The Words of a Child

Today my two little sisters had Christmas parties in their schools. Both my mom and I went so that we could take turns in each of the girls classrooms. Right next to where we parked their was a tree that was decorated with random ornaments and garland. Before we got out of the car I was making jokes with my mom about the fact that there were Christmas decorations outside of a school. I said that according to the law there is to be a separation of Church and State and in the word Christmas is the word Christ, therefore technically they were breaking their own rule. After we got out of the car I read the sign that was on the ground next to the tree I felt so guilty for making jokes. The sign read that each of the ornaments were for each of the victims of the Newtown shootings.

Hanging my head, I walked into the school. While walking down the walls I looked all around at the bright colors everywhere. Hanging on the walls were the art work of every single student. I turned to my mom and commented on how happy elementary schools are and she said exactly. I was, for the first time in full realization of just how devastating and sick, this horrible tragedy was. The news cannot help us fully grasp what this horrific event looked like. We can hear the stories on the news but to see the same type of setting that the gunman faced when he walked into the halls of the school made it that much worse. The cold feeling that washed over my body was horrible, but it brought everything full circle when I realized that the one important thing that those halls are missing, is God.

He is not allowed in schools and without Him things are not getting better. This latest tragedy is added to a long list of terrible events that have, and will continue to occur in places where God is forbidden. A few years ago I attempted to write a thesis paper on schools not allowing God in, but that paper was pulled and I was not permitted to complete it. I know you are probably thinking that I should have fought it, but at the time I was young and too scared to push the rules. However, while I was researching I found this poem that was relevant then and relevant now. It was written by a teenager in Arizona but that teenager remains unnamed.

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd. 

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice. 

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,

And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.

It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,

Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:

Should I be shot; My soul please take!

Amen

This poem is blunt but it expresses what needs to be heard by those leading our schools. I am not here to 

fight with anyone, rather to give my opinion and share the words of a child that told us all something that we 

and others need to hear.