“I don’t believe in saluting the flag,” said Hans. “It isn’t my flag, anyhow. I’m not going to salute that flag.” “Hans, you must salute it,” said the now exasperated teacher. “The board requires it, and if you do not obey we can not have you in this school.” “All right, then. I’ll go,” and Hans cooly took his books from his desk and walked out. Three days later, as Hans did not reappear at the school, he was arrested for truancy and taken before the juvenile court. Under the coercion of the court he was made to return to the school and to give the daily salutes. CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT Try a roundabout way of getting at Hans’ difficulty. For a little while, at least, appear not to notice that he is not joining with others. Meanwhile, in the story period, or in the history class study, in a simple and interesting way, tell the history of the flag and the principles for which it stands. Imagine yourself in Hans’ place—that is, that you are a foreigner in a strange land, and that it is the flag of another country that you are asked to salute. What considerations would make you willing to do it? When this question is answered in your own mind, then set out to win the allegiance of Hans. Keep watch on the playground to see if some of Hans’ hostility has not been caused by unkind teasing on the part of other children. COMMENTS Only the outward form of loyalty can be brought about by force. Mr. Hoover forgot that only an intelligent understanding and appreciation can be the basis of true loyalty, and these require time in which to develop. He should be more concerned, then, in the conditions favorable to a steady growth of these attitudes than about mere compliance to outward, conventional form. Saluting the flag and honoring the flag may be two quite different acts. ILLUSTRATION (THIRD GRADE) [Sidenote: Honoring the Flag] Miss Beardsley, of the Lincoln School in Newport, taught her class, by many little talks and allusions to venerate the ideals of the national flag rather than the flag itself. “Only noble-hearted persons have a right to stand under that flag,” she often said. Then, when some especially praiseworthy act had been performed by any child during the day, she would call that one forward to stand under the flag that was gracefully draped in the corner of her school-room, while the others gave the salute just before going home at the close of the day’s session. The children soon began to vie with each other, in helping a younger child, in being polite, keeping desks tidy—anything that would especially entitle them to stand under the flag—the greatest honor the teacher could confer. Thus the pupils learned to associate true patriotism, so far as a young child could understand it, with the symbol of state control. 8. Self-Regulation