Our schools must have the ability to reinforce character. Let me give you a couple of examples. Our culture has gone so out of the way to be nonjudgmental that when the two murderers at Columbine High School made a video about assassinating their fellow students, the teacher who graded the project didn't raise any kind of alarm. Well, some behaviors are simply unacceptable. Teachers ought to say so.
Teachers ought to be able to say so.
We will vote next week to protect teachers from lawsuits so they can denounce unacceptable behavior, discipline wayward students and teach common sense values in the classroom. On the other hand, our cultural elites have succeeded in wiping out all the vestiges of religious belief in the schools. While the courts have said that school officials cannot bring religion into the classroom, students who wish to meet voluntarily to pray or study the Bible should be free to do so. Religion, regardless of denomination or creed, provides an objective standard of right and wrong that can help our children through the dilemmas of youth. We should not discourage any child who seeks these guidelines to a virtuous life.