Thursday, October 18, 2007
And Now, Please Stand For A Moment Of Silence
Sorry for the break, but I'm back for more. To start things off, I would like to discuss the ridiculousness of the this new Illinois state law requiring students to start all school days off with a moment of silence. This law has absolutely no intrinsic to the students and does not belong in our classrooms. What exactly should we tell our students to reflect on? I can't believe that the state Senate and House of Representatives had the votes to override the veto of the governor, but that is the unfortunate reality that we are faced with. My school is only taking 15 seconds after the Pledge of Allegiance (the Pledge is an issue of it's own), so the time lost only equals about a minute, but that is still time that is needlessly lost. As educators, every minute that we have with our students is worth it's weight in gold, so wasting even a moment for reflection makes no sense. Since yesterday, I have been bombarded with questions from students about the real meaning of the moment of silence, and when I tell my them that the time is to be used for personal reflection, they laugh and tell me it's a waste. They feel that there should be a reason given for the moment of silence, but since the language is so ambiguous, I really have no response for them. Ironically, several of them have told me t hat if they wanted time to reflect, they would simply go to church. Students and staff have both expressed uneasiness, which is not in the spirit of tolerance. This law is catering to the needs and wants of a small minority of the schools population while managing to make the majority feel uncomfortable.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My Simpsonization
Here is what I would look like in Springfield
3 comments:
I have three separate and distinct approaches for this response. It will be lengthy, I apologize.
1)"Students and staff have both expressed uneasiness, which is not in the spirit of tolerance. This law is catering to the needs and wants of a small minority of the schools population while managing to make the majority feel uncomfortable."
This, my dear friend, is an excellent example of the practical application of tolerance in and of itself.
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/tolerance.html
I agree that the average grade-schooler lacks the ability for 'personal reflection' and that the average high-schooler thumbs their nose at 'the Man'... but this is exactly the value of our collective character as Americans.
I can tell you for a fact that my 6 year old does not have the level of self-awareness to make good use of this brief moment in regard to personal reflection, and ultimately personal growth. But I can tell you with all certainty that in her perfectly innocent and uncorrupted psyche, she spends time thinking about the people who love her, and how she can show them that she loves them too. (or maybe she's thinking about recess a bit too)
2)Assuming that the original law was still in effect, are you (or anyone else for that matter) implying that it should be left to the discretion of a Principal, Superintendent, or Board of 'X' to determine whether each individual school practices this? Those are not elected/appointed officials (the Board would be somewhat). And the way the law was prior to this... they were the ones who could make the decision (if I understand that portion correctly). I'm not a fan of most politicians, but at least they are elected to represent the majority of the populace. And to have the majority of the representation (of the majority) support this, I have to assume that there is just reason.
3)Should we then ban Labor Day, Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, and such as they are meant to invoke memories, praise, honor, and reflection for those people who have made this country what it is? We reflect of our fallen soldiers at every memorial across the nation... should those monuments be torn down so as to not make me uncomfortable when I walk my dog in the park and see someone observing a moment of silence?
Just some food for thought. I'm not a fan of organized religion by any means. However, I am a fan of freedom of choice. And I can definitely see a distinguishing difference here.
In that situation, I would do exactly what the law provides... practice my choice and reflect on and prepare for the activities of the day.
Freedom of choice is the key here because there is none given to us as educators with this new law. I can understand part of the argument, but I still believe it has no intrinsic value for our students. Every student want direction and meaning for the things we do in class, and due to the ambiguous nature of this law, there is no particular direction that can be given.
But the same argument can be made for many things that you encounter on your day. You have no freedom of choice in regard to:
how long your class periods are - and they vary from school to school;
when your class's lunch is - many schools have rotating times for lunch;
school assembly;
parent/teacher days;
State education requirements;
etc.
You already have to learn to schedule your class periods, your days, your weeks, your lesson plans, etc around those things. This is simply another hurdle to overcome in your day as far as how you effectively use your time as an educator.
I know that you (and a lot of teachers) would love to have an extra 'X' minutes per class to be able to do more, but we all have parameters to work within in our job functions. This is just another set of parameters to contend with.
It is a good chance to challenge yourself to actually empower your students to take advantage of the opportunity. Maybe I'm too engrossed in my own non-Western exposure, but I am a big fan of reflection.
Since the law is stated as being a time to reflect on the day's activities (as one option), how about writing a profound and simple statement on the chalkboard (or is it dry erase now?) that encompasses an aspect of the day's activities? I mean, you could easily give those students that are not concerned with personal reflection, or prayer, or whatever, a chance to further their understanding of the lesson plan, or the core, that you're currently working on.
Just a thought. :D
Post a Comment