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| Fifth Column |
| No pledge for Chapel Hill kiddies |
| 2001-10-10 |
A group of parents of elementary school students in Chapel Hill, N.C., are so angry about the local school's refusal to start the day with the pledge of allegiance that they have started gathering on the sidewalk in front of the school with their children to do it themselves, reports the Herald-Sun. The principal of McDougle Elementary, insisting that patriotism is not measured by rote recitation, said requiring the pledge might make some students uncomfortable. It has been long-standing policy at the school not to recite the pledge, he said. Chapel Hill's schools' policy code says that citizenship education may include the pledge, but cautions that students must not feel compelled or coerced to participate. The code also says teachers may use the recitation of the pledge "as an opportunity to teach students about the history concerning coercion and the importance of the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights." If they're not going to learn it in school, guess they'll have to pick it up on street corners. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |