The sound of the Lord’s Prayer recited over the public address system at the start of each day, has now been replaced with a silence that allows students what’s described as a “Mindful Moment”.
The change took place this new school year at Lindale Elementary School in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. When Dusti Hennenfent got the news on Tuesday, via her children’s school newsletter, she said, “I thought it was terrific.”
“There’s never going to be another child that has to every day identify themselves as a different religion and feel different, or weird, or stand out,”
Hennenfent initiated the change with a letter to the school principal last October. She asked that they drop the Christian prayer for something more inclusive.
She started a petition in support of the change last January. “I’m concerned that it really doesn’t have respect for the individual beliefs of the students,” said Hennenfent. “I don’t understand the purpose of having religious worship for one religion at a public school.” she said at the time.
Under the province of Saskatchewan‘s Education Act, schools are allowed to have mandatory prayers for students, even in public schools. But principal’s are allowed to make changes.
“I thought that this is something that is great for every student there at that school.” she told CBC News. She said over the past year she’d had a lot of support for the change, but there was negative feedback as well. Now she says it was worth it.
“There will never be another child at that school who has to get up and leave their classroom every day. There’s never going to be another child that has to every day identify themselves as a different religion and feel different, or weird, or stand out,” Hennenfent said.
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