Introduction
This is a hotly debated topic in the United States. the first amendment of the US constitution that reads, “Congress shall make no law in respect to the establishment of the religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof or the abridging the freedom of the speech, or of the press or the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of the grievances” that sparked the whole contentious issue. Public school prayers were removed in 1962 and this has seen public schools debate on whether to re-adopt formal prayer routines or not hence this paper finds out the pros and cons of prayer in public schools and the possible solutions.
The case for Prayers in Schools
The religious freedom of students would be undermined should the religion in schools be banned since some students may want to pray and would be forced not to pray by the dictates of their non-religious fellow minority groups and yet the US Supreme Court recognizes religious freedom that is being guaranteed by the constitution.
Secondly, allowing school prayers would allow religious students an opportunity to observe the religious beliefs during school days, and hence the court should ask schools to cooperate with religious authorities to be able to honor the religious nature of Americans and be able to accommodate the spiritual needs of the public.
Prayers in school are very vital in the development of the whole person as the schools should train the minds of children academically and at the same time nurturing their souls and reinforcing values that are being taught at home by the parents and the community. This would be beneficial in grounding the ethical and moral spirit that develops the student’s value system.
School prayers are also very beneficial when it comes to societal expectations of the students and would be instrumental in combating issues like alcoholism, drug abuse, teenage pregnancies, HIV transmission, and the rising school shootings which have so far increased alarmingly since the banning of the prayers in schools. It would help instill a sense of moral uprightness needed to protect children.
A simple voluntary prayer, employing of school chaplains and religious holidays’ recognition does not translate to the religious establishment by the state. This is only a misinterpretation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution by the United States Supreme Court.
The case against prayers in schools
School prayers conducted by school officials and enshrined in the school programs would violate the church separated from the state and that public schools are for education only and not for the religious intends.
Some claim that prayers at schools are already legal and that students are allowed to conduct prayers voluntarily without disrupting the formal school learning programs hence the formal school prayers may not be necessary.
Public prayers would always highlight religious differences which young students may be unaware of hence this may create intolerance on the students and may end up developing uninformed wrong attitudes about religion in general and also pupils who may decide to abstain from the school prayer programs would be ostracized and victimized.
The government schools systems are formed using the taxpayers’ money. Taxpayers belong to diverse religious backgrounds and this calls for neutrality on religion by the government since the taxpayers and the students may differ. School prayers are also very coercive and implementation in a truly voluntary manner is quite difficult.
Some other strong opponents of the school prayer issue claim that it would be better off if the issue is left entirely for the parents and the religious leaders of the individuals since no school prayer program can honor the tenets of the religious practices observed in the United States as well as the various denominational differences present obstacles to the same. School prayers also collide with the parents and the religious institutions who may desire to provide instructions and keep with their own beliefs.
Possible Solutions
The most viable solutions generally depend on the parents of the students. Parents should consider their belief systems and find alternatives to help nurture their children like identifying a trusted religious leader to provide religious guidance to their children.
Public schools should also allow interested students to hold their voluntary private prayer meetings be it in groups of individuals during free hours. They should also not be ostracized in case they do not attend organized prayer meetings. Students should have freedom of attendance to any prayers held by the school.
The state may also consider introducing a religious subject or topics that teach on belief systems of a people to help supplement the need to know about the existence of supernatural beings.
Conclusion
The removal of standard prayers from all the public schools in the US has led to increased hatred towards religion and people are claiming freedom from religion but this has resulted in a violation of the democratic rights of a section of the students. The pregnancy of school-going girls has also doubled while the SAT scores have plummeted at a high rate while drug abuse and violence are on the rise.
References
The U.S. Department of Education guidelines for religion in the public schools. Web.
The National Congress of Parents and Teachers and Freedom Forum’s “A parent’s guide to religion in the public schools,”. Web.
Freedom Forum’s “A teacher’s guide to religion in the public schools,”. Web.
National Bible Association and the First Amendment Center’s “The Bible & Public Schools,”. Web.
Anti-Defamation League (ADL)’s “Religion in the Public Schools”. Web.