Religion in Schools

Teaching about religion is important and necessary if public schools are to provide students with a complete education. Much of history, art, music, literature and contemporary life is unintelligible without an understanding of the major religious ideas and influences that have shaped history and culture throughout the world. America is no longer a Christian nation as the constitution says it is. It is a melting pot of people of all faiths and a growing number of people who indicate no religious preference. New populations of Muslims, Buddhists and many other religious and ethnic groups are entering schools throughout the nation. Because of the differences and prejudices that occur when discussing faith, it is important to teach students to learn to respect

9/11 response

The documentary we watched in class was the best film displaying the terror of September 11th, 2001 that I have seen up to this point in time. It brought back a lot of memories and emotions.  I am able to recall exactly what happened on that morning when the World Trade Center was destroyed. I remember being in my parents bedroom before school started and flipping through the channels on the tv in order to find cartoons. It seemed as if every channel I flipped through that morning was showing the terrorist attack. At the time I didn't realize the significance of the World Trade Center being destroyed, and nobody was home to explain to me what was going on. In class that morning we were told what had happened and what it meant. I remember the moment of silence the class took as we silently prayed and honored the peoples lives that were lost. After school ended I remember walking home and seeing my mom coming to meet me on the road that led to our house. She comforted me and did her best to explain as well. She was very rattled by the events.  At the time I only understood to a certain extent what had happened. When you are in third grade I think it's hard to fully understand the "big picture" of what this meant. At the time it was such a confusing and scary subject. The film I saw in class showed images and recordings of things I had never seen. One of the most powerful and dark recordings in the movie was when the wave of smoke came through the streets. It was like something out of Inception. It's just amazing and terrifying at the same time. The documentary showed the strength and unity of New Yorkers. People of all different backgrounds and cultures came together to help. This was there city, and the people that died were their people. I'm always interested in seeing what the children in New York had to say about the attack. What stood out to me was the intelligence of the kids and the pure anger and hatred they had for the people responsible. One child, although very young, was really well spoken and said that whoever is responsible needs to be caught and killed. It was just such an emotional and frightening time. The movie gave me a chance to see footage of September 11, 2001 that I had never seen before. The emotions and people shown in the film, remind me of how angry 9/11 makes me.

Speech Codes....whats the deal?

  Speech codes in universities are a neccesity. They provide clear rules on what is expected from the students to provide a safe and distraction free environment for learning. Although it does hinder your first amendment rights, it is important for the schools to provide a environment where the students paying money to attend do not have to feel threatened and out of place.  I agree with the basic idea of speech codes, because if I were to be in a situation where a group of students at school were harassing me, I would want the speech codes to prohibit this type of behavior. But the problem that comes along with speech codes is that every institution has their specific rules that they enforce. For instance at Deerfield high school we are not aloud to give people the stink eye. Some schools take these rules to a new level and then they just become stupid and are begging for people to break them. The idea of speech codes is good, but some of the codes and restrictions that come along with them are idiotic. At some point people need to stop being protected by a few stupid rules and get introduced to the real world. Because beyond learning institutions people are not going to have the luxury of certain speech codes any longer. The Fent has spoken.