Have you ever wondered what would have happened in school if you’d just refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance?
It must have been tried before, right? But if recent events in Houston are any indication, the result would be a whole lot of drama, culminating in a $90,000 settlement.
Standing for the Pledge is kind of automatic.
Whether it’s the Pledge of Allegiance in the United States, or the national anthem in other countries, plenty of students around the world are asked to stand every morning.
A Houston student chose not to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
According to the Houston Chronicle , the student refused to stand for the Pledge back in 2017, when she was in the 12th grade. She reportedly objected to the words “Under God,” as well as her belief that not all Americans were guaranteed “liberty and justice.”
The teacher reportedly bullied her.
The teacher, named in the 2017 suit as Benjie Arnold, threatened the student with a failing grade if she continued to ignore the Pledge of Allegiance.
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He reportedly said her actions left him “no option but to give [her] a zero, and [she] can have all the beliefs and resentment and animosity that [she] wants.”
The teacher didn’t stop there.
Arnold reportedly doubled down by offering to pay students to move to Europe if they didn’t like life in the United States. The weird offer was captured by an audio recording.
The student opted for homeschooling.
The suit claims the student decided to withdraw from classes in favor of homeschooling as a direct result of the harassment and bullying.
But when she returned, things got even worse.
It’s a reminder of our personal liberties.
Standing for the Pledge might feel automatic, but the First Amendment guarantees Americans’ right not to stand.
“The classroom is not a pulpit,” said Geoffrey T. Blackwell, litigation counsel at American Atheists. “It is a place of education, not indoctrination.”
Lawyers applauded the move.
“It is incredible, the time and money spent by the Klein Independent School District to stop a student’s free speech,” said Houston civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen. “School staff need to teach the Constitution, not violate it.”
The student won a $90,000 settlement.
Arnold, the teacher, is still working at Klein Oak High School, but opted to settle before the lawsuit could go to trial.
Let us know what you think of this story and what it says about our First Amendment rights in the comments!
h/t: Houston Chronicle