Is this normal?

Shocked, insulted, and disgusted. Those three words best described my feelings at school last week. I was substituting at Stagg High School in Palos, when steam must have been pouring out of my ears. Every single day, at the start of second hour, the Pledge of Allegiance and the daily announcements come on over the intercom. Every day that I have worked in a school, the class rises for the pledge. This particular day, not one of thirty students rose out of their chairs, or stopped talking. I didn't know just how to handle the rush of emotions that came over me. I recited the pledge, and took the time of the announcements to regroup.

The announcement were over, and this room of thirty high school seniors were still chattering away. I went back to the already closed door, opened it, and slammed it so loudly that I swear, the walls shook. They all shut up and looked at me. I started yelling, "I cannot believe that not one of you stopped talking, or stood up to recognize the Pledge!" Their response, "We never do." I actually chewed them out for what is a great shame on the classroom teacher. I told them that they were seniors in high school, and for the last twelve years, I was fairly certain that this was a daily routine in the classroom. Another smart remark, "You never asked us to be quiet." I thought as seniors, they knew when the bell rang, it was time to sit down and begin class. I must have ranted about this for five minutes, expressing my clear disgust. Was I going to be called their "crazy substitute" the next day? I didn't care.

My classroom rule used to be that if you didn't want to recite the Pledge, you at least stood and shut your mouth. You are, after all, living in this country. Our country may be going through rough times, but this is America, land of the free. These students must not recognize how great it is to be living in a country like ours. Regardless of race, nationality, background, etc. . . I think that if not for themselves, they owe it to the men and women that fight for our country to stand up for sixty seconds. I will tell you that those students either thought about what I said, or were just plain afraid that I might snap, because you could have heard a pin drop for the remainder of the class. What would make a teacher think it wasn't important for her class to recognize the Pledge of Allegiance? I did leave a rather harsh note for her regarding my dissatisfaction. Am I wrong?