The Press Democrat in Santa Clara, Calif., recently reported a middle school teacher kicked a student out of his U.S. history and Constitution class for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
According to the article, the eighth grade student, Jim Woodbury, presented the teacher, David Laven, with a packet of information about students’ rights to refuse to recite the Pledge. Laven threw the packet into the trash and told Woodbury he didn’t care about the law. Woodbury’s parents are demanding Laven be fired.
In the 1943 Supreme Court case of West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the court ruled students cannot be forced to recite the Pledge. Any U.S. history and Constitution teacher should know of the ruling. Since the event occurred at a public school, Laven needs to be severely reprimanded.
Laven should, at the very least, be fired. No teacher has the right to tell a student he must recite the Pledge. The fact the events took place in a class that studies the Constitution is even more disturbing. When a man who has been given the task of teaching teenagers about the supreme law of the land tells his students he doesn’t care about the law, he is making a mockery of what the pledge represents.
The Pledge of Allegiance, with or without the controversial “under God” phrase, is a beautiful piece of American poetry. But like outgoing Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura has said, “Forcing people to take a pledge of allegiance is something Saddam Hussein would do.” Those who recite the pledge should do so because they want to, not because they have to.
Freedom of speech is one of the most cherished rights American citizens have. Woodbury exercised this right saying, “I believe the flag is a symbol of the government, and I think it’s corrupt and I don’t agree with some of the choices it made.”
He was punished for having an opinion different than his teacher’s. Laven’s assertion of not caring about the law is a joke and more anti-American than choosing to not recite the Pledge.
Forcing students to say the pledge under threat of punishment is not what America stands for. Woodbury took the stance to defend his freedom of speech. That’s what America is all about — not the 31 words school children mindlessly mutter each morning.
