Force is a terrible idea, the exact opposite of what freedom means. The first of all God-given rights is the ability to choose freely for oneself. Force and deceit are the ways of Satan. A true patriot would die for the rights of any one of those children to sit down, if that is what they choose, and would also protect the child against anyone bullying the child to gain compliance. Have people not learned anything? It saddens me that even with all we've experienced, all that we will experience, that is to come, that someone would speak of 'forcing' as a good and acceptable thing. Uggghhh. Has God ever forced you to do anything? We pledge allegiance to our flag because we love our flag, not because we're forced.