Posted by Hunter [12.255.181.7 - 12-255-181-7.client.attbi.com] on 19 July 2002 at 19.58.09 ZuluTime:

In Reply to: one nation underwhelming posted by Andy on 19 July 2002 at 01.24.47 ZuluTime:

It's not a matter of prohibiting the free exercise of religion in schools. Having 'one nation, under god' prohibits it rather blatantly, in fact -- particularly in larger, more diverse schools. In any one homeroom you can have Buddhists, Taoists, Muslims, Jews, and any number of other religions, along with atheists. Simply having 'one nation, under god' causes a restriction of free exercise of religion by requiring them to adhere to another form of belief [or any belief at all] by way of the pledge.
     The pledge, as it used to be, was just fine. "I pledge alliegance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
     What other crap is going on in schools, though? Christians trying to push science off the curriculum, and replace it with "Creation"? More religious restriction.
     If ANY religion is to be taught, then they all need to be taught. This nation, after all, claims to be a place of equality.
     There's not a whole hell of a lot going on in schools, otherwise. Nothing new, anyway. Or were you talking about the 'recent rash of Columbine-style school violence'?

This is from a report on the 96-7 school year:

For every 100,000 public school students, 26 attacks or fights with a weapon, 17 robberies, and 10 rapes occurred at school (table 10). These represented the serious violent crimes for which the survey collected data. More frequently reported were the less serious or nonviolent crimes including 444 attacks or fights without a weapon, 274 incidents of theft or larceny, and 234 incidents of vandalism per 100,000 students in public schools.

Elementary schools, which reported proportionately fewer incidents of serious violent crime in general, reported lower rates of both physical attacks or fights in which weapons were used and rape or other type of sexual battery than middle and high schools. Differences between elementary schools and high schools were also found in the rate at which robbery was reported, although no difference was found between elementary and middle schools for this crime. Physical attacks or fights in which weapons were used were almost 7 times more frequent in middle and high schools than in elementary schools. While there were 7 physical attacks or fights with a weapon per 100,000 students in elementary schools, the rate was 49 per 100,00 middle school students and 46 per 100,000 high school students. Rapes or other types of sexual battery were reported in middle and high schools at about the same rate, with 17 per 100,000 students in middle schools and 18 per 100,000 in high schools, as compared to the 3 rapes or other type of sexual battery per 100,000 students reported in elementary schools.

Of the less serious or nonviolent crimes (vandalism, physical attacks or fights without a weapon, and theft or larceny), the ratio at which all three crimes occurred was more frequent in middle and high schools than in elementary schools. Physical attacks or fights without a weapon were the number one crime in both middle schools and high schools, followed by theft and vandalism.

I used to have a PDF that outlined every attack from the mid eighties, but I no longer seem to have it. Oddly, violence appeared much more frequently prior to the dreaded 'Columbine Incident'.
     Really, though, if you want your kid to go to a school where they can 'freely exercise' the Christian religion and ONLY the Christian Religion...send them to a Christian school. But don't think that religous-based schools are free of violence. Williamsport, PA, 7 March 2001: Elizabeth Catherine Bush, 14, wounded student Kimberly Marchese in the cafeteria of Bishop Neumann High School; she was depressed and frequently teased.
     Anyway....
     My basic point is: the public education system is no place for 'God', whichever 'God' it may be. Keep it to yourself.