Should pledge of allegiance be said in US schools - Research Paper Example

In addition, all religious head wear or dresses should be removed. The pledge has often been recited in numerous private organizations, meetings and sometimes in schools. Debates have been carried out arguing about the later and whether or not the place should be compulsory for school pupils to recite. There have been several points made for and against this action. However, the author believes that the pledge should be recited in public schools as it is a historical reminder of what the United States of America is about.

The pledge of allegiance helps build patriotism in the young generation in addition to giving them pride about their nationality (Lavcock, 155).America is a very prosperous state which many countries try to emulate and numerous individuals constantly change their citizenship to become American. Therefore, customs of the country should be kept as they keep the heritage of the country alive. If the pledge was to be abolished, the same procedure might occur for other customs in the country which would mean that America would lose some of the traditions and values which it was built upon (Lavcock, 155).

However, many people argue against this point as they believe that since the pledge has been altered many times, four to be exact, it no longer possesses its original meaning and value and some of alterations are not entirely patriotic and are concerned with giving grace to God. This religious aspect is very sensitive as the number of non-Christians or nonbelievers is constantly increasing. Therefore, the phrase one nation under God may not be suitable for some citizens as they do not carry this belief and forcing them to repeat these words would be a violation of Basic rights (Donavan, 12-13).

In addition, the paper specifies on reciting the pledge in public schools which are mainly comprised of young individual. If these individuals see their rights being violated and are forced to do something which that customs and families not believe in, they are likely to lose faith in the system and doubt that they even have rights to begin with (Lavcock, 155). The argument against making the pledge of allegiance compulsory in public schools is also based on the fact that reciting a few lines or text does not resemble patriotism, one attribute that is mostly associated with the pledge (Monroe, 55).

In fact, constant repeating of these lines can make them lose their value and meaning to these pupils, therefore having a reverse effect than their intended purpose. The pledge becomes just a bunch of lyrics coming out of the children’s mouths habitually (Monroe, 55). However, some people still believe many people died for this flag and they should be shown respect for their services to the great American nation. They also believe that the phrase under God should also be compulsory as despite what religion or belief one possesses whether he or she is a Muslim, Buddhist or Christian at the end of the day every individual is American and should unite on this basis (Donavan, 12-13).

However on the same point, other individuals believe that forcing people to say the pledge is not paying tribute to war heroes and other individuals tied for the country. This is based on the fact that these individuals fought and died for the country to become a free and sovereign state with equal rights and not to become a compulsory and authoritative dictatorship