3 suspended for not standing for Pledge of Allegiance. God bless them.

Head over to the Star Tribune to read about this incident.  The short of it is that 3 students did not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance one morning and were then suspended.  These 3 little hell-raisers are back in class because the local ACLU got involved and mention that their actions and indeed, their policy in requiring students to stand at all "is in clear violation of the First Amendment".  Check out the article (and the accompanying letter from the ACLU as well as a nice little primer about the Pledge).

This really got to me.  Most if not all of my friends know that I love the constitution.  I think if properly enforced/protected it would be a great framework for a country.  Another topic that I champion is student rights in school.  I ran a pro-constitution protest at one point in high school and later became a minor gonzo celebrity when I fought for (and won) freedom of religion in my high school.  I had to go through a similar thing in college but got the school's paper in on that rather than self publishing.

So when I saw this article I got pissed.  Students don't have to stand.  It's not part of a long and illustrious history.  The "god" line is dated from the cold war and is more than a little mixing of church and state.  I expect schools to have illegal rules on the books, but the fact that they were enforced is ridiculous.

On a personal note I have not said the Pledge of Allegiance since about halfway through the 6th grade.  I will admit that the original reason was laziness, but after being told about the 50s addition of the god verse and the history of the Pledge (I come from a long and influential line of Communists and Socialists) I took a political stance on it.  Or rather, lack of standing.

I'm not going to presume the reason for their abstaining from the pledge.  I will speak up for their right to sit.  It doesn't matter if they're tired, lazy, hate America or protested.  It doesn't matter whether they knew what they did was legal or weren't aware of that.  It's still within their rights.  The fact that the school tried to press the issue with suspension...  People get pissed off when teachers and administrators take advantage of students sexually.  What about when they're taken advantage of in other illegal ways?  Shouldn't the ideal behavior be to protect the children?  And in this case we have the district's community education director, Mel Olsen, arguing for their punishment.  The article says that he was sent to Japan during the Vietnam War.  Well, what the hell version of America was he fighting for?  The one where everyone has equal freedom regardless of their station in life?  Or an America where those in power are allowed to intimidate those without, even if it breaks the law simply because it makes those in power feel better?  The fact that the article also has a pole and 84% of the voters say that they kids shouldn't be required to stand shouldn't even let the personal preferences of a single veteran stand in the way of what 84% of the community already seems to be aware of.  Just the fact that this man is admittedly pushing his own personal values in the face of the law is disturbing and shameful

While he said he'll fall in line with whatever change may occur, "I still have my beliefs."

Well then it's a damn good think it's not up to you, sir.