Apparently this teacher did not read West Virginia v. Barnette

November 7th, 2013

Forcing a Jehova’s Witness student to place his hand on his heart in a public school is a big no no. This teacher must’ve stopped reading the U.S. Reports with Gobitis.

A Florida teacher told her fourth grade student to pledge allegiance to the flag…or else.

Hernando County school teacher Anne Daigle-McDonald has been suspended without pay after grabbing a student’s wrist, placing it over his heart, and forcing him to recite the Pledge.

The boy, a Jehovah’s Witness, reminded the teacher that his religion doesn’t allow him to worship objects. He stood up out of respect for his country, but he didn’t want to put his hand over his heart.

“You are an American, and you are supposed to salute the flag,” Daigle-McDonald reportedly said, according to a statement the boy gave the Explorer K-8 school.

The first incident happened on Sept. 11, the 12-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The next day, Daigle-McDonald noticed that the boy hadn’t changed his habits. That’s when she decided to turn the incident into a lesson for all her young students.

She yanked the boy’s hand over his heart and then told the entire class, “In my classroom, everyone will do the pledge; no religion says that you can’t do the pledge.”

She continued, “If you don’t want to say the pledge, you still have to put your hand on your heart and if you don’t want to do that, you should move out of the country.”

This student’s new favorite number should be 1983.
H/T Mili