"The American Civil Liberties Union has been creating quite a noise about Virginia's moment of silence.

The moment of silence law, which requires all schools in Virginia to begin each day with a minute of silence, passed the General Assembly this spring and went into effect statewide July 1.

The law is being challenged by the ACLU as unconstitutional.

On Aug. 31, U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton refused the ACLU's request for a temporary injunction to remove the mandatory minute of silence until a ruling is reached in the pending suit about the constitutionality of the law. Discussion in the lawsuit began Monday .

'Letting students have a quiet minute before launching into their studies is consistent with constitutional guarantees of religious liberty,' said Attorney General Mark Earley in a press release.

'And it helps create a better environment for learning,' he said.

Kent Willis, executive director of the Virginia ACLU, explained the civil liberties organization's grounds for lawsuit in an interview Sept. 6.

'The Virginia General Assembly passed a law that intended to be used to promote organized prayer in public schools,' Willis said.

The director cited legislative discussion and early draft of the law as evidence of the lawmakers' intent. He also noted that the law mentions prayer as an option for students during the silent minute.

The law states that the purpose of the minute of silence is 'that the right of every pupil to the free exercise of religion be guaranteed within the schools.'

Willis said the ACLU fears that the moment of silence will lead to teachers organizing and requiring prayer in the classrooms.

'That would cause students with minority religions, those in majority religions who don't pray publicly or those with no religion at all, to feel marginalized or alienated,' Wiffis said.

'That should not happen in our public schools.'

Earley disagrees.

'There is nothing to fear from a classroom of silent, thoughtful students,' he said.

The law does not allow teachers to lead oral prayer. It requires teachers to ensure thatstudents remain silent 'and make no distracting display ... that each pupil may, in the exercise of his or her individual choice, mediate, pray or engage in any other silent activity which does not interfere with, distract or impede other pupils in the like exercise of individual choice.'

Local school systems across the state have been instructed by the Virginia Department of Education to leave the word 'prayer' out of the daily announcements by teachers or principals that initiate the moment of silence.

Observing the minute of silence in a biology classroom at Charlottesville High School Sept. 7 was anything but an organized (or even a disorganized) religious experience.

'Let us pause for a minute of silence,' said principal Bobby Thompson over the loudspeaker, initiating the observance.

One student admired her zebra-striped nails, while another put the finishing touches on homework.

Most of the 24 students in the classroom stared around the room, doodled on notepads, or read silently. One girl had her head bowed and appeared to be praying.

After 60 seconds, a long and silent 60 seconds, the voice of principal Thompson came back on the speaker saying 'thank you,' and the teacher began explaining the day's laboratory experiment.

'I just sit here,' said 10th grader Melanie Pond.

Pond said that when she went to elementary school, there was a moment of silence there, too.

'I think it's a good idea,' she said. 'It's a time for everyone to think about what they're going to do for that day.'

Thompson agreed.

'It's a very good way to start the day,' he said. 'The whole school is silent. It sets the tone for the day and calms everything down.'

Thompson said he has not received any complaints about the minute of silence.

At the Charlottesville School Board meeting Sept. 7, Assistant Superintendent Ron Hutchinson said that there have been no incidences of students walking out to protest and that the moment of silence is in place in all of the schools, in accordance with the new law" (The Observer, September 13, 2000).