Kids in Texas forced to say pledge and observe moment of silence

[MelissaB]

Anybody listening to the Brad Show?

Edited to say: It appears to be the law.

[sakabatou]

1. For what?

[MelissaB]

2. The lady speaking was a teacher, I think.

Anybody else hear this?

[sakabatou]

11. Okay...

their being forced to do this. And if they don't, what happens.

[ananda]

3. second year

We're in the second year of this law.

Ya'll been sleeping??? lol

Sue

[MelissaB]

5. Yep! Just woke up!

[Deja Q]

4. And when kids become teenagers, do they rebel?

[ret5hd]

6. that's what medicine is for...

gotta make them kids good little robots.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. A moment of silence?

Saying the pledge is not all that uncommon, but a moment of silence is odd. I have never heard of doing that at school.

[MelissaB]

8. We do that at my school, too.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. Don't mean to offend,

but that is nutty. And I am from Kansas :)

In MO, where I teach, it is a law that we have to say the pledge. But we don't have a moment of silence. And if the kids don't say it, that's fine, as long as they aren't disruptive.

[Maestro]

27. It's a way of skirting the "no prayer in school" law.

The moment of silence supposedly allows everyone to pray to whomever they want. Those that don't just need to be silent. I personally think it is a load of BS. Ever seen a kinder-5th graders pray? I haven't either.

[DIKB]

9. And if the kid refuses ?

How will they enforce this ? How much of a fascist nation have we become ?

[carpetbagger]

26. Nothing in light of WV vs. Barnette (1943 USSC)

Now if he/she interrupts it, sure. I suppose the kid could be forced to sit quietly and pick his nose or something, a la naptime in kindergarten, but the government can't compel speech.

[countingbluecars]

10. It's the law

in Virginia as well.

[seabeyond]

12. dont all schools do pledge? asked kids if moment of silence

yes they said, all schools. i asked what it was, they say moment of silence, they dont say anything. i asked, do they suggest prayer, they said no, no mention of prayer in anyway

so whatever. doesnt seem offensive to me. i can live with this

[MelissaB]

14. prayer is mentioned in my school. sometimes our principal even

blasts a prayer over the intercom for the whole school to hear.

[seabeyond]

17. i think that is over the line. jsut saying, panhandle of texas they dont

they seem to respect the keeping specific religion prayer out of classroom. sorry your environment isnt the same. but then if they were doing that, i think i would eb talking to the principle and other parents

[MelissaB]

19. I'm talking to him.

:) He just got a letter from me for playing religious songs over the intercom.

[seabeyond]

20. where are you. wow

on edit: when people talk about getting prayer BACK in school, i say what. i never had prayer three four decades ago. my father back in the 40's 50's never had prayer in school. what is this get prayer back in schools. it had been left in churches and homes in the past

[kath]

23. whoa - that's NOT constitutional.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

18. In New York where I live, they do the pledge and no moment of

silence. My younger son won't stand for the pledge and has not suffered consequences.

[seabeyond]

21. i would expect my kids to stand up for your kids right not to stand,

but they dont have a problem standing. good to hear he can express as he likes

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

22. It sounds like you have great kids!

:hi:

[seabeyond]

25. i do, as i suspect you do too, wink

:toast:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

28. ;-D

:toast:

[Rex]

13. We also pledge our eternal obedience to the Texas flag.

We shall see who has what allegiance after Boosh fucks up the planet.

[Selatius]

15. The moment of silence is to skirt prohibition against school prayer

The school cannot explicitly advocate the Christian prayer or the prayer of any religion because that would be an obvious violation of the 1st Amendment, so they make it neutral (silence) intentionally to avoid the violation. That's fine by me, so long as it isn't compulsory.

[Boomer]

24. Nothing has changed in 40 years

I grew up in Texas and I remember those moments of silence in which most students bowed their heads.

As a Unitarian, I had no problem with respecting their prayers and staying silent, but I didn't bow my head because I wasn't praying. Just not something I felt moved to do.

So the teacher would come by and push my head down.