Freshmen
Jakari Moore
“I feel like in some schools it should be allowed. I just feel like we should talk about it, and for the Pledge of Allegiance, I think there should be a choice to do it or not to do it.”
Sophomore
Shaniyah Amarie Webb
“I feel like it is appropriate if it’s not forced upon – if it’s ‘give it moment [of] silence’-- that is more appropriate. But if you force students to stand or to say the Pledge itself, I just feel like that should not be allowed.”
Junior
Jordan Meek
“I don't believe that we should have to say the Pledge in schools because the Pledge references God, and if you're required to say the Pledge, then you're pushing a religion onto someone, a religion that someone might not believe in. As for the American flag, I believe that is okay as long as we have flags for every ethnic group in that school so that everyone has their culture represented.”
Senior
Chloe Hanks
“I don’t really have a preference if the flag should be in schools. I think it could be a preference thing, but as well as the Pledge of Allegiance, I don’t think it should be required in schools anymore just because of the wording. It doesn't really align with what the country says it goes by.”
Social Studies Teacher
Lewis Ezekiel
“I think it makes sense to have the flag in the classroom. We’re a government agency, we’re a public school, we're funded by the taxpayers. I have no problem with seeing a flag in the room. Obviously, things are a little more complicated with the Pledge of Allegiance: there are people who have a variety of reasons why they may not want to participate.
I think that I would be fine with the school offering an opportunity for students to participate… If the district decides it want to give students an opportunity in the morning to have it read over the intercom and have people participate or not, especially as long as students have a choice to opt out, but there are specific lines from the Pledge or even saying the Pledge overall that some people object, and I think they should be allowed to have those objections.”