Illinois schools get 'moment-of-silence' mandate

[almaty 19]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois public school teachers are now required to begin each day with a ``moment of silence,’’ after Illinois House members today voted to override the governor's veto.

The requirement, effective immediately, doesn’t contain any penalty for teachers who don’t adhere to the mandate. Nonetheless, the issue drew sharp ideological debate on the House floor, where critics said it was an incremental attempt to force prayer in schools.

``Let’s face it: That’s what this is about . . . to many who are pushing this,’’ said Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie.

Proponents of the measure say it has nothing to do with religion, but is just meant to allow teachers and students to reflect on the coming school day.

``Our children today are bombarded by noise,’’ said Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago, a supporter of the measure. The idea of the legislation, she said, is ``to just have a moment in a child’s life where he or she can be guaranteed a moment of silence. We don’t want to give them that?’’

Current Illinois law allows teachers, if they choose, to lead students in ``a brief period of silence . . . for silent prayer or for silent reflection on the anticipated activities of the day.’’ The proposed new law, initially passed by the Legislature earlier this year, would make that practice mandatory.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich vetoed the bill, saying he feared the requirement could erode the constitutional separation of church and state. ``I . . . believe that our founding fathers wisely recognized the personal nature of faith and prayer,’’ Blagojevich said in his written veto message. He suggested that children should pray ``because they want to pray _ not because they are required to.’’

The Senate overrode the veto last week. The 74-37 vote in the House Thursday officially overrides Blagojevich and makes the provision law.

The Illinois debate ties into the broader national issue of prayer in schools that has cropped up in the U.S. Supreme Court several times in the past half century.

The high court ruled in 1962 that public school teachers cannot lead their students in formal prayer sessions _ a ruling that, contrary to the rhetoric from both sides of the issue, left the door open for students themselves to express their religious beliefs.

Almost 40 years later, in 2001, the court opened that door further, sanctioning a Virginia law requiring a moment of silence at the beginning of each school day, despite critics who said the policy was a backdoor attempt to slip official prayer into the classroom.

Since then, several states have instituted laws to either allow or mandate a moment of silence at the opening of public school days. Missouri isn’t among them. ``We do not have anything like that,’’ said Jim Morris, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The Illinois bill is SB1463.

[HAL 9000 96]

I think they should also mandate a moment of silence to pray for a new Chicago Transit Authority because frankly, the system sucks and they're going to make it less reliable and more expensive. [sarcasm]It looks like Chicago and the rest of the State of Illinois really do want the 2016 Olympics... [/sarcasm]

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I think a moment of silence would be good for all the students. Maybe 5 minutes in the mornings and 5 in the afternoons.

[cmartyn 0]

Well, I have not used the CTA a lot but that train from the airport downtown is a freaking dream compared to the cluster we got goin on here in NYC.

[almaty 19]

i agree, i see no reason why a time of self reflection is not needed..

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

i agree, i see no reason why a time of self reflection is not needed..

I reflect in the am before I leave the house or in the pm when I come back. In private. That's how it ought to be, I think.

Teachers are hired and paid to teach not to shut up.

What's next? Mandated moment of silence at work, in a restaurant prior to consuming my meal, in the doctor's office prior to the consultation? #######?

Edited October 12, 2007 by Mr. Big Dog

[one...two...tree 2,762]

i agree, i see no reason why a time of self reflection is not needed..

I reflect in the am before I leave the house or in the pm when I come back. In private. That's how it ought to be, I think.

Teachers are hired and paid to teach not to shut up.

Some schools have been implementing meditation for the students with great success. The teachers don't need to be constantly talking in order for the students to learn.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

i agree, i see no reason why a time of self reflection is not needed..

I reflect in the am before I leave the house or in the pm when I come back. In private. That's how it ought to be, I think.

Teachers are hired and paid to teach not to shut up.

Some schools have been implementing meditation for the students with great success. The teachers don't need to be constantly talking in order for the students to learn.

Read my edit: Where does this nonsense stop?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

i agree, i see no reason why a time of self reflection is not needed..

I reflect in the am before I leave the house or in the pm when I come back. In private. That's how it ought to be, I think.

Teachers are hired and paid to teach not to shut up.

Some schools have been implementing meditation for the students with great success. The teachers don't need to be constantly talking in order for the students to learn.

Read my edit: Where does this nonsense stop?

What is nonsensical about a moment of silence in class? I remember some teachers would stand at the front of the classroom and quietly wait for the students to be still and quiet before proceeding with a lecture. Silence can do wonders with focus.

[almaty 19]

i also agree with brother reinhard, as there is a movement to turn this to mandated prayer time..and once the door is cracked..then who knows how far it can go

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

i agree, i see no reason why a time of self reflection is not needed..

I reflect in the am before I leave the house or in the pm when I come back. In private. That's how it ought to be, I think.

Teachers are hired and paid to teach not to shut up.

Some schools have been implementing meditation for the students with great success. The teachers don't need to be constantly talking in order for the students to learn.

Read my edit: Where does this nonsense stop?

What is nonsensical about a moment of silence in class? I remember some teachers would stand at the front of the classroom and quietly wait for the students to be still and quiet before proceeding with a lecture. Silence can do wonders with focus.

If the teacher feels that a moment of silence will improve the students' focus, then the teacher may institute a moment of silence. I have no problem with that. What nonsense about this is that this has been made a requirement of the law. Again, I ask: Where does it stop? And again, I ask: #######?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

In the spring of 1993, after completing a tour of the Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment in Fairfield, Iowa, Dr. George Rutherford told the faculty, “I look around this school and all I see are smiling children. This is too good for just 600 kids in Iowa. I want this for my kids, and I’ll have it!”

His kids were far from Iowa. Dr. Rutherford presided over a Washington, D.C. middle school that resembled a fortress in an embattled neighborhood, in the midst of one of the most violent areas of the city. He first introduced the Transcendental Meditation program at Fletcher-Johnson Learning Center five years ago to help quell tensions among his inner-city students.

“We had amazing results,” Rutherford says. “I used to have to be in the streets all the time to stop the fighting, but after we started the TM® program, I didn’t have to go out there. You walk into the school and you feel it’s tension-free, a stress-free school right in the heart of the inner city, where we had plenty of violence.”

Question: What did you notice when you learned the Transcendental Meditation technique?

Dr. Rutherford: Oh, everything seemed to calm down. I had more energy, and it seemed as though my eyes opened up wider. In other words, I became a better administrator after I started meditating, because I didn’t feel so stressed. I had a better vision, could deal with a whole lot more, and do more for the School.

Question: And part of that meant bringing in the TM program?

Dr. Rutherford: Yes, because I felt it was good. And after seeing how the students were performing out in Fairfield, I knew my students needed to have the same opportunity—to be happy children and to get a better quality of life. And I felt the Transcendental Meditation program would be one of the vehicles to bring us out of that darkness and into the light.

http://www.tm.org/explore/popups/rutherford.html

i agree, i see no reason why a time of self reflection is not needed..

I reflect in the am before I leave the house or in the pm when I come back. In private. That's how it ought to be, I think.

Teachers are hired and paid to teach not to shut up.

Some schools have been implementing meditation for the students with great success. The teachers don't need to be constantly talking in order for the students to learn.

Read my edit: Where does this nonsense stop?

What is nonsensical about a moment of silence in class? I remember some teachers would stand at the front of the classroom and quietly wait for the students to be still and quiet before proceeding with a lecture. Silence can do wonders with focus.

If the teacher feels that a moment of silence will improve the students' focus, then the teacher may institute a moment of silence. I have no problem with that. What nonsense about this is that this has been made a requirement of the law. Again, I ask: Where does it stop? And again, I ask: #######?

On that I agree. Unless there was a strong reason why teachers must be required to do it, there's no need to make it a law.

[Jenn! 918]

I don't understand the point of this. If a teacher decides he wants to do this in his classroom, then great. But to force all teachers to do this -- why? And I can't help but wonder how often this will be a moment of prayer in implementation.

[Jasman0717 9]

A moment of silence is fine by me

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

A moment of silence is fine by me

Mandated by law?

I wonder: Would a mandated moment of silence in the restaurant prior to consuming your meal be fine with you, too?