WOODBURY -- No one's sure when daily recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance fell by the wayside at Woodbury Elementary School. But efforts to restore them have erupted into a bitter dispute in this tiny (pop. 810) Vermont town, with school officials blocking the exercise from classrooms amid concerns that it holds nonparticipating children up to scorn. Supporters say the classroom is the place for it, and the disagreement has fueled an increasingly acrimonious debate.... "The whole thing is tearing our community apart," said Heather Lanphear, 39, the mother of a first-grade student. Unlike other Pledge controversies, this one centers on how and where schoolchildren say it, not whether they should be allowed to.
Like most Americans of my generation, I grew up reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at the beginning of the school day. The rote performance lost it's meaning with each passing recitation, until eventually it was just a collection of words that had to be spoken before the school day could start. No one bothered to discuss the significance of the Pledge; it was just something that needed to be chanted, and so we did. So what happens, then, when a parent objects to the idea of their child being required to recite the Pledge?
The problem with symbols (see also flag, US) is that slavish devotion to them eventually serves only to render them meaningless exercises in hyper-patriotic groupthink. No one can really say why the flag is sacrosanct or why students recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, but like so many traditions it just is. No questioning or critical thinking allowed. To think otherwise or to question the meaning of such slavish devotion is to invite questioning of one's patriotism.
Somehow, the argument made by the individual who wants the required recitation reinstated- that it's "legal, convenient and traditional"- rings rather hollow. Legality, convenience, and tradition do nothing to explain why it's important that students be required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. What is to be accomplished by requiring adherence to reciting the Pledge? What lessons are to be taught to the children forced to engage in mouthing the word? Outside of blind obedience to authority and the importance of loyalty oaths, what are children expected to gain educationally?
The problem with so many in this country who insist on "tradition" is that they seem much more focused on adherence to said tradition than in any utility to be gained from it's continued observance. If there were lessons to be taught, I might feel differently, but I can't help but wonder why so many parents are so insistent that children be forced to engage in chanting words that have been rendered meaningless over the years. Tradition can be a good thing, but it can also be used to stifle debate and critical thinking. Then again, real Americans do what they're told...and that seems to be the real lesson being taught here.
