To serve as filler you get an essay I wrote for one of my worthless education classes about legal issues in our high school experiences. I did not proofread it, and it may be terrible, but maybe it's still of some interest...
High school students are not always aware of their rights. One might suppose that growing up in this information age would increase student awareness about their rights, but is this really the case? Similarly, today's society is full of law suits and legal battles about the infringement of individual rights, but are high school students really even aware of laws or jurisdictions? One could easily argue that teens are largely unaware of their specific rights as they pertain to freedoms within school. In my high school, the administrators made several decisions that could have had legal repercussions. On one such occasion, a friend of mine was forced to remove a necklace with a pagan symbol on it, which infringed on her freedom of religion. The "reason" for the restriction was that the points of the pentagram might stab someone. My tussle with the school administration was much more tame.
In my junior year of high school, I had study hall for first of our seven periods. The announcements came on, and the principal requested for students to rise for the pledge of allegiance and one of the chorus members singing the national anthem. I remained seated. My teacher asked me to stand, but I refused. Later that day, I was called to the principal's office where he stressed the "good name" of my family and how I should be more respectful. Though he did not threaten me with punishments or other repercussions, he did imply further disciplinary action if I ever again refused to stand up for such daily rituals. A week or two later, a friend of mine acted similarly during a school assembly honoring one of the pilots of Air Force One. The principal did not even bother calling him to the office, but instead he contacted my friend's step-father without first conversing with my friend.
Was I or my friend disrespectful? Not necessarily. I was just sleepy and lazy. My friend just did not want to be bothered further after being trotted up to listen to some boring speaker. The case of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) deals more specifically with refusing to acknowledge national symbols for religious reasons (as another friend who was a practicing Jehovah's Witness used for such actions), but I believe the case could be used as the legal precedent for schools being legally unable to compel students to stand, say, or sing anything honoring our country. The ability to make that decision lies within each individual student alone. Without a conscious choice, the decision of whether to honor something or not loses value or gravity, as it becomes more like a meaningless ritual than an actual conscious decision to honor the U.S.
I am not really sure whether I had legal grounds to dispute any sort of punishments I might have faced for further inaction during the pledge of allegiance. Perhaps the school administration would have merely backed down had I threatened legal action in my defense. The principal, though, was responsible for my education, and part of that was trying to instill a respect for, if not duty to, the nation which provides for my education and well-being. Had I been in his shoes, I might have acted similarly but only to stress the seriousness and disrespectfulness of sitting through the pledge or the national anthem. Who knows? Maybe that is how the principal saw his own actions, but I certainly felt threatened and altered my actions in order to avoid punishments or future visits to his office.
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