A West Bend student who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance said she was questioned by school officials and humiliated in front of classmates for not participating.

The school’s principal said she in no way intended to pressure the girl into standing or cause her embarrassment.

Rachel Morris, 13, an eighth-grader at Silverbrook Middle School, said she was singled out by her teacher, called to the principal’s office and urged to stand during the pledge even if she chose not to recite it.

She has refused to stand all five days of this school year, she said.

Principal Cindy Guell said she called Rachel to her office on the second day partly to discuss the pledge but also to make sure everything was going OK for her. This is Rachel’s first year in the district.

“She said it was against her religion to say the pledge. I said, That’s fine.’ I told her that basically, we stand anyway as a way to honor our nation.”

Guell said Rachel was never told she had to stand. However, Guell acknowledged that, at her instruction, a statement was read over the intercom Wednesday and Thursday before the pledge that said, “The reason we stand is to honor our country.”

The statement was intended to clarify the issue for students, not to needle Rachel, Guell said.

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Requiring kids to participate in daily worship of our golden calf flag is objectionable enough- throwing the phrase “under God” in there multiplies the problems I have with this daily indoctrination session exponentially.

The rule (as I understand it) is that students can’t be forced to participate. Seems like they can still be harassed by the faculty about it.