Get High on Life

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 15, 2000

HAROLD KELLER / L’Observateur / August 15, 2000

I was talking to a retired teacher last Saturday over a cup of coffee at Jams. She and her husband, who is also retired, are planning to move toanother state. Both are under 50 years of age and excited about their newlife.

During the conversation, she told me that she will miss teaching, but not the hassle of trying to discipline undisciplined children. “It’s gotten worse!” shesaid. “Many children today have no respect for anyone. The abuse that somebetter-behaved children have to endure tears my heart!” She related the story of a little girl who started school last year, full of enthusiasm and excited about learning. By the middle of the year, because ofthe abuse from older students, her desire to learn had been replaced by a desire to survive, one day at a time.

What a tragedy that we live in a time when one of the most dangerous places for a child to be is in some schools! Are the schools at fault? No, the unhealthy situation is only a reflection of our society. The cause of theproblem is best described in the following poem written by a teen-ager in Bagdad, Ariz.

The New School Prayer Now, I sit me down in school, Where praying is against the rule.

For this great nation under God Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites, It violates the Bill of Rights.

And any time my head I bow Becomes a federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green, That’s no offense, it’s a freedom scene.

The law is specific, the law is precise.

Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall Might offend someone with no faith at all.

In silence alone we must meditate, God’s name is prohibited by the State.

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks, And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.

They’ve outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible, To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen, And the “unwed daddy,” our Senior King.

It’s “inappropriate” to teach right from wrong, We’re taught that such “judgements” do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls, Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles, But the Ten Commandments are not allowed, It’s scary here, I must confess, When chaos reigns, the school’s a mess.

So Lord, this silent plea I make: Should I be shot, my soul please take!”

When the Ten Commandments and prayer were taken out of the schools, it opened the door to the violence and unruly behavior we are now experiencing.

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