Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 16, 1995 TAG: 9506170012
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY ISAKSSON-KAYLOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I taught at a needy Roanoke city elementary school this past year. Because there is low-cost housing in the area, many of the children come from homes in transition. Often, their families are under incredible stress. Some families end up in communities like this because of alcohol and drugs. Many live in poor areas because of financial difficulties caused by a spouse's death, by divorce or by a parent's decision to go back to college. No matter what the reason, the lives of these children are hard.
It is difficult for the bureaucracy of the federal- and state-funded school system to respond. The main solution now is to have school guidance counselors. But guidance counselors have almost insurmountable obstacles to deal with: mounds of paperwork, responsibilities concerning special students, liability fears, and restrictions as to what philosophies and religions they may discuss. These circumstances mean that counselors have little time and not enough tools to truly help children in need.
In a school like the one I taught in, there are the additional problems that come from poverty and disorder. Counselors and teachers constantly deal with the aggression and depression of children who are stressed, hungry, mourning and sometimes even abused.
One solution to this problem would be to hire more guidance counselors per student at schools in need. However, this solution would be very expensive. Also, the counselors would still be caught in the bureaucracy, worried about lawsuits and limited in the philosophies that they could share.
I believe a wonderful, cost-efficient and loving solution would be to allow local churches to provide free chaplains to public schools.
The first argument against this idea would probably be that it would mix church and state. We need to realize, however, that the absence of God in our schools is just as much a philosophical position as any religion. Furthermore, it is an illogical and misguided conclusion that we must purge schools of all religion. People in public hospitals can turn to chaplains. Soldiers in the U.S. Army have chaplains. The government even allows federal prisons to be served by chaplains. Don't our innocent, young children deserve a chaplain at least as much as a prisoner does?
In addition to the church-state problem, there would be logistical difficulties. Which religions would be represented? How would parents give and deny permission for their children to see a chaplain? How could we make sure that chaplains would not have an unfair influence over the children? What limitations, if any, would we put on what they say about controversial topics? These issues could be resolved. And to resolve them would not take a lot of money, which the schools do not have. Instead it would take community input, parent choices and problem solving.
In many ways, our fear of mixing church and state has turned our schools into lonely, confusing places for children. They do not feel the love and support that spiritual communities provide.
Worse yet, our nation's schools have become moral voids. At the young age when children need to be taught values and morals, we stick them in a place with no God and no philosophy for six hours a day. When we put children in an environment like this one, how can we then blame parents for their children's lack of values?
Many of my students have parents who take them to church or temple. Many of them talk about God, sing religious songs at recess, and pray at home. These children must be rather confused to find themselves in a place where a posted set of rules and the threat of punishment is the only reason given not to hit, not to steal and not to disrespect their elders.
Until a program like this one could be developed, think about what you could do to help. If you love God and love children, think about volunteering at a troubled school. A hug from a good person could go a long way toward teaching our children the way of love and kindness.
Kimberly Isaksson-Kaylor, of Troutville, has taught first grade in the Roanoke city schools.
by CNB