4 ms·

This has been a thing in the USA for a long time hasn't it? Iirc, they have (legally not mandatory, but functionally mandatory) pledges at the start of every sc

This has been a thing in the USA for a long time hasn't it? Iirc, they have (legally not mandatory, but functionally mandatory) pledges at the start of every school day right?

rkomorn 8mo ago
They never made me say it but they did make me stand while the other kids did. That said... that was more than three decades ago. I was only 9 the first time it happened but even back then it felt really weird.
dghlsakjg 8mo ago
Some schools do it some don’t. Participation is never mandatory and retaliation or forcing the pledge is an invitation for an expensive civil rights suit.
- tombert 8mo ago
  Wait, which schools don't do it? I've never heard of a school not doing it. Are there states that don't do the pledge? Even if it's not strictly "mandatory" there can be substantial pressure in conservative areas. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47095381 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47095381
  - dghlsakjg 8mo ago
    I definitely never did it in high school in Denver, nor did any of the other schools that my friends went to in the city. I don’t have a list of schools for you. Sure peer pressure can be a thing (at the school I went to you would have been bullied for doing the pledge), but it is pretty firmly established law that a student has every right to not participate and not be pressured to participate by public school staff.
    - tombert 8mo ago
      Interesting, didn't know that was a thing in Denver. No need for a list of schools. In my case the pressure came from my teachers and the principal. I never got in any official trouble but I was sent to the principal's office for refusing to say it and it required a phone call with my dad for them to begrudgingly let me continue to not say it.
  - duxup 8mo ago
    I don't think it is always "states" as much as individual school districts / schools. I know some that don't, it's not announced that they don't and as long as nobody notices I don't think anyone local really cares.
vkou 8mo ago
> This has been a thing in the USA for a long time hasn't it? Yes, and it doesn't make it any less cult-like.
throwaway27448 8mo ago
It is certainly not mandatory. There's simply enormous social pressure to be a state toadie.

This has been a thing in the USA for a long time hasn't it? Iirc, they have (legally not mandatory, but functionally mandatory) pledges at the start of every school day right?

rkomorn 8mo ago

They never made me say it but they did make me stand while the other kids did. That said... that was more than three decades ago. I was only 9 the first time it happened but even back then it felt really weird.

dghlsakjg 8mo ago

Some schools do it some don’t. Participation is never mandatory and retaliation or forcing the pledge is an invitation for an expensive civil rights suit.

tombert 8mo ago
Wait, which schools don't do it? I've never heard of a school not doing it. Are there states that don't do the pledge? Even if it's not strictly "mandatory" there can be substantial pressure in conservative areas. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47095381 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47095381
- dghlsakjg 8mo ago
  I definitely never did it in high school in Denver, nor did any of the other schools that my friends went to in the city. I don’t have a list of schools for you. Sure peer pressure can be a thing (at the school I went to you would have been bullied for doing the pledge), but it is pretty firmly established law that a student has every right to not participate and not be pressured to participate by public school staff.
  - tombert 8mo ago
    Interesting, didn't know that was a thing in Denver. No need for a list of schools. In my case the pressure came from my teachers and the principal. I never got in any official trouble but I was sent to the principal's office for refusing to say it and it required a phone call with my dad for them to begrudgingly let me continue to not say it.
- duxup 8mo ago
  I don't think it is always "states" as much as individual school districts / schools. I know some that don't, it's not announced that they don't and as long as nobody notices I don't think anyone local really cares.

vkou 8mo ago

> This has been a thing in the USA for a long time hasn't it? Yes, and it doesn't make it any less cult-like.

throwaway27448 8mo ago

It is certainly not mandatory. There's simply enormous social pressure to be a state toadie.