ID

Last Thursday in Participation in Government, I presented to the entire class my assigned Supreme Court case, which was Good News Club v. Milford Central School. I actually enjoyed researching this case.
The case was primarily about a dispute between whether or not a private religious program should be allowed to use Milford Central school’s facilities after school. Milford Central school denied the Club from using its facilities because they feared that by allowing the Club to use it’s facilities they were violating the Establishment Clause. The school also believed that the Club was clearly trying to convert younger kids into Christianity.
The Club believed that the school was simply violating their 1st and 4th amendment, which protected their freedom of speech and their equal protection under the law. They also argued that the Club’s purpose is not to convert children into Christianity but to guide and teach the kids into good morals.
Ultimately, after the very long process that moved up to the Supreme Court, the final verdict was for Good News Club. This case set a precedent that now allows religious programs to use school facilities without discrimination.
As I read more about the Good News Club, I realized how similar this organization is to Yogi Bear, which is also a program that promotes Christianity typically in project areas. This reminded me of when I used to attend this “event” of some sorts every Friday, right downstairs from the projects I live in. They would always award the children with some type of candy or item that would serve as an incentive to praise a god, that these younger kids were not able to make sense of yet. After making the connection between Good News Club and Yogi Bear,the purpose of these groups seemed so wrong to me. It’s as if our children are the indigenous people of America and these religious groups are the colonist; imperializing and stripping our youth from making sense of the world on their own.