Troubled By Avi Selk: Liberty High School In School

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.

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.

Freedom of Religion means that the government can’t force you to accept only one set of religious beliefs or the way you worship. You can worship your own way and have your own religious beliefs as long as they don’t violate other people's rights. Today this is a very big debate when it comes to prayer and schools. Several cases have been brought to the Supreme Court about this and whether students have the right to pray in class or if the prayer would interfere with another student’s rights.

Intro- about 10 ten years ago, in the year 1951,the New York Board of Regents approved a “Quote” “nondenominational prayer”. It was 22 words long and The blandest of invocations read as follows: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and beg Thy blessings upon us, our teachers, and our country." voluntary prayer for recitation at the start of each school day. A group of parent in New Hyde Park, New York Steven Engel was a parent in New Hyde Park, New York. He and a group of other parents objected to the daily speaking of the prayer, even though it was voluntary, at the start of each school day. Steven Engel and his group of supporting parents sued William Vitale, the president of the local school board. The parents reasoning was that this optional prayer didn’t align with the views of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The 1st amendment says Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” The establishment clause states quote, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Originally, the Establishment Clause was only added to the Constitution to keep the federal government from establishing a national religion.

I concur the first amendment protects students right to express themselves in various distinctive school environment such as during discussions, and interaction with their peers. Moreover, public schools cannot prevent student’s ability to pray and learned about diverse religion in the curriculum.

Analysis: I choose this case because I was curious about the topic but also because of recent controversy over different religions. I see both sides of this case. I believe that the parents of the children were right to fight the school board because not all religions worship or pray the same way christians do and not everyone is religious and as american citizens we have that right . Granet the prayer was a very generic christian prayer in the sense that it did not refer to any denominations but it is still a prayer. As a christian I would want my kids to be able pray before every school

Allowing prayer in public schools remains a divisive and extremely passionate issue for various individuals. Americans have voted against the guiding principles for prayer in school, but the question, "should prayer be allowed in school?" continues to arise. Prayer in public schools has become one of the most controversial issues in the United States today. What keeps this matter boiling is the fear that a child will be influenced, or even worse, “offended” by another’s spiritual beliefs. By removing school prayer, the U.S Supreme Court has misconstrued the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. In order to protect our neighbor’s feelings, we have replaced the ingredients of religion and prayer in our schools with teen pregnancy, increased alcohol and drug use, sex, suicide, school shootings, and last but not least, an excessive amount of entitlement. Our children need something bigger than themselves to turn to when they are faced with difficult times. A simple two minute moment of silence would allow believers and non-believers the opportunity to meditate each morning and set the mood for the remainder of the day.

Forcing students to say religious phrase “under God” violates U.S. citizens’ first Amendment rights of freedom of religion. “The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of

Many people agree against prayer in public schools, while others think that people should be able to express their religion in their own ways. In public schools, they are not allowed to hold prayers at all during the school day due to the mixed religion students that are attending the school. Over the past few years, this has become an extremely controversial issue in our nation. Many people find it proper to pray in school but many people also agree that it is extremely wrong and that if there is going to be pray in school, every religion should be addressed. The government cannot make a law about having a certain religion banned or allowed in a school setting. Children are allowed to pray on their own time as long as it does not

It is essential to consider the background of this case to understand better the ruling and impact. After a Texas School District allowed a student to lead a prayer before a football game several parents sued the school district. The parents and certain students felt that their first amendment rights were violated (Jacobs, 10) some people felt like hurt because they didn’t pray. The case “Brown and Bowling takes a first cut at describing and

School Prayer by Tricia Andryszewski first starts off by, talking about the first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The students or even the teacher can’t read the Bible at school or even the lord’s prayer. They could not it in public schools. In the 1963 Justice Tom Clark, waiting for the Supreme Court. Alabama Governor George Wallace was going against them. He want them to be able to pray and read the Bible at public schools if they want to. I do not care what they say in Washington, we are going to keep right on praying and reading the Bible in the public schools of Alabama. The Supreme Court decision in 1963 was a bad law, bad history, and bad culture…. And if the Court doesn’t want to reverse itself, then we have an absolute obligation to pass a constitutional amendment to instruct the Court on its error.

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.

Do you have a choice in your religion? Should praying be in Schools? The 1st Amendment states, “Prohibits Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.” If we have freedom of speech then why can’t we

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.

According to the law religious freedom can’t be stopped but the law also states that if a staff member of the school is apart of religious activities it is illegal. When parents or students say that pray has no right in public schools, that’s not at all what the First Amendment says. According to the First Amendment people are guaranteed certain freedoms including religion, but it also prohibits Congress from restricting an individual’s religious practices. People can’t just say prayer in public schools isn’t right because the Amendments say people’s rights to religious freedom can’t be restricted. “Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to prohibit individual or group prayer in public schools or other public institutions (“Constitutional”).” The framers of the Constitution said that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” is to be one of the central principles of the American government