Children Offered Opt-Out from Pledge of Allegiance

Children in at least one Florida school now have the option of sitting out of the Pledge of Allegiance, as long as their parents sign a waiver excusing them from reciting it.

“I understand my rights as a parent and I request that my child, noted above, be excused from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. This request includes standing and placing his/her right hand over his/her heart,” the form read.

A Florida man named Micah Brienen was “ashamed” when his niece had come home with the form.

“My niece brought this home from school today … What is happening to our country?!?” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Brienen included a photo of the form, which was filled in by his sister-in-law with a message that read: “This is the dumbest thing I have ever read and I am so ashamed of this.”

The post has been shared more than 22,700 times on Facebook within the first five days of being posted.

Brienen followed up on the original post with another post that took a swing at the superintendent, who is up for re-election.

“The Superintendent of Schools is Jackie Pons,” Brienen wrote in the caption of the post, adding Pons’ direct phone number and email address.

The post was shared more than 22,700 times on Facebook within the first five days of being posted. The school district that created the form may have gotten the message.

Brienen commented on the post Tuesday morning, saying he was just “informed that The Pledge of Allegiance request form has been removed from the student handbook district-wide.”

“They’ve torn it out of every handbook. Per an edict that came down from the district last night. We can make a difference! Let’s save America together!!”