Students are taking a stand by sitting down

by Jacob J

For years and years, many people have fought and served for the country we have long wanted to have freedom in. Yet honor is still a role people will not play anymore to show their allegiance. Although the First Amendment invokes your right to do as you wish. Students in the twenty-first century have been lazy and do not stand for the American flag, at least for some. So what is the matter with those who are in their youth deciding to stay seated? Well, for many students their opinion is standing for the flag, but for some, there is no care in the world to stand for our nation's flag. Some see it as ideological beliefs for why or why not to; others have a religion to follow, and some purely base it on intuition and acknowledgment that they just don't care. 

The mix of students' opinions and variety is great because it shows how they can contribute to their independence. This is different for our teachers though. Mr. Adamsky, Mountain Range Journalism and  English teacher, states that “it’s tradition” to him because his dad was in the military. He then continues to indicate that since he grew up in a private school “there wasn't an option to stand or not, if not you would get the stick to the hand.” As for Mr. Adamsky, he wants to honor his country and respect those who have died for our freedoms. 

Mr. Fritz is a physics teacher for 10-12 grade. His whole take on standing for the pledge is along the lines of,  “It doesn't feel like it is necessary anymore” as it doesn't seem like this whole standing for the pledge and making allegiance to your country is reasonable anymore because we're not currently in a war.” On his opinion of specific students’ standing for the pledge he indicates that they are “just lazy and don't have motivation to get up and stand,” implying that there is just a lack of energy in the student body but nothing especially anti-patriotic.

One student who wishes to remain anonymous also believes that sense “Our country is protecting us every day and keeping us safe,” indicating that those who don't stand for the pledge are “kind of disrespectful because it's just a simple gesture demonstrating your allegiance to America and its soldiers that have died for your rights.” 

Obviously, sitting and or standing for the flag is your call. There is this defense that not standing on behalf of the flag is disrespectful, but we all have a right to stand or not; it all just depends on the end of the day what you believe in.