Teen Suspended for Not Standing During Pledge; Supreme Court Ruled Students Need Not Do So

A Texas high school sophomore was suspended for refusing to stand up during a Pledge of Allegiance recitation, the Christian Today website reports today (May 11, 2014).

Mason Michalec, 15, refused to stand up during the Pledge for most of the school year, but received a two-day in-school suspension on May 7 when a different teacher noticed he was sitting down.

"And she told me, 'This is my classroom. This is the principal's request. You're going to stand,'" Michalec told a Houston newspaper. "And I still didn't stand and she said she was going to write me up."

The Needville High School student said he is protesting the government's "big brother" activities. "I'm really tired of our government taking advantage of us," the teen said. "I don't agree with the NSA (National Security Agency) spying on us."

Principal Richard Janacek also allegedly told Michalec that he will continue to receive suspensions every time he sits down during the Pledge of Allegiance. Apparently, the principal does not know -- or doesn't care -- that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled over 50 years ago that public school students cannot be forced to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance.