Prayer In The School Is Wrong Essay

, Research Paper

Prayer and Public Schools: Not A Good Combination

Imagine a little boy on the first day of classes sitting in second grade at a public school where more than half of the population of the school is Christian. This boy was brought up to believe in Allah and the principles of the Islamic faith. Over the intercom, the principle announces that it is time to recite the pledge and make a prayer in Jesus name. The boy, resistant to say the prayer with his classmates, does not remain standing after the pledge to pray in Jesus name. His classmates look at him in disbelief. After this episode, nobody will want to talk to him. When it comes time to pick teams for kickball or football in physical education class he will be the last one picked. In art class no one will share their scissors or glue with him. Soon he will become known as the weird kid. Children at this age do not understand that everyone is different. This young boy feels confused and sad. What do you think the rest of the year will be like for this boy. He will always be known as the different one at school. Young children do not particularly like the different children in the classroom. Fitting in with the norm of a group of peers is one of the most important aspects of elementary school. If prayer had not been mixed in with the classroom in this situation, this conflict would have never come about. Prayer in public schools is a widely debated issue in America today. Many schools have children with this very same problem of feeling left out. Education is mandatory for all children but religion is not. Religion is private, and schools are public therefore making public schools for all denominations of students. Two other valid reasons that verify that prayer is irrelevant in the classroom is that the first amendment states that religion is a choice and that prayer has not been proven to help raise students performances in academics.

Prayer was thrown out of schools in 1962 for a very good reason. It was hurting the well being of students and harming society (Robinson). Education should not make anyone feel uncomfortable. Prayer in the classroom obviously does. By having specific types of prayers that tend to lean towards one religion, the school is leaving out certain students. Prayer in public schools also shows students that options are open and distracts them from what they were brought up to believe in by their families. School prayer can even bring about prejudice in students. Being exposed to only one religion would bring about hatred for other religions and ignorance because of lack of knowledge. Prayer should be left for private use. Public school is not a place for religion or prayer.

Religion is a part of the family. Introducing it to children in schools raises conflicts with those children who were not taught the differences in beliefs that exist in different religions. Prayers that are introduced early on in schools are not voluntary. This does not give a child the choice on what to believe in. In high school, comparative religion classes are allowed as long as one religion is not presented as being superior to another. Bible study is also allowed as long as the texts from other religions are included. Equality is what a public school should have. Students should not be taught what to believe they should be taught what other people believe, giving them a choice of their own in what they actually want to accept as the truth.

John M. Swomley spoke of prayer in schools in this manner:

Voluntary, individual, silent prayer has never been banned or discouraged in the public

schools. The Supreme Court has banned state-sponsored religious services. Those who

advocate prayer services in the public schools do not want voluntary prayer. They want the

government to be officially involved in promoting and sponsoring prayer services so as to

put pressure on children to engage in public prayer. They apparently do not care whether

parents want their children to engage in public prayer or be indoctrinated with sectarian

religious ideas. The object is to provide a captive classroom audience that will be exposed

to the prayers of those with a religious message, which they deliver in the form of a

prayer (Swomley 128).

Swomley obviously advocates the fact that prayer in school should not be allowed. He makes a strong point when he says that the people who want prayer in schools do not understand that it is a private matter and children will engage in public prayer and be indoctrinated with sectarian religious ideas.

Prayer in school, in a way, was also condemned by Jesus Christ. Jesus believed that religion and prayer should be experienced on a private level. He did not agree with having prayers read aloud in large groups and did not favor public prayer sessions. Jesus condemned prayers in situations where other people were present. This includes group meetings and prayer at any occasions where many people were involved. Public school would definitely fall into one of these categories. Prayers are a personal event between a person and their God; no one else should be present.

Public schools are for all types of children. This includes all types of religions. Prayer that is directed toward one faith would leave out another faith. With parents paying an equal amount o

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