“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…” We have all heard these words many times over. And now, thanks to a new law, we all say them at the beginning of every school day as well.
Hastings High School Principal Jay Opperman said that all Nebraska schools are now required to say the Pledge of Allegiance every day.
“The state board of education has created a new law that says the pledge is to be said every school day in public K-12 schools in Nebraska,” he said. “I believe that this went into effect in November.”
“When this first went into place, I worried about devaluing the pledge,” said Opperman. “I thought that if we said it every day, it would become just words, and it would not be important anymore.”
Opperman said that he has had relatively little feedback but has had lots of questions.
“I have not had a lot of feedback from students,” he said, “but I have had some come and ask me why we were doing it every day so I would explain that it was a law.”
Sophomore Hannah Knapp is among the students who like saying the pledge every day.
“I like it because I think it is important for us to know it,” she said.
Opperman agrees that saying the pledge every day is a good thing.
“I like the fact that we say it because it helps us be more patriotic,” he said.
The staff and administration at Hastings High are trying to incorporate as many students as possible into the daily process by having different student groups take turns leading the pledge each week. The groups have varied from drama club, to science club, to Skills USA.
In all, many agree that the pledge helps in more ways than one, and is symbolic of the country we live in.
“It is a symbol of our nation,” said Opperman.
