This past week, the Minnesota Senate passed a bill requiring that the Pledge of Allegiance be said in schools once a week.

Teens need little reason for rebellion. They are learning to assert

their ideas and challenging those they don’t wholly agree with.

An amendment to the bill would require the adult in charge of the classroom discuss the history and reason for the saying the Pledge.

It also states that students be informed that they do not have to participate for any personal reason and won’t be considered unpatriotic for not participating.

Sen. Leo Foley (Dem. Coon Rapids) said refusing to stand for the Pledge would come back to haunt students. Mandating patriotism won’t work, he added.

How long has it been since most of these lawmakers were kids?

They don’t need to give kids a reason to defy patriotic tradition. It was done in the 1960s when students protested the United States involvement in Vietnam by burning the flag.

The government should not attempt to legislate patriotism.