Public Schools Should Not Be The Place For Religious Practices

Is it ok for students to express religious beliefs in class discussions, or through assignments? If you were Brittany Settle you would probably answer “No”. Settle v. Dickson County School Board, 53 F. 3d 152 (6th Cir. 1995), Brittany’s assignment was a research paper and her topic was drama approved by her teacher, which she later changed, without approval, to “The Life of Jesus”. The teacher refused her paper and Brittany received a zero. The teacher gave six reasons why she refused Brittany’s paper. Court ruled that Brittany’s free speech was not violated, by having to abide by a teacher's curriculum, and the teacher has control over the curriculum and classroom.

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

Since the founding of America, there has been concern with the church manipulating government. The separation of Church and State was to make sure the church did not become more powerful than government. In spite of wanting a separation of church and state, The United States of America became one nation under God. The earliest test of the separation of church and state with respect to education is McCollum versus Board of Education. This was a landmark case the United States Supreme Court in 1948 ended the power of a state to use its tax-supported public school system in aid of religious instruction. “The court case which prohibited the state from sponsoring specific prayers in public schools was Engel v. Vitale, decided in 1962 by an 8-1 vote.” (Cline p) It is unconstitutional to compose a school prayer and make students repeat it daily. Although these cases protect our religious freedoms, there is some fear that expelling God from public school has adverse effects. God can still be present; teachers can lead by example and teach behaviors and ethics that

The first amendment does not separate god and the government it encourages religious public schools had prayer for nearly over 200 years before the Supreme Court ruled state-mandated class prayers were unconstitutional. Our government was based on religious principles from the very beginning. Prayer and bible reading in schools has led to three major Supreme Court decisions depending on the country and the type of school, state sponsored prayer may be required, permitted, or prohibited, countries which prohibit or limit school prayer often differ in their reasons for doing so: in the united states, school prayer cannot be required of students in accurate with the establishment cause of the first am amendment to the united states constitution. In 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries schools open up with a prayer or bible reading. There are many arguments refereeing to the prayers in public schools, school prayers will allow religious believers to support their beliefs, school prayer will promote good citizenship it also will lead to decrease tolerance and less bullying since it can instill a sense of right and wrong and love for others than

Issues involving public schools and religion have been topics involving intense debate. It is difficult for the government to elucidate the appropriate boundaries of religion in the public schools. It is true that teaching about religion is permitted in the public education systems, but the real question is where the margin should be set between teaching religion and simply teaching about religion. It is almost impossible to teach about the history of the United States without teaching that religious beliefs associated with the history, artwork, and literature. More than the public is lead to believe, The Constitution permits religious activities in and around public school buildings. It is unfortunate that the

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

Religion is private, and schools are public, so it is appropriate that the two should not mix. To introduce religion in our public schools builds walls between children who may not have been aware of religion differences before (Brochure produced by the Freedom From Religion Foundation).

For centuries, the debate has existed whether or not to allow prayer in public schools. Many Americans feel it is not right of the schools to teach religion. With all the diversity associated with the United States, public schools cannot select one standard religion to practice, due to the cultural and religious differences in the country. Not only are schools the storm center of controversy involving religious differences, they are the principal institution charged with transmitting the identity and mission of the United States from one generation to the next. If we fail in our school policies and classrooms to model and to teach how to live with differences, we endanger our experiment in religious liberty and our

Religion practices in public schools are a thing of past and are not allowed in public schools. Home schooled children are able to practice whatever religion they choose. Prayer, pledge of allegiance and bible study can be participated in freely, which is a big reason some parents are turning to home schooling.

This has been an ongoing argument for many decades and it has not come to a conclusion yet. Everyone has their own beliefs and usually they do not affect others unless they are directed towards someone of another religion. If prayer is going to be formally present in public schools, that school should say a prayer in every religion. They could do this by having someone of each religion in that school come up with a new prayer each day. Another thing they could do is have a special prayer for each religion present whether it’s a Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, or even Buddhist prayer. If you want your child to pray and learn a religion in school, send them to a private school that follows a certain religion and that have certain religious beliefs. A major reason why I’m against prayer in public schools is because the public school system is created for all students and is paid for by tax payers and fellow citizens. I think that the public schooling system should remain neutral on religions issues die to the diversity of our students, tax payers, and our fellow citizens. A public school is set up so that anyone on any religion or race can obtain an education. There

Up until 1962, the typical American school would use the Bible as their starting block of education. The students would learn how to read by reading the Bible. They would obtain great knowledge from the Bible and learn the principals of life. The students would also grow in their faith in God at school. Although there were time periods when America walked away from God, after several national revivals, America was one of the most prestigious countries in the world. In the middle of America was God. Though many people may have never known God in a personal relationship, most of the people knew that there is a God and there was no doubt about it. Many people with a perfect life can admit that life is too good and perfect so there just needs to be some drama to make it interesting. So also America was so good that some people decided to make drama or a fuse about having God in schools and have prayer time part of the school schedule. So in 1962, Supreme Court voted 8-1 that “School-sponsored prayer in

I believe religion should not be taught in public schools because it brings all sorts of problems. Religion should be taught only in religious schools because the children who attend that religious school are sponsored by their parents. They are allowed by their parents. If teachers teach religion in public schools some students may not seem to care and take it offensive because it’s going against their free will and going against their parent’s statement.

As much as the history of court cases is good evidence for the separation of church and state and with it the denial of prayer in schools, supporters of prayer in public schools can and do make the argument that the intention of the Founding Father’s of this nation was to form a nation centered around prayer and Biblical instruction with it’s accompanying values. Their understanding of religious freedom was no doubt defined and acted out in the context of their culture and religious influences. Courts of their day certainly did not push back against the integration of church and state as we think of it today. Why else would the countries’ oldest and now most prestigious institutions have their roots founded in the preparation of clergy for religious work? Harvard, Yale and Princeton, among other great universities, were actually built for the purpose of raising up educated pastors. Use the david lose inside quote Proponents of prayer in schools will no doubt point to reverse discrimination or infringement upon their own religious freedom if they or their children are not allowed to express their faith by praying in public. With the

The separation of church and state has been pushed upon people for a very long time. Today, it is very, very unlikely to find a school where you can discuss religion. Although it seems that the majority believes that both state and church should be separated, there are more people that feel religion should be allowed in schools. If religion were allowed in schools, the children of America would have a better understanding of religion and of God.

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