Essay On Prayer In Public Schools

This amendment evidently states that everyone in the United States is entitled to practice the religion of his or her choice and the right to voice his or her opinions. After a careful analysis, the District Court “question[ed] whether the First Amendment impose[d] any barrier to the establishment of an official religion by the state of Alabama” (Wallace V. Jaffree). The District Court considered the First Amendment of the US Constitution as clearly prohibiting the federal government from setting up a state church. Yet, when the First Amendment was ratified, there was no section preventing state governments from establishing a church. The District Court interpreted the First Amendment as emphasizing freedom of religion to all, including in the state of Alabama. Shortly after this analysis, the District Court concluded, “the establishment clause of the first amendment to the United States Constitution does not prohibit the state from establishing a religion” (Wallace V. Jaffree). Thus, the one-minute period of meditation or voluntary prayer in Alabama’s public schools was acceptable because the state was entitled to freedom of religion.

Constitution's First Amendment requirement that the District neither establish religion in the schools nor prohibit students’ free exercise of religion according to pertinent interpretation and application of those constitutional provisions by the courts. Any religious characters need to conform to policy 8800” (Markesan District School, 2013). “Decisions of the United States Supreme Court have made it clear that it is not the province of a public school to advance or inhibit religious beliefs or practices” (Markesan District School, 2015). Under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, this remains the “inviolate province of the individual and the church of his/her choice. The rights of any minority, no matter how small, must be protected. District staff members shall not use prayer, religious readings, or religious symbols as a devotional exercise or in an act of worship or celebration” (20 U.S.C. 4071 et seq.) (Markesan District School, 2015). Having examined the Markesan District School First Amendment related to this topic the next step is to conclude my research on this topic.

Jews, but how does that differ from a small country town in Oklahoma where the

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

Prayer should allowed in the public school system because prayer is an important part of America’s rich spiritual heritage. All throughout the history of America there have been many important documents written of our country that have references to “Almighty God,” “Thy Blessings,” and “Our dependence upon Thee.” These include: the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, the national anthem, and the presidential oath (Haas, 1995, p. 39). In school students always say the pledge, which states, “One Nation Under God.” A prayer says that students just want to ask for a good day and guidance throughout the day. Not only do important documents of our country refer to God but also the words “In God We Trust” are engraved on all coins minted and bills pressed in the United States (1995, p. 39). There are two parts of the American tradition and they are prayer and religion (1995, p. 39). If society keeps prayer out of the public schools, they are teaching the students that traditions are not important and that what this country was founded upon does not matter. Does society want to raise a group of young people to disrespect what their forefathers wanted; religious freedom? If that is the case then why do people try to keep this country working at its prime when trouble occurs? People do not want to see this nation fall but in the end it

Prayer will have a profound effect on the children. Those that are of younger ages will develop an attitude of gratitude because someone taught them to pray. They can be introduced to other gods if they chose to. They will renew the founding fathers’ ideals of what the United States of America was built on as far as God goes. In God we trust. Morals and values have almost disappeared completely in the public schools. David Barton wrote “ The schools have declined since prayer was removed in 1962. Teenage pregnancy rates have gone up 500%. SAT scores have steadily declined each year for 18 straight years since 1962. The United States is rated 15th among the industrialized nations.

Whether or not to have prayer in schools have been discussed since the early twentieth Century. However, citing separation of church and state (which does not appear) in the First Amendment and applying to the state via the Fourteenth Amendment were successful in getting prayer banned from schools through the judicial system.

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

Most individuals on the liberal spectrum tend to agree with the courts when it declared government sponsored prayers are unconstitutional. The less conservative individuals show a tendency to believe that any amendment that allows for voluntary prayer would contradict the first amendment guarantee against government establishment of religion. Most on the liberal spectrum or those that feel the government does not have enough power feel that any sort of Government action to allow voluntary prayer in schools could be at the cost of the civil rights of students. It is believed that any amendment or law consenting for voluntary prayer would diminish the very heart of the Bill of Rights; which protects the rights of people from the oppression from the majority. Those that do not allow or want to allow prayer in school think that any amendment affirming that prayer should be allowed in school would actually introduce assembled prayer or force persons into prayer. Those that clash with prayer in school fear that judgement against those that do not participate in school prayer. Those in the small percentage that do not want to participate would be obligated to follow to a belief or ritual that which they do not believe. This could cause the individual to suffer the humiliation or burden of submitting a day-to-day spiritual exercise continuously in order to avoid being singled out by mainstream colleagues and educators.

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.

It is a shame that we have a few people that think the separation of church and state means that the school can not even have a prayer. This I not what the forefathers mint when they wrote that the separation of church and state in to the constitution.

The practice of religion has been a major factor in American culture for centuries. The religion clause of the First Amendment, which states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," was developed to preserve the freedom of religion (Haynes 2). The religion clause was designed to protect religion from the control of the government, but, consequently, it restricts the expression of religion in public institutions such as public schools. This highly debated issue of religion in public schools is supported by the belief that religion is critical to the formation of a healthy society but is disputed on the basis that the church and

Prayer plays such a big role in many people’s lives. It happens each and every day and multiple times throughout the day. Even though it can play a huge role in someone’s life, it cannot be practiced in schools. Prayer in school has been a very controversial topic for many years. According to Steven K. Green, “On June 25, 1962, the United States Supreme Court decided in Engel v. Vitale that a prayer approved by the New York Board of Regents for use in schools violated the First Amendment by constituting an establishment of religion (Green 1).” It has since then been taken out of school preventing teachers to preach or teach about religion.

            Prayer in school was legal until the late 1960’s, that’s a mere 40 years ago.  Back then, schools would lead each morning with a Christian prayer. The students were required to say it, and no one would ever contest it because protesting against this right would categorize you as a lowerclass outcast. Everyone, well everyone worth mentioning, was white and Christian anyway so what did it matter? Eventually, there was no room for this sort of suppression with so many different types of people and religions. The public couldn’t take it anymore and prayer in school was finally ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the case of Engel v. Vitale in 1968.