Recently, a "moment of silence" became mandatory in all public classrooms in the state of Illinois. The governor was against the new law but legislators overrode his veto. Meanwhile, school officials in both Naperville districts along with Plainfield have no problem with the quiet time where, as one lawmaker put it, kids can do anything, including "listen to the rustling of the leaves...or the chirping of the birds." Well, what about praying? Because that's where the critics come in with one advocacy group arguing that the law is nothing more than "meddling" with the separation of church and state as guaranteed by the Constitution. And, up in Waukegan, some educators are up in arms over what they see as a thinly-veiled attempt to bring prayer into the public schools. The questions are: Do the kids really need a moment of silence? Does the "bird-chirping" theory make any sense in this context? Or, are we really talking about prayer and not silence at all?
Is silence really golden?
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I think the critics should look around- maybe this country needs prayer.... but a moment to silence your mind in the overly hectic world can only be a benefit.
In these times of wild fires, terrorism, war, and mayhem- what is wrong with prayer. God forbid, some good may come of it. I say pray everyday for peace. I know our daughter will take this time of silence to pray to God. Imagine if every child in Illinois would take one minute a day to pray for peace, imagine if every child in every state would take one minute a day to pray for peace, imagine if every child in the world took just one minute a day to pray for peace...do you think that maybe the world might be a better place? I do.
I do not see anything wrong with a moment of silence. It gives everyone a chance in their own way to think what they want. No one thought anything of it during 9/11. I did it and said a silent prayer for the workers and for the people who were waiting to be saved and for the families of those who died. I was teaching that day when that happened. One of the students asked if we could have a moment of silence and everyone in that classroom bowed their heads for that moment. So what is wrong in doing it on a daily basis? If a person does not want to bow their heads during that moment of silence we do not condemn that person. Out of respect to others, he may not agree with it, but he will be quiet. The problem today in the schools is that the students are even told they cannot pray in school. We discussed that and students told me that they still pray in the morning when they come to the school for God to keep them safe. They thank God for their noon time meal and one said he prays that he won't get sick from cafeteria food. There is a story that goes about the government takes prayer and the Bible out of the school. Kids get in trouble. As adults they get sent to prison. They are handed a Bible and told to pray. Why wait? I never figured that out. So keep that moment of silence in the beginning of the day. Let the kids think about what they want during that time. It may help them through the day. And when a person sneezes they think nothing of saying God bless you. :-)
My daughter, who attends Naperville North, informed me that the students were told by Principal Ross Truemper NOT to pray during the moment of silence.
I'm really surprised by NNHS Mom's comment. The principal actually told the kids NOT to pray? What business of it is his? How do you regulate a moment of silence or police what's going on in kids' heads? I think that's terrible and insulting to our children.
I'm not really interested in the church vs. state implications, as I think that's not really the issue. But it just seems ridiculous to me to expect teens and younger kids to respect a moment of silence. Have you ever watched children in church? They play with toys, crawl around, goof off with their siblings and do everything but pay the slightest attention to what's going on at the front of the church. But people think these same children are going to solemnly reflect on their lives at the beginning of the school day? I imagine they'll be sending text messages or throwing spitballs. The legislators who said that children could use the time to enjoy the birds and all that obviously haven't seen human children in awhile. These aren't young Henry David Thoreaus we're talking about. I happen to be a religious person now, but when I was in school I couldn't have cared less, and I think most kids would agree.
Three short things:
The State mandated “moment of silence” might be ridiculous to impose but there is certainly nothing legally or morally wrong with doing so. NOTHING was stipulated on how this “moment’ was to be spent.
Someday someone will in fact bother to read the Constitution and learn that the text of the first amendment to the US Constitution actually states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". That would be a far cry from the metaphor “separation of Church and State”. I would just be happy if people were permitted to say the Pledge of Alliance and sing God Bless America without the selective persecution of the American Criminal Liberties Union.
Lastly: I hope that the NN student misunderstood the comments of Principal Truemper because to think otherwise would lead me to believe that even educators are unable to understand this issue. I would find that to be a chilling commentary.
I agree with the previous poster about the wording of the Constitution. It does not say anything about separation of church and state. It was meant to keep the government from establishing an official national church, like the Church of England. At even the most liberal interpretation, what it actually says is that no laws can be passed regarding religion, but the government could still do whatever they want religion-wise as long as it wasn't passing a law. So every courthouse in the nation could have a huge 10 Commandments display and every city hall could have a big nativity scene and as long as it wasn't federally mandated it shouldn't be an issue. But the myth of church and state has spread and most people think it is in the Constitution. I'm not sure why the federal judges think this though, as I would assume they would read the document they are supposed to interpret. I was surprised however, when I was arguing with a church and state separation supporter recently and I quoted the text of the First Amendment and she still thought it mandated a separation of church and state. I guess some people hear what they want to hear.
Hey..I'm with anonymous and Blake on this. And I am not even Christian. A moment of silence is a wonderful oppportunity to reflect, meditate, think of your God, whatever. It is a good opportunity to teach children to zone out of the influences bombarding them and just THINK.
To CRM--I've seen these kids you talk about in church, when I still used to go. If I had behaved that way as a kid, I would have been punished. But parents don't seem to care now nowadays and thus, neither do the kids. But...that's PART OF THE PROBLEM with our society.