School Prayer

There has been much argument in this pre-election period about morality, and in particular the loss of prayer in public schools.

About 35 years ago my husband was in the U.S. Army and was sent to Ft. Belvoir, Va. My children enrolled in the public school which, being in the Bible Belt, always started the day with a prayer. Each day a different pupil would stand before the class and recite a prayer.

One day my daughter, a first grade student, came home and said, “Well I got even today. Every day they say Protestant prayers, so today it was my turn and I made the sign of the cross and said the Hail Mary.” I managed to keep a straight face, and explained to her that God listened to all prayers, that a prayer was never said to “get even.”

I think about that day often lately, listening to the pious trumpeting about the need for prayer in school. They had prayer in school at that time, but they employed teachers who, in many instances, were not licensed to teach but were temporary hires who often taught for years at a time because of teacher shortages.

Let’s get our priorities straight and try to spend enough time with our children to teach morality at home, and teach the courses needed for a decent education at school, preferably with the best teachers we can get.

JANE ZIMMERMAN

Newbury Park