitis The court said that the proper recourse of dissent was to ty to change the pubic school policy democratically en wikipedia org It was a major court victory won by the Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's witnesses have a religion that does not allow them to salute or pledge to symbols including symbols of political institutions The court did not take into account anyone's religious beliefs to begin with but said they absolutely can not force anyone to stand for the pledge or say the pledge The Jehovah's witnesses believed 

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven over or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth thou shalt not bow down thyself to then nor serve them They see the flag as an image which is against their beliefs so they refuse to salute the flag or say the pledge The Court held in a 6 to 3 decision delivered by Justice Jackson that it was unconstitutional for public schools to compel students to salute the flag So it decided to overturn its decision in Minersville School District v Gobitis determining that the flag salute was a form of utterance and a primitive but effective means of communicating ideas The Court said that any compulsory unification of opinion was going to fail and was against the values of the First Amendment The Court said If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation it is that no official high or petty can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics nationalism religion or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein This means no one can be forced to do any of this without breaking their freedom The court made its decision on June 14 which is Flag Day I absolutely agree with the decision made above Our Bill of Rights were put in place to give us freedoms no court no judge and no person can take away unless the Bill of Rights were to be re written indicating otherwise The Bill of Rights states one's right to freedom of Speech Press Religion and Petition I am conflicted to how I truly feel about being forced to stand and recite the pledge The pledge has been around for so many years and generations grew up went to school remembering the pledge and became part of our country that I feel it is sad when people try to break something that is not broken This is like a tradition I do also agree that forcing one to salute and say the Pledge of Allegiance is removing their freedom of speech I also do not think they should be punished for it either I think it is a choice I believe we should be proud of our Country and Pledge of Allegiance but should not be forced to do it In society today there are so many different beliefs and religions now I may not agree with all the different Religions and beliefs but I will respect their wishes