To the editor:
I'm a retired school teacher having taught for 40 years. I taught both before and after Bible reading and prayer were removed from the school.
There was a different atmosphere in the school after prayer was removed. Students were more difficult to control. Before Bible and prayer were removed, behavior problems included chewing gum, homework not done, shirt tail out, truancy. Today we would call these very minor offenses. After Bible and prayer were removed from the school, problems escalated to more serious infractions: drugs, alcohol, assault on students and teachers, and yes, shootings.
When prayer was removed from the school, some said, "kids were just reciting words and didn't know what they were saying." But the reality is, God honors what we say! The Bible says, "by our words we are justified and by our words we are condemned." Praying what seems like a simple Lord's Prayer is powerful and effective. When anyone prays, "lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil," God does just that! And we really need to be delivered from this horrible evil.
According to Dr. Phil, since the 1970s there have been over 30 shootings in our schools. There are no reports of any shootings in our school before prayer was removed.
Schools have added many frills to the schools program attempting to improve results. The success ratio continues to de-escalate. More money from more programs have failed to bring the desired results. We still don't get it!
It's getting late, but the answer is very simple: only God can heal our land, only God can heal our schools.
Stanley C. Miller
Lewistown
