A new law has been introduced into Missouri public schools requiring the Pledge of Allegiance to be provided every day. The law, House Bill 1750, previously only required the Pledge once a week but was revised in the Missouri House of Representatives in time for the 2016-2017 school year.
“Last time we had to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day was in elementary school,” sophomore Stella Bauer said. “Especially with the different cultures that are in our school, I don’t see why it was created. We’re in high school, we know what our country means and we have pride in it.”
The bill affects all schools that receive government funding in Missouri; including all Parkway schools and was passed by a House of Representatives education subcommittee.
“I strongly agree with the law,” Dylan Creath, a junior, said. “There’s been too much history and too much sacrifice to not take twenty seconds out of our day to show respect to those who have lost everything for us.”
Bill 1750 states that students are not to be forced to say the Pledge of Allegiance; only that the Pledge must be recited in at least one scheduled class per day. At Parkway Central, the recitement happens over the loudspeakers during morning announcements. The bill does not put a limit on how many times the Pledge can be said however, only requiring it once.
“Not everyone has the same beliefs,” junior Emily Goldstein said. “I think that since [the Pledge] is now being said every day, it is brainwashing the concept of nationalism.”
Despite reaching out to multiple state lawmakers in the Missouri House of Representatives where the original law was revised, no reply was received. The motives behind the re-passing
of House Bill 1750 are unknown.
“I like it; I love it,” science teacher Rick Kirby said of the new law. “We should honor our country every day. It bothers me when people disrespect the Pledge.”
Even though the Pledge is now required every day, American flags are not forced to be on display and it is up to the teacher’s discretion whether they put the flag in their rooms.
“The Pledge is something that I don’t really believe in,” Moritz Dittrich, sophomore German exchange student, said. “If I could ask lawmakers one question it would be what they think the effect is going to be on students.”
The response to the law has been varied with opinions ranging on the scale of for and against the law.

“My opinion is that if people want to stand and take their hats off they can, and if they want to sit down they can, but they should not disrespect [the Pledge],” Gottlieb Gerstenecker, a sophomore, said. “They shouldn’t laugh or make fun of people standing and doing it.”
Cases against the law feature the diversity of school communities, the loss of meaning of the Pledge, and excessiveness.
“I understand why the law was made,” senior Sydney Hirsch said, “But in a school like ours where there’s so many diverse students I don’t think it’s fair that they may feel obligated to say something they don’t believe in.”
Cases for the law are the pride of America, nationalism, and honoring veterans; the argument that not saying the Pledge disrespects the people who fought for the country.
“It’s our country and we should be proud of it,” freshman McKenna Carpenter said. “People fought for our country’s freedom, the least we could do is recite the Pledge.”