Another good reason to homeschool your kids was offered by the high school of Arlington, Massachusetts: they aren’t offering to let students recite the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom – even voluntarily.
17-year old Arlington high student Sean Harrington has been leading a crusade to allow the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited in his school, but the committee rejected his request with a 3-3 deadlock vote, saying they weren’t sure they’d be able to find teachers willing to recite it.
“Patriotism is a very personal thing for all of us, but I do not think it is in the school committee’s best interest to mandate that any of our employees recite the pledge,” says Leba Heigham, one of the members of the school committee who voted against allowing the Pledge.
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Public schools are instruments of the government and have as their mandate to produce educated, enculturated citizens. Seems to me that reciting the Pledge is a no-brainer. Is patriotism now a recognized vice that our schools don’t want to promote? If it is, it must be the only one.