When the Pledge of Allegiance comes over Maloney High School's loud speaker every morning, junior Jordan Taylor often finds himself one of only a handful of students along with the homeroom teacher standing with his hand over his heart, reciting the words that have been drilled into the heads of every student since elementary school.

"Some people mock (the pledge) or try to be funny," he said. "But I think if you live here you should stand."

Whether because they disagree with the wars the United States is waging overseas, they don't like the inclusion of God, or because they just don't want to, numerous students described an atmosphere in Meriden's two high schools, and to a lesser degree in surrounding districts, in which participating in the pledge is not the norm.

While Taylor and a few other students stand, the rest off his class is often seated, noisy, and occasionally mocking towards the country's official pledge, Taylor said.

When several dozen Platt High School students were asked about the morning pledge as they walked home af-ter school on Coe Avenue last week, almost all of them said that they didn't participate.

Some teachers force their students to stand and be quiet even if they're not going to say the pledge.

"We stand up, but I don't usually say it," said sophomore Gerald Ramirez. "I don't think it's that big of a deal."

With the country mired in two overseas wars and numerous other problems, sophomore Chris Cresto said that he lived in a "messed up country," and that he didn't want to pledge to its flag.

"The government is wrong," he said.

Because she is an atheist, freshman Amy Staten said her reason for not pledging is the inclusion of "under god," in the pledge, which was added by a Congress eager to differentiate the country from atheist communists during the Cold War.

President Dwight D. signed the change into law 1954 after listening to a sermon by Rev. George MacPherson Docherty, who was pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church near the White House in Washington D.C. Docherty believed the power of the country should emanate not from its nuclear arsenal, but from the spirit of its people.

For other students, the pledge is just not worth their time.

"I'm just lazy, to tell you the truth," said senior Thomas Medina.