Youth: October 2007 Archives

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?