Being European, I assume most countries don't make their children pledge allegiance at all, because the idea seems absurd to most of us. A friend of mine was i

Being European, I assume most countries don't make their children pledge allegiance at all, because the idea seems absurd to most of us. A friend of mine was in a Chinese high school for a year. Every Monday morning the whole school had to line up by class in formation and watch the flag being raised with their fists raised in a sort of salute. Then they would have to recite this kind of pledge/chant thing before listening to the school's party secretary talk about communism for 15 minutes. I really don't get what effect it tries to achieve, or how it could ever manage to do anything other than make kids bored/misbehave.