So in your World, The First Amendment does not include the right not to say the pledge and forces one to?
Of course the kids shouldn't be forced to recite The Pledge (which is rather ironic when it professes to support liberty... but then again, school attendance is compulsory... hmmm). This particular kid was being a disruptive jerk, and got appropriately punished for it. The rest is sensationalism generated by the parents and the reporter.