Patriotism should not be taught and enforced in all elementary schools in the USA.

>>I person is best spending there time devoted to there county in a patriotic spirit. What exactly do you mean by this statement? I could not understand it, and therefore I will not answer it. >> It is this devotion we want to instill in youth so that they to will grow up suporting the country that was founded on patrionism. Yes, many people would want to teach patrotism to children. However, what we have to realize that not all children will want to love the USA. That is a choice we make. Making this choice for the children is going against the principles on which this country was founded on. The children should be given a choice, and if they choose to accept patriotism, that is their choice. If they do not, then we should respect their opinion and not force it upon them. >>Think back in history how the many American patriots, heros, brought us were we are today. Do we not want these kids to grow up in the same fashion? Again, we might want these kids to grow up in a patriotic fashion, but it is not the school's place to force the child to love the USA. Let me give you an example. Many people would not want gay people in their school. Are we going to force all gay people to become hetrosexual? I sure hope not. Just like we wouldn't force the children to be hetrosexual, we shouldn't force them to love the USA. >> This is a free country like my oponent says but kids are not always free to make there own choices and though they do not see it it is usualy for there own good. This is nothing diferent. Schools do not make all the kids choices but they should teach these kids good moral values like love of ones country. First of all, you might believe that loving one's country is a good moral value, but some may not. This is an opinion. But that is not the point of this debate. However, most of those choices you mentioned are not opinions. They are not beliefs. Patriotism is a opinion. It is a belief. It is a personal choice. You would not force your student to believe in the Torah, if that child is not a Jewish person, correct? If you were a school, would you force all of your students to pray 5 times a day to Mecca? Unless you were in a Muslim or Jewish school, you would not. In this debate, we are talking about all elemenatary schools in the USA. We should not force children to believe in something they may or may not believe in. >>School was created for giving young youth tools for the future. One of those tools is love ...not make all the kids choices but they should teach these kids good moral values like love of ones country. In this paragraph, are you suggesting that we brainwash all of our nation's children into believing something they might not want to believe in? That is what this paragraph sounds like. >>Every American does have his own freedom but this country should teach our youth values that will benifit this country in the long run. So you are saying that a free county should not give the children the same rights as the adults??? You are saying that children are not Americans?? You are also saying that because they are children, they should not have the same rights as adults. This is ridiculous. >> If the child/parent does not like or suport this country then they should ethier live with it and reap the benifits or leave if they feel a devotion to another country. USA military has to respect the rules of other countries even if they do not like them and bear with it for the time being. How does this have anything to do with the topic of this debate?? >>My oponent defines patriosim as a forced love of that country and that country only. This is untrue. If you look at my first argument, I only defined patriotism as what Merriam Webster defined it as. I did not say that it is a forced love of the country. However, the topic includes enforcing it. Just clarifying. >>It is the spirit of service and devotion to the country you are in. In other words, it is the love and devotion you show to your country! >>Because our country does so much for us we should return our gratitude with a little patrionism and devotion. This is your own personal opinion. It should not be pulled into this debate. I will not answer this argument. >> A country should be more then a place were many live it should be a land were many work together, making sacrifises for the others in that country and serving/loving that country hole heartedly. that is patriosim. But you have not said why it should be enforced in schools across the USA, however. This is only your opinion on what a country should be. It has not relevance to this topic. Now to advance my arguments. Like I said before, we should not force children to love the USA. We should not force them to believe in something that they do not believe in. Children should not have any fewer rights than adults, and we would never think of forcing patriotism upon all adults in the USA. What is it about children that makes it justifiable to force them to believe in something that they might never believe in. Just like you would never try to convert a Sunni to a Shite (sorry for any misspellings), you should never try to force a child to believe in an idea and belief that they might not follow. Thank you.