Is prayer allowed in public schools?
The old joke in the US is that as long as there are tests there will be prayer in school. :pI live in the most conservative and religious region in the US. Every school I know of has a Christian student's association. This group holds prayer before or after school. The students direct the prayers. Teachers can participate but they don't lead prayers. Also, local church groups sponsor or co-sponsor charity activities on campus (food drives, blood collection, etc.) and are allowed to announce activities for kids at the churches via the administration if they are board approved as school related, ie prayer breakfasts organized by the student association before school hours, after hours alcohol free events for homecoming and prom, etc..
Why should prayer not be allowed in schools?
I remember back when I was in jr. high school; one morning we were told that we would no longer be beginning the school day with a bible reading and prayer during homeroom.My school was in a smallish town in the Deep South, where 95% (more or less) of the population were distantly related to each other and professed to be some sect of Protestantism or other: Mostly Baptists and Methodists, it seemed to me.I remember my homeroom teacher being very, very upset at this new rule; he explained in angry tones that the school administration was told that the government had decided that reading from the Bible in public schools was unlawful because it discriminated against those of other faiths.As we left for our first period class I spoke with my teacher about it, I thought I had come up with a great idea!I asked him, “Well, what if each day we use a different religious prayer until they’re all covered? Monday: Protestant, Tuesday: Hindu, Wednesday: Jewish, etc.?”My homeroom teacher was NOT happy with my idea. He seemed to think I was being a smart-mouth but I was being sincere. I didn't understand that I was suggesting comparative religious studies for 8th graders. Shocking notion!I didn't understand at the time that it's not OK for our government to promote belief in any particular religion, so as a government-run, taxpayer-funded public school, prayer of any type could no longer be part of the school curriculum.The growth of privately-funded religious schools was probably directly caused by that new law.I guess I was a budding atheist even back that far, because I had no sense that what I was suggesting was “disloyal” to my parents’ and the school’s generic and tepid Protestant religious beliefs.
Should prayer be allowed in public school?
The whole idea of separation of Church and State has been stolen by the secular progressives on the far left...The founders' intent was not to restrict individual prayer, but to prevent a state sponsored religion. Anyone who has ever had a mid-term knows full well that prayers happen every day in schools. The real problem is that societally we have come to believe that it is better to silence millions than to 'offend' even one. For the same reason, there are idiot all over this great land who want to change our language, to eliminate any word which contains the letters m-a-n because it's 'insensitive to women, and those who insist on changing the name of every school sports team because a handful of Indians make a fuss. We should, instead, tell these people to deal with it and let individual freedom ring across the land once again.
Should prayer be allowed in public schools?
So do you think you should be allowed to pray in school whether by yourself or the teacher leading you? My own opinion is that we should be allowed to pray out loud and not get yelled at for it. My best friend was put in a separate class u go in when u have done something very bad but can't go home because she was praying over her food before she ate at lunch.THE TEACHER STARTED YELLING AT HER!!! I think she did the right thing by suing the school. That was just wrong if she wanted to pray LET HER PRAY!! My friend changed school because of this. I think whether your a Satanism person or a Christian or a Wicca you should be able to go pray to your GOD!!! I think the teachers need to go away AND let us pray if that's what we want to do! But tell me what you think whether u agree or not...
Is school endorsed prayer allowed in Charter schools?
Charter schools are a form of public school, so the court-imposed restrictions on school-led prayer apply. The government, in the form of the school administration, cannot “establish religion”.Student-led prayer is of course permissible at any public school, and the government in the form of the school administration cannot “prohibit the free exercise” of religion, so long as it is done in a way that is not disruptive of the school environment.A charter school, like any public school, can choose to “push the limits,” perhaps even to challenge previous court rulings or to try an avenue not considered by any previous court case. This is the nature of federalism, where local elected officials can act on behalf of their constituents to challenge national norms. Sometimes they win. Other times, not.
Do you think that prayer in public schools is permitted or disallowed?
It should not be allowed in a public school. The First Amendment says: "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" An official time to pray in a public school means that kids who don't believe are subjected to an officially sanction time to pray, which goes against their beliefs. And the school can't take the time to separate all the kids into separate groups for each belief - it would cost them valuable time that they need for their curriculum. If parents want their kids to have a grounding in religion, they should take that on themselves, either by teaching the kids themselves, sending them to a parochial school, or sending them to a religious education program.
Why is it illegal to pray in public school?
In the US, it's not illegal to pray in public school, it's just illegal for public schools to lead students in prayer. Our government is not allowed to tell schoolkids when and how to pray.