A Republican lawmaker in West Virginia has introduced a bill to require a moment of silence at the start of every school day.
The pause as their busy day begins would allow students the opportunity for reflection, prayer, or personal meditation, WV News reported on Thursday, noting that State Sen. Patricia Rucker (R-Jefferson County) introduced Senate Bill 80.
Article two of the bill’s text reads:
In order that the right of every pupil to the free exercise of religion be guaranteed within the schools and that the freedom of each individual pupil be subject to the least possible pressure from the state either to engage in, or to refrain from, religious observation on school grounds, the school board of each county shall establish the daily observance of one minute of silence in each classroom of the county.
During such one-minute period of silence, the teacher responsible for each classroom shall take care that all pupils remain seated and silent and make no distracting display to the end that each pupil may, in the exercise of his or her individual choice, meditate, pray, or engage in any other silent activity which does not interfere with, distract, or impede other pupils in the like exercise of individual choice.
Writing for Chabad.org, Dovid Margolin explained that since the 1980s, many schools have adopted the practice for their students.
He said a rabbi advocating for it during a meeting with the governor of Florida after the Parkland high school shootings noted the voluntary moment “means taking 60 seconds, and saying ‘today, think about what you can do to be a better student. Today, think about what you can do to be a better human being.'”
The WV News report detailed:
Additionally, the legislation assigns the West Virginia Attorney General the responsibility of enforcing the provisions, reinforcing its implementation in schools across the state. If passed, the bill would standardize a daily moment of reflection in West Virginia classrooms, similar to policies in other states.
Meanwhile, public schools in Kentucky may soon be allowed to have the Ten Commandments displayed in their classrooms after State Rep. Richard White (R-Morehead) filed House Bill 116, as Breitbart News reported.
