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When I was in kindergarten, I refused to do the pledge one day. My teacher was livid. "Are you American or not?" Being 5, I didn't know the difference between
by abustamam 7mo ago
When I was in kindergarten, I refused to do the pledge one day. My teacher was livid. "Are you American or not?"
Being 5, I didn't know the difference between ethnicity and nationality (I'm Asian but I was born here and didn't know any life outside of America). So I was afraid that my teacher would not let me be American anymore if I didn't say the pledge. So I said it and never refused to say it in school again.
It wasn't til I was well into my adulthood that I realize how absurd that situation sounds.
- wongarsu 7mo agoSo you were actually pledging under duress. Contracts and statements made under duress are usually treated as null and void, so you have that going for you. Still highly unethical of that teacher
- abustamam 7mo agoI mean I don't think anything we do or say as a 5 year old is considered binding, otherwise I'm on the hook for a lot of nonsense :)
- ghurtado 7mo agoHave you considered, however, how that event shaped your developing and impressionable subconscious and possibly influenced your future behavior as an adult?
- abustamam 7mo agoIt's not something I fully understood as a child. I didn't even fully grasp the concept of "nationality" so when she asked if I was American I just said yes because I didn't know what it meant. I just understood that not saluting meant teacher mad, just like not cleaning up my toys in the classroom meant teacher mad.