Should Roseville School Children Have to Recite the Pledge of Allegiance?

With students headed back to the classroom all over Northern California, they likely start each day with the Pledge of Allegiance or some other “appropriate patriotic exercises” — a tradition that goes back generations.

In California, as is the case with many states, classrooms in public schools are required to offer the pledge or a patriotic exercise like singing the National Anthem daily, but students are not required to actually stand up and recite it. Most do, of course, but some students object to the phrase "Under God" and refuse to take part in the daily routine.

The issue has surfaced nationally. Earlier this year, a state lawmaker in Arizona introduced a bill to require students to recite the pledge. Other states, including Oregon and Nebraska, have had discussions on whether to require the pledge to be recited in schools.

For three decades, the pledge didn’t have the phrase “Under God.” But in 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower pushed for Congress to add the phrase to combat communist threats, leaving Americans with the 31-words we have today:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

We asked the question on Facebook and got a really wide range of answers.

Debbie Triplet led off the Facebook conversation by writing,”They should be taught at home and at school to appreciate and value the RIGHT to be able to say the Pledge of Allegiance or participate in "other patriotic exercises." If you have "issues" with the "under God" portion then don't say those two words...”

Tom Martin echoed Triplet’s thoughts when he wrote, “They shouldn't "have" to but they should be "allowed" to.”

Jason Williams feels like the Pledge should be part of every student’s day.   He wrote, “YES! Americans should be proud to be American and show it.”

Andy Stangby sees it differently.  He wrote, “Of course not. Yes we did as children but the pledge didn't affect how I feel about this country one bit. Why should children have to take time out of an already jam packed day to say meaningless words in the general direction of a piece of cloth? If we never changed how things were done students would still be drinking from separate fountains, if they were allowed to go to school together at all.”

You can see all the responses on the Roseville Facebook page.

What do you think?    Should the Pledge be required?  Should we drop “under God”?  Tell us in comments.