Category: Let's talk
As I wrote in a previous post, I'm interested in becoming an elementary school teacher. I posed several questions there, but wanted to write this separately, incase it turns into a heavy debate, so that my other questions also have a fair chance of getting answered. As strange as it sounds, one thing that troubles me about being a teacher is the flag salute and the Pledge of Allegiance. Saluting a flag is more than just an act. It signifies love of one's country and strict loyalty to it. While I hold no true animocity towards America and while I would stand to show some respect, since this is the place in which I'm working, the only country for which I feel unconditional love and patriotism is The Hellenic Republic aka Greece. So for me, to salute the American flag and so on would be very awkward and would, I believe, actually be disrespectful to the country, since it wouldn't be done with sincerity. Please understand that I would not try, in any way, to project my views upon the children/students, since I feel that patriotism is a very important quality to have. It's just that mine lies in a different place. And yes, I do intend on moving there once the economic turmoil lessens (probably in a few years) and once I have full independent living and mobility skills. I need to prove that I can support myself financially, so getting a job here will definitely be a step in the right direction.
So here's my question. Does a teacher or teacher's assistant in New Jersey have the right to not participate in the flag salute? That is, to stand but to not say the pledge of allegiance, salute the flag or sing the national anthem? If so, must a reason be presented in writing or verbally to the principal and must it be a religious one or can the teacher simply exercise his/her right? What about in private, parochial or charter schools? While we're at it, can a teacher wear a foreign flag in the form of a small lapel pin? Also, how do I get around the children? I can't seem to think of a good reason to give them that's not a lie but that won't cause them any trouble. The idea is not to get them to stop doing it. It's to provide me with a means of not compromising my beliefs while still keeping the peace.
Perhaps if you were to check with the School Board in the area you desire to teach there may be some written regulation regarding this matter.
This is a bit off topic and then, well, I trust you understand why I have enclosed this as you continue to read.
Also from reading other board posts of yours, it might be well to also check regarding the various other pledges that may be said.
Like for example in a private school that is christian backed. There may be a Pledge to The Christian Flag and/or a Pledge to the Bible.
Also some private schools desire to know of a person's "room-mates"/sexual behavious. I say this due to that locally there was a teacher who taught in a private school who was dismissed once she got pregnant due to the school being private/christian and that was a behaviour considered unacceptable according to bibical standards in that she was not married and parents were sending their children to a private christian principle back institution and as such desired that the teachers conform to bibical standards.
Also regarding the pledge to the American Flag, I have noticed where some, like those in the field of sports, for political reasons who don't want to take part in the pledge will stand and turn their head to the left, looking away from the flag, and proceed not to say the pledge as others are.
?A friend posted in my lj that many public schools no longer even do The Pledge and salute, except perhaps occasionally, and that some private schools may not do it at all. In my elementary school, we said it every day and one of my teachers (3/4th grades) used to make us sing patriotic songs. Towards high school, I stopped saying The Pledge, though it was still said, of course, with no songs. I graduated in 2006 and I thought that all schools were still like that. I'm so glad to be wrong. Now if there was a Greek pledge of allegiance or even flag salute, I'd gladly say it daily in my home. I even have a nice flag on my desk so that wouldn't cause a problem. Sadly, there isn't one to my knowledge.
The rest is absolutely not off-topic, since it bares directly on my beliefs and things that I might encounter in a school. Thanks so much for mentioning it! Normally, I wouldn't think that a school could ask about sexual preference and life style, but it makes sense that a school with such a strong religious basis should do so. I'll keep that in mind when applying to private schools and will try to steer clear of the really conservative ones. Since I have the option to not work in those, I'd prefer to use that right and leave them to the kind of education that they desire. I didn't know that some professionals don't say The Pledge and actually turn their head from the flag. Very interesting.
Yeah. I think the reason many schools aren't saying the Pledge anymore is the fact that it mentions one nation, under god, indivisible and whatnot. Has to do with the separation of church and state. Of course if that's all it is you could just leave out the under God part, but I guess they didn't think of that. I don't even remember if we had to do it in High School. I do seem to recall that the principal at the Oregon School for the Blind in Salem did have us doing it for a while, at least before the school closed. And I seem to recall we did leave out Under God.
Personally, I really don't think it's right to force people to pledge to a country they were simply born in. If you have chosen to imigrate to said country, that's a different story. If private schools would like their students to do this, well, that's up to them, being a private school, but public school should be nothing more or less than bringing students together to get a public, fair education for about six hours a day, with the respective breaks included, at which point students should be able to do as they please, as long as they are not harming anybody, and as long as their behavior doesn't make them late for their next class.