Public School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Public School - Essay ExampleMr. Bellamy, the magazines circulation director, brought together those words to be recited by children in celebration of Columbus Day. The pledge was reprinted and sent out to schools across the country, and more than 12 million students joined in that year. Very shortly after that, Mr. Bellamys composed words became an everyday expediency in the democracys classrooms. The words my Flag were replaced by the phrase the Flag of the United States of America, in June 1923, at the National Flag Conference in Washington.In 1924 the oaths wording was changed slightly (the original my rowlock became the flag of the United States of America). Officially recognized by the government in 1942, the pledge became compulsory in some public schools, but the following year the Supreme Court ruled that recitation could non be required of any individual. It continues, however, to be mandatory or recommended in a majority of the states and is a daily fixture in most Ame rican classrooms.The final alteration to the pledge occurred in 1954 when, by a joint order of Congress, the words under God were inserted. The change is usually ascribed to a cold-war guarantee at differentiating the United States from officially atheistic Communist countries. The addition caused little stir when it was enacted, but in 2002 opposition to it resulted in a federal appeals court ruling that the words are unconstitutional because they soften the First Amendments prohibition against government endorsement of religion. An appeal of the controversial decision is pending. (W. Baer, 1992)Thesis StatementAn consignment to ones country eventually leads to active civic and political involvement and engagement.Body of the EssayServices, forms and customs of patriotism were first employed in the United States between the Civil War and World War I. At the end of the bloodiest civil war of the 19th century, the combatants left the battlefields for political, economic, and cultu ral arenas, where the struggle to make a nation continued with renewed intensity. In fact, many of the patriotic de nonations and rituals that we now take for granted or intend of as timeless were created during this period and emerged not from a harmonious, national consensus, but out of fiercely contested debates, even over the wording of the Pledge. Confronted by the dilemma that Americans are made, not born, educators and organizations, such as the rare Army of the Republic, Womens Relief Corps, and Daughters of the American Republic, campaigned to transform schools, in George Balchs words, into a mighty engine for the inculcation of patriotism.The forefront is not to downplay the value of civic knowledge or the promise of Americas democratic commitments to equality and referee rather, it is to help students use their love of country as a motivation to critically assess what is undeniable to make it better. Public Schools do not intend to turn students into critics of the United States, such that they do not portray any appreciation for its virtues. At the same time, these schools are not failing to assist the students in recognizing the role critique can play as a way to help make familiarity better.An allegiance to ones country eventually leads to active involvement. This is also evident from the survey in a fall of public schools.