Posted on 03/07/2007 7:48:42 AM PST by csistrueblue
12 Washington State High School Students Suspended for Public Prayer Group
By Gudrun Schultz
VANCOUVER, Washington, March 6, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A number of students who formed an interdenominational prayer group at a Washington state high school were expelled by the administration last week over their refusal to hold a morning prayer session in a closed room, The Columbian reported March 2.
Twelve students at Heritage High School in Vancouver, WA, were suspended last Friday after continuing to meet for morning prayer in the commons area of the school, despite a faculty order that they stop causing physical "disruption" to student traffic with public prayer.
To express concerns, contact:
Heritage High School 7825 NE 130th Avenue, Vancouver, WA 98682
Phone: (360) 604-3400
Principal: Anne Sosky asosky@egreen.wednet.edu
That, and I don't think it helped matters for Megan to refer to students who complained as 'pagans.' I read the whole piece and evidently a prayer group that met on the sidewalk in front of the school was okay as they weren't on school property - maybe it's an easement...?
Ummm... you appear to have pasted this quote on the wrong thread.
Or the ski club, or the chess club... heck, lets have all the clubs meet in the middle of the commons and try to out-shout each other.
I think it'd be simpler if we just had kids going to school to go to class and not make it a springboard to every hobby or interest people might have, but the offer of using classrooms, not the commons, for group gatherings seems a reasonable one.
>>Ummm... you appear to have pasted this quote on the wrong thread.<<
Yeah, what would a Raper be doing with a daughter. Maybe a Rapper...
Your caution is well taken. Reasonable restrictions on time place and manner are permissible.
Let's not Freep. These students were offered a room to pray in but that wasn't enough for them. They had to disrupt traffic and disturb others, all in the name of prayer. If all they wanted to do was pray, they clearly could have used the room that was offered. But no, they obviously wanted to proselytize by this public prayer spectacle they were offering up. What was it that Jesus said about those who pray in public?
There is case law which states student groups are allowed to have student lead prayers in the public areas.
The students in the case were meeting at the flag pole to pray.
If they were blocking the hall then they have a problem, however if they were meeting in a commons area where OTHER student groups are allowed to meet in the same manner then the school's case is DOA.
I'm not convinced it was a traffic flow issue.
It is POSSIBLY an issue of wanting to shove the Christians behind closed doors while other groups can meet at will in the cafeteria/commons area.
If they were blocking traffic--fine--a reasonable issue.
If they were meeting in a corner of a large public room and the administration wanted them unseen behind closed doors while other groups are allowed in the public space, that's NOT FINE.
actually if you read THOUGHT the reporter spin of the school board it sounds like they were JUST VISIBLE to other students.
Essentially the school is complaining the gathering was causing rubbernecking.
If the homosexual sex club was having a hump in in the common area, rubbernecking would be made mandatory by the administration.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the right to avoid being offended . . . RAHHHHHHHGHT.
GRRRRRRR. Methinks that's the issue here.
Okay, if you are right and they were offered a room, that's fine, but even if they were doing it to make a point, after reading a few comments on this post, I do believe their point has now made. They are showing the hypocrisy of their fellow men.
Have you ever been shopping at a mall or better yet Costco and have people standing in the middle of an aisle with cart in tow and chit chatting to their friends while you are trying to get to an item. This is okay...because? I think we also know are news media, so just how much of this story is true?
The only question here is whether other groups have been allowed to "block traffic" by holding meetings in the commons area. If other groups can do ot, so can the prayer group; if other groups are also required to meet in other rooms, then the prayer group should be required to do the same.
We don't have much info about the layout of the room and surrounding areas, nor about the size of the group, but unless it's a very large group in a very small space, or the group is deliberately planting itself in the middle of the main path through the room (seems unikely), then the "blocking traffic" explanation seems a bit contrived. I wonder if it IS a very large group, and has only been offered alternative rooms that are not large enough for the group and/or would be so crowded as to discourage any additional students from joining.
Let's get more info before deciding whether or not to freep. They may have been offered a room that was too small to accommodate the group or allow for any growth at all. Or they may have been offered a room in a very remote location, which would have tended to discourage participation, while "politically correct" groups get the convenient spaces. How large is this group, and is it posing a legitimate hazard in the event an emergency evacuation of the school is needed, and to a degree not posed by any other groups that have been allowed to continue their activities?
We don't have much info about the layout of the room and surrounding areas, nor about the size of the group, but unless it's a very large group in a very small space, or the group is deliberately planting itself in the middle of the main path through the room (seems unikely), then the "blocking traffic" explanation seems a bit contrived. I wonder if it IS a very large group, and has only been offered alternative rooms that are not large enough for the group and/or would be so crowded as to discourage any additional students from joining.
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MUCH AGREE.
Uh, you said neither shouting ~nor~ shooting, from what I can see. I'm not quite sure why you're all flipped out on me. I don't think I've said anything all that controversial. Perhaps you've got me confused with someone else?
If a school official actually said that, the school's case is DOA. No doubt there are plenty of things going in public areas of the school that the prayer group kids find offensive.
Why was it so important for that group to pray in a public corridor instead of in private? I think we all know the answer to that question.
No one gets suspended because they pray. This is a story of some kids who chose to defy a legitimate request by administrators to not disrupt other students," Bill Bentley said. Administrators had offered a classroom for the students' use, to ensure other students were not offended and the group did not obstruct traffic.
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