I had to say it when I was in elementary school (early 80's) For me it was just another part of the day. Like saying prayers at bedtime. It was something adults said you should do, so you did it. There were a few instances of kids not wanting to join in for whatever reason, and they were always disciplined and eventually were forced to say it. I remember one instance of a girl being strongly verbally abused by a teacher for refusing to say it. I was walking by in the hallway as it happened - it was quite disturbing.

At any rate, I think leading kids in the pledge is sort of silly. I don't think most of them really know what they're saying, anyway. I think religious and non-religious people alike should applaud this decision. As I've heard said, religion shouldn't need the government to do its work.