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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, January 11, 1993                   TAG: 9301120389
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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BOARD'S `LESSON' MAY STYMIE GROWTH

AS A TEACHER in Montgomery County, I am upset by adults who insist upon their "right" to inflict their religious views on other people's children. We encourage our schools to impart such values as the importance of homework and acceptable behavior. How can we expect children to distinguish between these appropriate exercises of authority and the transmission of the religious practices of one group, with which they are bombarded subliminally and overtly?

Leaving aside issues of morality and legality, as the Board of Supervisors appears to have done, there are other considerations. We live in an area in which tourism is an important industry. Our economic growth depends on attracting outside businesses and trading internationally. How can we prepare our students to participate in a global economy and international society? Not by teaching them that anyone whose beliefs and cultural background differs from our own is unworthy of consideration.

Finally, we do our young people a disservice by demonstrating that a governmental body may disobey basic laws of our nation because of personal preference. The protections guaranteed by the Bill of Rights were not intended to be subject to the whims of local popularity contests. BARBARA C. GREENBERG RADFORD

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