Published on Thursday, October 25, 2007

Prayer law gives students needed time for reflection

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This letter is in response to the Oct. 22 column by Alan Cesar titled “New law forces prayer on students, cuts into teaching time.” As a future teacher, it is my understanding that the law is not intended to force prayer upon students (as that is clearly a constitutional violation) but rather, offer students in grades K-12 an opportunity to begin their school day with a moment of reflection.

If a student chooses to use that time to silently pray, then that is their prerogative. I feel that a moment of silence is beneficial to students, especially high schoolers, who are in a constant state of motion and stress from the moment they wake up through the entire school day – and often into after-school activities.

Furthermore, it is laughable that Mr. Cesar can claim the moment of silence as such a distraction from learning, as it is designed to be offered once at the beginning of the school day for 10 to 20 seconds (the typical “moment of silence” length).

If people would simply take the time to consider the stress of a typical school day for children, they would understand this moment of silence for what it is – a quick pause to collect one’s thoughts before starting the day and NOT forcible prayer in public schools.

Kelly Larson
Senior, elementary education