Prayer In School Essay
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IS IT LEGAL TO PRAY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
Is it legal to pray in public schools? This is the question. The answer of course is, It depends. Both on what kind of prayer we are talking about, and more importantly, who is doing the praying. Because people are usually talking about organized classroom prayer, we will begin our there.
The Supreme Court has made clear that prayers organized by a public school violate the First Amendment, whether in the classroom, over the p-a system or even at graduation. The same rule applies whether the activity is prayer or reading the bible. Even moments of silence, if used to promote prayer, aren t allowed by the courts. A neutral moment of silence that does not encourage prayer over any other quiet, activity is allowed, even though many students choose to use the time for prayer. The bottom line is, the Court has said that it is none of it s business to promote or sponsor religious exercises, especially among young students who are at school as a result of their parents, or being made to be there by the govt. Public schools have the responsibility to protect the thoughts of every student. This includes children of various religious faiths, as well as those of no religious faith. Only by being neutral can the school be fair to all. This doesn t mean schools don t allow students to be religious, they re just not going to force it. Generally, individual students are free to pray, read their Bibles and even invite others to join their particular religious group as long as they are not disruptive of the school or disrespectful of the rights of other students. A student should not be allowed to pressure others in a public school. For example, a student may wish to pray before meals, read her Bible during study hall, create an art project with a religious theme or invite other students to attend church.
In addition, students have the right to gather with their fellow students for prayer and other religious activities within these limits. For example, students are permitted to gather around the flagpole for prayer before school begins, as long as the event is not sponsored or endorsed by the school and other students are not pressured to attend. A school is not required, however, to allow adults to come on campus to lead such an event. It is the rights of students, not outside adults, that are protected. Teachers, generally have no right to pray with or in the presence of students in a public school. As representatives of the state, teachers are obligated to protect the rights of all students including non-believers. A teacher who abuses this position may get fired.
If a school permits extracurricular student groups to meet outside of class time, the court requires that religious groups be given equal treatment. Again, teachers or other adults are not allowed to lead such meetings.
The most confusing and controversial part of the current school prayer debate involves graduation prayer. In the 1992 decision Lee v. Weisman, the Supreme Court addressed this issue. The case involved prayers delivered by the teaching staff at middle school graduation exercises in Providence, Rhode Island. The school designed the program, provided for the invocation, selected the teachers, and even provided guidelines for the prayer. The Supreme Court held that the practice violated the First Amendment's prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion. The Justices based their decision on the fact that it is not the business of schools to sponsor or organize religious activities, and students who might have objected to the prayer were forced unwillingly to participate. The middle school argued that the graduation was voluntary, and that the children did not have to attend, but in the Court's view, few students would want to miss such a huge event in their life. For this reason, some schools have even gone so far as to cancel many of their sporting activities.
In 1993 the court refused to grant an appeal in Jones v. Clear Creek Independant School District, which was a Texas case were they said a graduation prayer, and got in trouble for it. Although the Supreme Court has repeatedly said that its refusal to hear one of the thousands of cases docketed with it every year, does not mean that the Justices agree with the decision, and although the case is binding only in the 5th Federal Circuit ( Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi), it is being pushed on school districts nationwide. Some state legislatures, such as Tennessee's, have passed laws encouraging schools to pattern their graduation procedures after the Jones decision.
The strange thing about this situation to the people was, that the prayer was student-initiated (voted on by the students), it was student led, and the prayer was not for secular groups. Although opinion is divided, all three of these factors raise significant questions. First, it is clear that constitutional rights are not subject to vote. The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to place some rights beyond the reach of political majorities. The Constitution protects a person's right to freedom of speech, press or religion even if no one else agrees with the ideas he or she professes. Therefore, it is unlikely that students can simply vote and that make it okay to have organized prayer at a school-sponsored event.
It may also be irrelevant that a student, as opposed to an adult, leads the prayer. A graduation is still a school-sponsored event, and the students are still pushed to participate in a religious exercise that some might find offensive.
Finally, the requirement that the prayer be nonsectarian not only fails to solve the problems addressed in Weisman, it may aggravate them. While some might like the idea of an inclusive, nonsectarian religion, many do not. To some Americans the idea of nonsectarian prayer is offensive. Many Americans, for example, feel compelled to pray in Jesus's name. However, the Supreme Court made clear in Weisman s case that even nondenominational prayers may not be established by government in the public schools. In addition, the Jones decision puts courts and school officials in the difficult position of evaluating the content of prayers to determine if they are too sectarian for use in a public school. There is also the problem of determining whether a particular prayer tends to lean toward a religion.
It would seem possible for a school to provide a place for student speech within a graduation ceremony during which time prayer might occur. For example, a school might choose to allow the valedictorian or class president to open the ceremony in whatever manner he or she wished. If they...
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