[simplepeddler]

Originally Posted by MathGeek

All good stuff. But for me (as a parent and a teacher), conscience comes first.

If a student has an issue of conscience with something, then they need to be free not to participate. Maybe it's a song, maybe sex ed, maybe a movie, maybe a play. In this case, it was reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish.

We need to protect our children's consciences against intrusions. How can we expect them to resist peer pressure that violates their consciences if we don't support them against governmental (school) pressure that violates their consciences?

Freedom of speech is also freedom not to speak, just as freedom of religion is freedom not to, and freedom of assembly is freedom not to.

My daughter ended up with an "F" for the semester in a course once because she exercised her conscience with regard to a reading assignment. My wife and I were fired from our positions as teachers at the school, because we would not force her to violate her conscience.

it just got real.......