euphoria

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

im 20 for reference. ever since i was a kid, up until hs, we were forced every morning to stand, look at the flag and hold our hearts and say:... #usa #america #north #united #school #AskKbin

https://kbin.social/m/AskKbin/t/183482

did anyone else from the USA grow up being forced to say the pledge to the flag in school? - Ask Kbin - kbin.social

im 20 for reference. ever since i was a kid, up until hs, we were forced every morning to stand, look at the flag and hold our hearts and say:...

Jul 12, 2023 at 4:17pmWeb
Show threaddominokoJul 12, 2023

At some point in high school I stopped standing. I want to say my freshman year but I could be wrong. It was just on a whim one day, although I was a bit of a rebel at heart, I was not the type of student to get in trouble for anything.

Anyway, from the day I first decided to ignore the pledge, I was never reprimanded for it. Some teachers would stare daggers at me but I never received any punishment nor were my parents notified.

Show threadGoathoundJul 12, 2023

Interesting, I never got in trouble in High School but every 1st period teacher I had was obssessed with making sure each and every student was pledging their allegiance, and the closest I got to getting into trouble was refusing to pledge. I had to write a letter explaining why I wasn't going to anymore.

We were even stopped in the hall, 3 minutes until your class? Too bad, you have to wait in silence in the hall and be late to your class.

Show thread1chemistdownJul 12, 2023

As a genX-er, I grew up having to say it through elementary and middle school. I quit participating in the mid ‘80s. We were forced to attend John Birch Society events in school hat would talk about how horrible Russia was and how they fed propaganda to the kids from an early age. Reagan would always talk about all the horrible things USSR would do with their childhood propaganda too. I realized right away that everything the school was doing was the same thing.

I got labeled as a bad kid. Not Christian enough and not obedient enough.

Show threadRemillardJul 12, 2023
Also Gen X (1971) and while I remember it in first grade (so this would have been around 1976-77) I don't think it continued much past 1st grade. MAYBE 2nd. So I lucked out there I suppose. I cannot imagine getting indoctrinated by JBS though. I'm sure it would have gone down well in a lot of the midwest where I grew up, but I suppose I also lucked out there in that the school board and staff were pretty apolitical when it came to school structure.
Show thread1chemistdownJul 12, 2023
The irony, to me, is that town is liberal now. The surrounding county is super maga but the city is all hippie liberal. But as a child, this Colorado town was Texas red. Don’t spend money on education because we need a better high school football stadium type of town.
Show threadacronymesisJul 12, 2023

We were forced to attend John Birch Society events in school

Damn, that sounds unconstitutional as hell. I imagine you went to some time of Christian private school?

Show thread1chemistdownJul 12, 2023
Nope, public school
Show threadacronymesisJul 12, 2023
Well, then, it was definitely unconstitutional as hell!! Just brazen indoctrination from on a hilarious/terrifying level...
Show threadSorchistJul 12, 2023
From the Pledge of Allegiance to in-school John Birch society events is a hell of an acceleration. Holy shit.
Show threadSemi-Hemi-DemigodJul 12, 2023

I got sick of it and made up my own pledge:

I pledge my cheeses to the hag
of the untied snakes of harmonica
And to my public, the Richard Stans
One nation, under Zod, invisible
With liver, tea, and just us for all

Show threadLilkevJul 12, 2023
It happened every morning in my school, but we weren't forced. I would routinely just stay seated and not say the pledge, personally.