Students may be starting each school day next year with a moment of silence if their district used the guidelines created with the help of Senator Tom Briese. Briese introduced legislative bill 141, titled “Require the State Department of Education to provide guidance to school districts relating to a moment of silence in schools.” It basically means that students, staff, and faculty members would have a moment of silence at some point during the school day, if their district adopted a policy for one.  

“Studies have shown that a moment of quiet reflection during the school day has numerous benefits for students, including reductions in bullying, more self-discipline, and better behavior,” Briese said in an email interview. “I believe that the guidelines which could come from the department of education would be good for school districts to have, to ensure that nobody feels that a district’s moment of silence would come close to encouraging prayer.”

Briese added, “I do not necessarily believe that a moment of silence should be mandatory,” and “it would still be left up to individual districts to choose to adopt a moment of silence policy.”

Junior Dalton Heller, who frequently delivers the school announcements over the intercom, said he felt that the bill wasn’t needed.

“People would rather get on with their day than have a moment of silence,” Heller said. “I feel like it would be awkward and people wouldn’t exactly care for it,” he added.

“I think for some it could be beneficial, but I feel like a lot of kids would probably be distracted and use it for other things rather than actually using it for a moment of silence,” junior Ariel Mass said.

Patriot yoga instructor Meryl Zadina presented a different perspective on LB 141.

“Not everyone would use it, but many would,” she said. “Taking moments to stop and breathe, whether this be a meditation practice, breathwork, or a silent prayer, is healthy and beneficial to our brains,” Zadina said. “Moments of intentional silence allows our sympathetic nervous system to calm down. Over time, practicing quiet and stillness will increase our memory, attention, and emotional control.”

The meditation specialist explained how having some practice similar to the bill’s provisions would have benefited her in her earlier years.

“I didn’t learn mindfulness practices until I sought them out in adulthood,” Zadina said. “I believe that I would have experienced much less mental and emotional suffering in my past if I had known as a young person how to help myself in the ways that I do now.” 

Zadina also described how her students and learning environment could be affected if the bill were to pass.

“I think that this would allow students a moment to regulate themselves. They would be given an opportunity to focus on whatever is on their mind, and this intentional mental processing time will help them to cognitively work through stress and emotions,” she said. “Students are expected to be “on” all day at school; they could feel fresh and ready for learning throughout the day if they were given an opportunity to reset at some point.” She added, “I can’t help but think that this could potentially reduce behavioral issues in the classroom, as there would be less emotional outbreaks or reactions from people who had time to become aware of their feelings.”

If the bill were passed, the issue of getting students to actually participate in the moment of silence would have to be resolved.

Heller stated that if the moment of silence was implemented into a school day, “students would just start talking.”

Zadina shared similar feelings.

“It would be completely pointless and a waste of our valuable learning time during the school day if people ignored it or got on their phones during this time,” she said. “It has to be intentional and supported by all to get the full value of it.”

Mass also added, “It’s beneficial in theory, but I feel like if we implemented it, it would be hard.”