INGA BARKS: Our statement of loyalty should only be made in English
| Friday, Dec 16 2011 03:00 PM
Last Updated Friday, Dec 16 2011 03:00 PM
Usually when I disagree with Californian Opinion Editor Robert Price, I chalk his "wrongness" up to the trauma he experienced during the two soccer seasons that the poor man coached my twin boys.
This must be the case on the subject of Spanish-speaking Lamont students being allowed to say the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish as well as English. They should absolutely say the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America in the language of the United States: English. And no, my opinion has nothing to do with race, ethnicity or immigration. It has everything to do with teaching children respect for our flag, our nation and our pledge.
It has to be incredibly difficult to teach English learners, and even more scary and difficult to learn a new language. I think of my Grandpa Olson, who found out on the first day of school that people spoke something other than Swedish. Yet somehow that poor kid, thrown into the world of an unknown tongue, managed to attend Wheaton College and Biola University, and ended up an optics engineer on the Lockheed SR-71 without even finishing his studies!
If little Verne Olson can learn English in a sink-or-swim world, why can't the kids in Lamont?
Of course, Grandpa Olson was just one child in a sea of English speakers. In cases like the Lamont schools, the concentration of non-English-speaking children is considerably higher. And, as one teacher of English learners reminded me this week, most of those children go home every night to a house that reinforces Spanish.
So it makes sense to accommodate students in such a way that still demands that they rise to the occasion, but without coddling them. Use whatever successful methods you have. Use as much Spanish as they need. But on this one thing, the honoring of Old Glory, let THAT be in English only.
While I agree with Coach Price on the notion that the words to the Pledge of Allegiance didn't mean much to even we English-speaking tots, I don't think that makes the argument that therefore children who don't fully grasp English should be allowed to recite it in Spanish as well as English. If none of the kids understands what it means anyway, why not recite it in its intended language only?
One EL teacher I spoke to (who did not want to be named for fear of angering parents and administrators) suggested that perhaps non-English-speaking students should be given a little grace period. After all, he said, even you had to be 4 or 5 years old before you had a firm enough grasp of English to attend school. But if they're still saying the Pledge in Spanish after three or four years of being taught English?
That's not right.
His method is to explain the meaning of the pledge word-by-word and phrase-by-phrase in Spanish so the children understand what it is they are doing. Then he teaches it in English and they recite it in English. If a child is struggling with the words, they can still stand and salute in respect until they get the hang of it.
Because this is about respect.
The Pledge of Allegiance isn't just some Dick and Jane book. Standing, hand over heart, vowing loyalty to America and honor to its flag is a HUGE lesson that I don't think we teach enough to children.
Clearly many children of all languages have been done a disservice in their education about our nation when they end up on TV in marches and protests, demanding their constitutional right to a free college education and free healthcare. Perhaps we should spend MORE time teaching students about how lucky they are to be in this country.
Teach it in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, for all I care. But let this one thing, this one beautiful statement of loyalty, be in English.
It may take time for children of all languages to fully comprehend what they are saying. That's OK. I didn't know what a constitution was when School House Rock taught me its Preamble. But the words made sense over time. We said the Lord's Prayer every week at church and it took a few years for me to recognize they weren't just a series of words crammed together. But I stood out of respect, and recited those phrases that I didn't understand until I did understand.
I hope the children of the Lamont schools get the same opportunity we did as kids to learn the words of the Pledge of Allegiance in English, and repeat them over and over in unison (a beautiful sound), even if they don't fully understand, until they do understand.
Inga Barks, who hosts a talk show on KMJ AM 580, is one of three community columnists whose work appears here every Saturday. These are Barks' opinions, not necessarily The Californian's. You can email Barks at inga.barks@aol.com. Next week: Ric Llewellyn.
