As children flood public schools over the next two weeks, they will begin a routine they left behind before their days of sandals and sunscreen -- the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Pledge has become the center of controversy recently since a man demanded the "Under God" phrase be removed.
Maybe it is unfair to make a child recite words that do not match up with their parents' beliefs. But many things children do in school do not meet their parents' expectations, or their own.
When I was in fifth grade I would omit the "Under God" portion of the pledge as the rest of the class recited it. It started as a test to see if the teachers would notice. It doubled as a test to see how the separation of church and state functions in every day life. Even if the two words were removed, they would still sit triumphantly on American currency, laughing their way to the Gap.
For this, maybe we should teach children to all use checks, check cards and credit to boycott American currency.
Maybe we should teach kids to think for themselves.
At age 10, I had figured out that the "Under God" statement did not jive with the Constitution. I was not plagued with this revelation, nor and it did it interrupt my literary consumption of Baby-Sitters Club books. But it did make me consider my beliefs.
I had to do plenty of things I did not believe in when I was in elementary school, like math or phonics.
There was this song we had to sing in music class about a clown, titled so originally: "He's a Clown." I have a paralyzing fear of clowns. I complied and sang anyway. Though I am resentful, it has not yet affected my ability to function as a normal adult, depending on who you ask.
But my experience with childhood conformity was not as scarring as it could have been. In fifth grade my class had one Jewish boy. In December he met his demise -- class project time. We really never had to make construction paper menorahs, but were required to decorate reindeer.
Then, during the "learning about different cultures" portion of our holiday celebration, the teacher singled him out. He was asked if he liked latkes, the traditional potato pancake.
He told us all they tasted nasty and we laughed. I was not allowed to sit by him because he was really funny and I was easily distracted. I do not remember his faith as much as how hilarious he was.
Other people would refer to him as a class clown. I prefer not to for obvious reasons. Children are impressionable, but they have the ability to make up their minds about how they feel about anything from what they want to eat to how they want to handle being put on the spot.
Adults should take note. There are ways to include children in traditions without forcing kids to adhere to them. Kids are advanced enough to understand differences. Schools need to catch up and realize how to address problems like this on their own. Maybe there are alternatives to saluting the flag without imposing on personal beliefs.
No one needs to make a federal case out of it.
Write to Lauren at lmphillips@bsu.edu
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