Nurse Refuses To Treat Student Who Wouldn’t Stand For The Pledge of Allegiance, Atheist Group Demands Apology
A Pennsylvania nurse refused to treat a student who wouldn’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, sparking outrage with the American Humanist Association.
The AMA is a Washington D.C. based atheist group that wrote a letter to the Pennsylvania’s Carlisle Area School District demanding that they apologize to the student who attends Wilson Middle School.
According to the AMA’s attorney Monica Miller, the eighth grade student contacted the association through their website DontSayThePledge.com to report that the nurse had refused treatment for her.
“With ‘under God’ added, the Pledge is not a statement of patriotism. Instead, extremist preachers and politicians point to the language to validate their view that those who don’t believe in God don’t belong.”
The student reportedly told the nurse, when questioned why she was not standing, that she had the right not to stand. The nurse, in return, said, “Fine, then leave! I have the right not to service you!”
“The student reports that she left the nurse’s office in tears and went to the administrative offices to call her mother,” Miller wrote, according to MSN. “A secretary then led the student to an office, but at that time the same nurse appeared again, saying, ‘She isn’t calling a parent until I have a long conversation with her!’ Still sobbing, the student said she only wanted to call her mother.”
“At this point a school counselor arrived and took the student to his office, where the student remained for the first two class periods,” Miller continued. “Though he showed some sympathy, he also incorrectly instructed the student that she should stand in the hallway if she does not wish to stand for the Pledge exercise!”
“The actions of the nurse are indefensible, as she provides an example of the kind of overzealous, dangerous patriotism that any true patriot would loathe.
“The student was left angry and scarred by this mean-spirited hostility, which is only made worse by the fact that it came from a person trusted with the health and well being of students. Moreover, the nurse’s refusal to give the child medical attention calls into question her fitness for the job.”
Assistant superintendent Christina Spielbauer released a statement, according to ABC27, saying that they were made aware of the incident, and they are currently conducting an investigation.
Do you think the nurse had the right to refuse to treat the student because she wouldn’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? Leave your comments below.
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