Standing for anthem not mandatory in N.B. schools
Last Updated: Thursday, November 12, 2009 | 4:58 PM AT
CBC News
It's been about five months since the New Brunswick government introduced a new policy requiring all schools to play the national anthem every morning, but some students don't know how to treat the daily ritual with respect, says one woman who works in schools in the Saint John area.
The policy doesn't specify whether or not the students have to stand during the playing of O Canada, and that ambiguity has led some students to disregard it altogether, says CPR instructor Annmarie West.
'So, 11 students are still sitting, and half of them are playing on their BlackBerries or their cellphones, and the national anthem is playing. Well, I was mortified.'—Annmarie West, CPR instructor
West said she was recently teaching a CPR course in a District 8 high school classroom when the anthem came on, and only four students got out of their seats.
"So, 11 students are still sitting, and half of them are playing on their BlackBerries or their cellphones, and the national anthem is playing. Well, I was mortified," she said.
The students didn't even understand why she was upset, West said.
"And I said to them, 'This is our country … People have died for us to live here in the capacity that we do.' And so they said, 'Well it's been so long that we've been told that we don't have to stand, so I don't want to get up'."
Part of the reason for making the playing of the anthem mandatory was to give schools more "teachable moments," said Department of Education spokeswoman Valerie Kilfoil.
Kilfoli said the daily ritual can provide teachers with an opportunity to pose such questions as: What does your anthem mean to you?; What does it mean to be a citizen?; and What is your role in society?
The policy does not spell out the expectation that students stand or set out penalties if they don't, but students who don't stand are missing the point, she said.
National controversy
The province's policy on playing the anthem erupted into a national debate in January after it became known that Erik Millett, the then-principal of Belleisle Elementary School, had dropped the daily signing of O Canada in his school, reserving it for special assemblies.
Millett said in February the move was to accommodate children whose parents didn't want them to sing along for religious reasons and who had to leave the classroom each morning while O Canada played over the school's PA system.
Millett resigned in April after he received death threats over his decision.
On June 18, then education minister Kelly Lamrock announced the Liberal cabinet had passed a regulation requiring all schools in New Brunswick to play O Canada at the start of the day.
A government spokesperson said children would not be required to sing along if they are uncomfortable with the anthem.
