Even though the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act was reinforced in District 219 schools at the beginning of second semester, it seems that not all teachers follow it.
The Act was passed in 2007 by the Illinois General Assembly. Later, in 2009, it was declared unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman. However, on Dec. 30, 2010, the ban was repealed and the law reinstated. The law declares that public schools should have a moment of silence at the beginning of the school day to offer a chance for “silent prayer or silent reflection.”
“Seeing as how we’re a public school, I think there’s no place for it in the school day,” a science teacher who teaches first period said.
It seems that other teachers agree, too.
“My first period teacher doesn’t do a moment of silence,” junior Patrick Melnick said. “I’m in an AP class, so it’s really hard to fit everything in anyway.”
However, it is mandatory for teachers to follow the moment of silence.
According to John Heintz, chief legal officer of District 219, the law is meant specifically for public schools.
“It’s to calm students at the beginning of the day so they can study,” Heintz said. As to the conflict about prayer during the moment of silence, he added, “It really only mentions [prayer] in the title and one other place.”
A few days before the second semester began, all teachers were sent an e-mail from the legal department of the district. In the e-mail, teachers were told to “begin the day with a moment of silence.”
There has been some uproar, though, as to the legality of this law.
“I think it’s unconstitutional,” said an applied sciences teacher, who does not teach first period. “I think it violates the part of the Constitution about the separation of church and state.”
There is also the matter of fitting the moment of silence into the beginning of the day.
“We don’t really have a moment of silence first period,” junior Sarah Nordin said. “I’m in ALCUSH, and you can’t cut much out of it.”
The science teacher agrees, but has his own method of complying with the law.
“When this first came out, I told students that they have the moment from when they walk through the door until they get to their desks to handle their moment of silence,” he said.
As for the teachers who don’t enforce the moment of silence, Heintz said, “It’s fairly easy to put into the school day…if it’s heard that [the law] is broken, then there would be reprimands.”
Though there are teachers who disagree with the law, there are still some who enforce it.
“It’s a time to reflect,” foreign language teacher Andrew Suarez said, who enforces the moment of silence in his first period class. “Students don’t take time to stop and think…reflecting on [one’s] own being is a life tool.”
Some, though, think that the timing of the moment of silence is inconvenient.
“It’s unfair with classes. They should find a better place for it,” Nordin said.
The issue, though, is that the law passed by the General Assembly is specific as to the time of day the moment of silence needs to be observed.
“It’s specifically at the start of the school day,” Heintz said. “There’s no latitude.”
Ms. Chandarana • Apr 26, 2011 at 10:20 AM
Has anyone here ever heard of MAHARISHI HIGH SCHOOL?
http://www.maharishischooliowa.org/
They have won nearly every award and state competition for so many years in a row that other schools only hope to come in second place. The key to their success? A moment of silence, every morning – in fact, 20 minutes of silence… it’s called meditation, and Christians can do it, Hindus can do it, Buddhists can do it, Atheists can do it, even pets and plants do it. It isn’t associated with any religion, though if you try it, you just might find God – it turns out that you ARE God. So, how can you separate that? And why would you want to?
Michael Nissan • Apr 17, 2011 at 10:14 PM
It’s unfortunate that people are using something as innocent as the one-minute reflection period before school as an example of religion being impressed upon us by the government. It is really meant to be used as a time to plan out your day, or perhaps evaluate your actions from the day before, or just to get some mental rest. It is surprising how much one minute of mental rest can affect a person.
Still, It is very easy for some, like the applied science teacher, to use the phrase “separation of church and state” to label the law as unconstitutional. But the phrase itself never actually appears in the constitution. It is the phrase that people use to summarize the establishment clause of the first amendment, which reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” “Establishment of religion” refers to any religious organization (Catholocism, Protestantism, Islam, etc.). Not something as vague and general as “prayer”.
But arguing the logistics is really sort of nearsighted, because in reality, there is really no reason for such uproar against the law other than it being a liberal talking point. It’s one minute. And sure, the law has “prayer” in its name, but nobody’s forcing you. You can pray to God. Or if you want, pray to the weather. Or both. Or neither. Because nobody will know. Either way, the moment of silence is a healthy addition to the school day.
:) • Apr 16, 2011 at 6:12 PM
How much reflecting and praying can a person do in a matter of 1-2 minutes? It’s kind of pointless. I highly doubt any of the students are going to be “reflecting”.
Another Student • Apr 15, 2011 at 7:05 PM
First of all, I am a Christian and I am all for this moment of silence or reflection or prayer. I do not think a moment of silence or reflection is the problem here but the fact the law states that the student should have a moment for prayer is a little over the top.
To continue, this would not be problem if this law is just saying the Silent Reflection Act but it added the “Student Prayer” in which it just contradicts what the Constitution is saying of separating church and state.
A student • Apr 15, 2011 at 4:02 PM
In my fist period class we do a minute of silence at the beginning of the day. But I’m pretty sure my teacher does it more out of tradition than out of legality. She treats it as a minute for us to collect ourselves before schools starts, to reflect, to breathe. She makes it her own thing for us really. And when she’s not there and we have a sub, we the students start it up ourselves.
That being said, I don’t think there should be a law mandating that this is a requirement. To me that is being too controlling of our school systems and, frankly, it’s unnecessary.
Think about it, why should this be an issue? It’s one minute of everday. It doesn’t hurt anyone. Our government in Illinois has much bigger issues to worry about than something this trivial.