About 100 students at Boulder High School walked out after their first class Thursday morning to recite an alternative Pledge of Allegiance.
They object to hearing the phrase “one nation under God” during the morning Pledge recitation, broadcast over the school’s public address system.
“We don’t object to pledging to our country, but we do object to pledging to a religion,” said Ashley Guesman, 17, a protest organizer.
The Pledge recited by the student protesters Thursday was:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag and my constitutional rights with which it comes. And to the diversity in which our nation stands. One nation, part of one planet, with liberty, freedom, choice and justice for all.”
State law requires high schools to give students the opportunity to say the Pledge of Allegiance. In past years, Boulder High allowed students to gather either at 7:15 a.m. or at lunch to recite it.
Principal Bud Jenkins said that routine required an administrator to stop whatever he was doing at lunch to meet the kids. At times, administrators would be too busy, and the kids would miss out.
So this year, the Pledge is broadcast over the public address system at 8:30 a.m.
Jenkins said that the protest was not disruptive and that there would be no consequences for participants.
“If the kids want to recite the Pledge, we respect that. If they don’t want to recite the Pledge, we respect that. If they want to recite a different Pledge, I guess we need to respect that,” he said.
“This is not a cookie-cutter high school,” he said. “These kids are experiencing the democratic process and putting their ideas out to the community. Nothing that happened today is anti-American. Good for the kids. I’m proud that they follow the democratic process of telling the community about ideas they disagree with.”
Participants said they hoped the daily PA system Pledge would be dropped. They said they’d wait a week to see what happens and then consider an alternative protest or another recitation of their alternative pledge.
