
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 19, 1990                   TAG: 9006190492
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

CLERGY: KIDS NEED VALUES IN SCHOOL

An interfaith group of religious leaders called today for a renewed effort to teach children common moral values in school, "apart from the context of a specific faith."

"Children lack fundamental values - like honesty, integrity, tolerance, loyalty and belief in human worth and dignity," the National Council of Catholic Bishops and the Synagogue Council of America said in a joint statement.

"All of these values are grounded in our respective religious traditions, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, much of the world's great literature and ethical business practices," the statement said.

The two groups said their unprecedented cooperative statement was prompted by a rash of problems besetting American youth: from drug addiction, depression, suicide, crime, alienation and AIDS to academic failure, emotional illness, teen pregnancy, alcoholism, intolerance and violence.

"In our society, parents can use all the help they can get," the rabbis and bishops said. "Therefore, it is urgent that there be a national effort to implement moral public education in our schools."

The religious leaders condemned what they called a growing reluctance to teach fundamental values in the public school system for fear of indoctrinating children with religious beliefs.

by CNB