Feb 24, 2005 2 min read

Cue the bugles. It’s flag-waving time again in Harrisburg. And just to make sure that Pennsylvania raises patriotic children, students need to start the school day reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Who could possibly find fault with this bill moving through the state Senate? Well, at the risk of sounding unpatriotic, we will object. Not to the bill’s intent, but to its existence.

Harrisburg already tried this once. In the national frenzy of Americanism post Sept. 11, lawmakers rapidly pushed through a law that every child either recite the pledge or sing the national anthem at the start of every school day. The courts struck it down immediately. Patriotism can’t be compelled. It can be taught, but not forced.

There are a couple of subtle differences between this bill and the one that was stricken. Private and religious schools will be exempt. And schools won’t tattle on students who opt out of a compulsory pledge. That is probably enough to pass constitutional scrutiny, but it is still a bad idea.

As far as we know, kids are reciting the pledge and singing of stars and stripes forever with just as much gusto as they always have. In fact, many of our classrooms have adopted soldiers, supported the troops and have invited veterans in for assemblies.

If there is a problem, it might be found in a classroom here or a school building there. Isolated problems call for limited solutions, involving parents and local school boards.

This is not a matter for the state.