[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 108 (Wednesday, July 28, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1670-E1671]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RELIGION IN PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS AND SAFE SCHOOLS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 27, 1999

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to have printed in the Record 
statements by high school students from my home State of Vermont, who 
were speaking at my recent town meeting on issues facing young people 
today. I am asking that you please insert these statements in the 
Congressional Record as I believe that the views of these young persons 
will benefit my colleagues.

                    Religion in Public High Schools

     (On behalf of Nathan Loizeaux, Larry Grace and Melissa Tobin)

       Nathan Loizeaux: In opening, we would just like to thank 
     Congressman Bernie Sanders and everybody else who is involved 
     in this to give us a chance to voice our opinion. Thank you.
       We would like to address the subject of religion in the 
     public high school. We believe that our laws need to be 
     reformed or we need new ones, because the existing laws seem 
     to be inadequate at this time. They seem to be very broad, 
     and most high schools that we have attended seem to ignore 
     most of these laws, based on the fact that we are teenagers.
       I would just like to say, in the court case Rosenberg v. 
     Reactor and Visitors of the University of Virginia, the 115th 
     Circuit Court, 25,010, 1995, the court concluded that free 
     speech itself was threatened if religious speech was singled 
     out for different treatment.
       We have found that, in the current high school, public high 
     schools, that religious groups are treated in a different 
     way, and by Vermont and federal government laws, they are 
     required to give us equal rights.
       Larry Grace: At our school, the subject of religion is 
     needed to be addressed, because it is a major issue that 
     concerns us teenagers who have religious beliefs. Since time 
     in our school has past, we have noticed that the public 
     school system is not upholding the state and federal 
     government laws for equal rights for religious groups inside 
     the public school system. The laws are ignored, and the 
     school system gets away with it, because we, as students, 
     don't have the funds to fight back. And there should be new 
     laws or for the current laws to be better enforced, to be 
     instituted. The federal government and state laws require for 
     the public school system to give religious groups inside 
     schools equal rights. We feel they should be the same as 
     nonreligious groups inside the school, allowing them to 
     express their thoughts and beliefs in forms of materials and 
     displays. The public school system is not adhering to these 
     laws of equal rights in a way that we feel the religious 
     groups within the public school are being discriminated 
     against because of what they are.
       Melissa Tobin: If schools allow noncurricular student-led 
     groups to use their facilities for meetings and displays, why 
     couldn't they allow student-led prayer groups to use the 
     facilities in the same way? If a religious group were to put 
     up a display, it may be thought of as forcing a certain 
     religion on fellow students. If another group were to put up 
     a display on sexual preferences, no one would feel that it 
     was forcing their beliefs or preferences. Is the Constitution 
     being violated if schools allow religious symbols and forums 
     within the school building?


     
                                  ____
                              Safe Schools

                (On behalf of Erin Gover and Beth Ziner)

       Erin Gover: This morning I've chosen to talk about a 
     pressing issue, which is educational safety. Lately there 
     have been many occurrences throughout the country that have 
     involved school shootings, most recently the Colorado 
     incident. This topic hits a little too close to home, and if 
     I were to sit here and talk about the many, many aspects of 
     it, it would take valuable time that could be spent solving 
     those problems, so I have chosen to focus on three main 
     things, which are the weapons, the influences of this 
     violence, and the effects of this violence.
       First let's start off with the weaponry. Right now, there 
     are a 192 million handguns in private possession. Think about 
     that for a minute: 192 million. Now, they are not all legal, 
     they don't all have permits. Most come from newspaper ads 
     from, let's say, the Burlington Free Press. And it is not 
     okay. In 1996, there were 9,390 murders involving handguns; 
     in New Zealand, there were 2. What is the real difference 
     between the United States and New Zealand? Sure, there's the 
     distance factor. But are we really that different? They're 
     the same people. And out of those 192 million handguns, there 
     are 280 million people in the United States. That is over 
     half, and that is including children. Where are these guns?

[[Page E1671]]

       And the influences of this violence. The media is not the 
     cause. We want to blame someone, and when I say ``we,'' I 
     mean the human race in general. We want a quick solution, but 
     there really aren't any. We have been doing this for 
     centuries. For example, Hitler and the Jews. He blamed the 
     Jews because he could; that's all. And we are blaming the 
     media for these shootings because we can and it's a quick 
     solution. We need to open our eyes and we can see the warning 
     signs. It goes back to the individual. The problem starts 
     there.
       And the effects of the violence. It is at Colchester High 
     School, and it is not just Littleton, Colorado. It makes 
     people wonder: Could it happen here? Because we have had--as 
     Beth is going to speak about--gun threats and bomb threats, 
     and what's next?
       Solutions to these problems need to be done and need to be 
     done now. There need to be stricter laws, harsher penalties. 
     I don't care if the kid is 7 years old; he still brought a 
     gun to school, and he needs to be made an example of so it 
     doesn't happen again. There needs to be a town meeting or a 
     public forum telling the community members about these 
     warning signs. If parents are going to deny they are there, 
     the need to know.
       One source that I have heard of that had an idea is for 
     students to pick a mentor that they felt comfortable talking 
     to, even if things are good, or bad, even. But the point is, 
     it's their choice, and there's comfort, and it solves the 
     communication problem. Things need to be done so that 
     Colchester, Vermont, doesn't become Littleton, Colorado.
       Thank you.
       Beth Ziner: The problem of gun and bomb threats needs to be 
     recognized and dealt with in a better manner. For the threats 
     appearing at Colchester High School, the school took the 
     following actions. For the bomb threats, school was canceled, 
     lockers were searched, metal detectors were placed in the 
     doors, armed police were stationed in the halls. When the gun 
     threat happened, heightened security became an issue at the 
     school. Everything was the same, except that the police were 
     unarmed. An article from the Times Magazine states that in 
     1996, handguns were used to murder two people in New Zealand, 
     15 in Japan, 30 in Great Britain, 106 in Canada, 213 in 
     Germany, and 9,390 in the United States. We have a problem, 
     and it needs to be recognized.
       The last issue I would like to present is the option of 
     bringing together the state of Vermont. I feel we have had so 
     much negativity in the past few months, something needs to be 
     done. Perhaps a ``Celebrate Life Week'' in the state of 
     Vermont, where there are parades, sales in stores, happenings 
     in theaters, fireworks, and awards given out to people who 
     have done something good in the community.
       Thank you.

       

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