Prayer in Public Schools

Prayer in public schools has become a hot subject of debate for those arguing over the separation of church and state. The first amendment of the constitution is supposed to calm this battle by having a separation of church and state, but what happens when a player says a prayer before his football game in front of thousands of people? Is anyone offended and who supports him? Everyone has their right to pray voluntarily, but a public school cannot require someone to say a prayer. School prayer is such a questionable issue because it is dealing with peoples’ beliefs and religious acceptance. This controversy of taking prayer into ones hands and doing what one feels best is what has caused such uproar in the courts and classrooms.

There was a certain case in 2000 involving saying prayers before games at the Santa Fe Independent School. There was a student council chaplain that would deliver a prayer over a microphone before each home varsity football game. Some were describing it as overtly Christian. There was a Mormon and one Catholic Family that filed suit challenging this practice and others under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The District Court enjoined the public school district from implementing

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Activities that are allowed are any activities that do not involve paid personnel of the school or any form of clergy. Their pray may give them the strength to do something that they have a lack of confidence in. 2)

Since the ruling, kicking school prayer out in the 1960's, there has been a huge era of moral decline in our public school systems. The poll, conducted by a Virginia nonprofit, found that forty-nine percent of respondents believe that separation of church and state does not need to be maintained or has been interpreted too strictly. It would be a revelation to be a school official and have to say that their main problem in school was gum chewing. The Court of Appeals then said that even though the District Court made modifications, the football prayer policy was invalid. (Shapiro) This means that although a group of people may be able to override the minority in a vote, they can not take away the rights guaranteed by The Constitution. Seventy one percent of the participants would even want to use the Bible in classes such a literature, history, and other classes. I think school prayer will always be an issue with politicians, because of all the differences of people, cultures and religions that we have in our country. She then went and appealed to the United States Supreme Court. It is unlawful for government to advance or restrain religion. (Dean 19-20) Part of the concept of the separation of church and state is the Founders' clear command that government should not prohibit the free exercise of religion. While the suit was pending, the District ending up adopting a new kind of policy.

Approximate Word count = 2377
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

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