What Is Prayer In Public Schools

Religion is one of the most controversial issues in society today. The concern of allowing prayer in schools is an on-going debate and has resulted in numerous lawsuits. Religious school clubs, after school activities, curriculums, and moments of silence during school are just a few of the court cases that judges have administered. People in favor of prayer in schools believe that their children can only learn certain values through religious practice. On the other hand, an individual against religious practice in schools views this issue as an infringement on his or her children’s rights as Americans.

important decision was the Engel v. Vitale case in 1962 which said that it was

Another issue has been the banning of public prayer in schools. It was decided that public prayer should be outlawed in the Supreme Court case Engel v. Vitale. (Schlafly et al. 150) Some people could understand this as it is not right to make prayer mandatory in school, when there are people who don’t believe in any religion. What might get some people is what was decided in 1962 by the Supreme Court,”… even a voluntary, non-denominational school prayer led by a public school official violated the Establishment Clause of the First Ammendment.” (Merino 8) Many people might wonder why prayer in school, if held on a voluntary basis, is bad. Why shouldn’t the kids who want to participate in prayer at school not be allowed to? One reason could be that the school officials don’t want to put a target on kid’s backs. For example, if everyone but one kid did partake in prayer that kid may get bullied or questioned or at the very least feel left out. The same could be true if only one kid went to prayer, that child could feel targeted and awkward. Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, which took place in 2000, decided that any individual could pray at

This essay is composed of facts supporting that prayer in Public Schools would be beneficial for the children and the United States of America. Prayer is an address to God or a god in word or thoughts. The Anti- Defamation League states that, “A moment of silence will inevitably be unconstitutional or the purpose and effect of such moments of silence are invariably to advance religion. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down requiring a moment of silence which students could use for silent prayer or meditation because it was enacted for the purpose of advancing religion. The Supreme Court has not determined if a moment of silence can ever be

Prayer should be recited only in the privacy of one’s own head or home. To allow individual prayer at one’s own choice is legal. To mandate standard prayer is illegal. The good thing about this is one can choose to pray, or not, to whatever God they choose. Therefore someone praying to Allah, Buddha, or Satan cannot require a Christian or a Jew to participate. Atheists have the right to choose not to participate. A teacher or a government official cannot stop someone from praying silently. Public schools are for all children, regardless of their race, sex, or religion. Schools are supported by all taxpayers. The U.S. Supreme Court has replaced freedom of religion, guaranteed by the Constitution, for freedom from religion. To ban school prayer diminishes the religious freedom of students who would like to pray and forces them to act according to the dictates of a non-religious minority. School prayer would result in many societal benefits. The public school system is tragically disintegrating as evidenced by the rise in school shootings, increasing drug use, alcoholism, teen pregnancy, and HIV transmission. School prayer can help combat these issues, would instill a sense of morality and is desperately needed to protect our children.

Those who are for prayer being allowed in public schools believe that it is illegal to prohibit students from doing so. Many will argue that it is a violation of student 's right to not allow them pray during school hours. For instance, “The new law requires public schools to develop policies that will allow students to pray

Research has found that there is a correlation between those that feel the federal government is too powerful and those that would agree that prayer should be allowed in school. On the flip side to that those that feel the government does not have enough power and tend to disagree with pear being allowed in school. Based off articles researched and statistics gathered as well summarized it can be determined that those that are of the conservative and or republican party tend to feel that the government should not have a say in prayer in school. This may be because of religious preference or their belief that government should not have enough power to interfere in the religious beliefs of citizens. The flipside to that is that those on the

The issue of school prayer is not one of religious freedom, as it is already legal for children to pray in school, either individually or in groups. Since the Engel decision in 1962, religious advocates have been assailing the Supreme Court for "taking God out of the classroom." In an effort to reverse this trend, conservative religious groups have been fighting for the passage of a school prayer amendment to gain greater leeway for religious activities in schools.

Schools nowadays you aren’t even allowed to talk about religion or politics in class because it could “disrespect others” in some places students are no longer required to stand for the pledge of allegiance which can be offending to other students in the area. Have prayer put back in school will allow students to take their time and for others to respect their wishes to pray, and whether or not they wish to participate in prayer time is up to them, but it allows the other students a silent time where they are not shunned or told they aren’t allowed to respect their religion by prayer during school

The public school system should allow students, all across the United States of America, to express themselves freely whenever they would like. Most Americans support the idea of allowing students to pray during school. In the year 2001, 66% of Americans voted that they favor the idea of prayer during school; however, 34% opposed the idea of praying during school. In the year 2014, 61% of Americans voted that they support the idea of praying during school; however, 37% oppose the idea of prayer during school. Pottsboro Independent School District should allow students to pray in school, for it allows students to become who they want to become, to possess the freedom of religion at school, and to practice their religion whenever they remain called to by doctrine.

School is not the same as when I was growing up. We prayed, we said our pledge of allegiance and most of all God was talked about freely in schools. Times have changed. A lot of people do not agree with prayer in the school system. People give a lot of different reasons on why they do not agree such as respecting everyone’s culture and beliefs. I do not agree with totally removing prayer from the school. I believe there is a way to respect every culture and still have prayer in our schools.

America is land based on freedoms; one of those is freedom of religion. However, in today’s school system that freedom is not allowed, because prayer is banned from schools. This is an injustice to American people who prefer to patriciate in prayer before a decision is made, tests are taken, games are played, or any other major event that warrants prayer. Though prayer should not be mandatory it should be available to those who wish to pray.

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . “ I believe that people should be allowed to pray anywhere if they so choose, including in school. Putting prayer back into schools is the best decision for students and society. Freedom of religion is a right that is given to all American citizens and should not be taken away. This great country has given the gift of religious tolerance, and people from other countries envy it. Putting these values back in place will help change our society, laying a foundation for better principles and morals than that of today’s culture, and reducing violence in our society. Prayer in school is a choice that should be tolerated, and not forced upon anyone. Those who choose to pray should not have that right taken away and those who choose not to pray shouldn’t be coerced into it by others.

Religion in Schools has proven to be a very controversial matter as of lately. Even though teaching about religion is allowed in public schools, there are still many questions that are being asked in order to provide a basis of what is appropriate for school, and what is inappropriate. The first amendment to the United States Constitution says that 'congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof' which implies that you have the choice of exercising your own religion, no matter what it may be. However, this poses an interesting argument within the public schools of America because we have such a diverse population with

    Many public schools do not approve of prayer in the populated, student-filled environment.  The definition of prayer is” a devout petition to God or an object of worship”(Dictionary).  While private schools are capable of creating their own rules an regulations regarding religious practices such as prayer, public schools, as they are regulated by the state and federal government, are not able to create these regulations on their own.  This creates the argument of whether or not public display of religious practices such as prayer should be legalized by state as well as national school board agencies.  Although Prayer has many benefits, it is still a choice; Prayer is not forced, it’s an individual choice, and the First Amendment states freedom of religion.