Posted: March 18th, 2023

Place of Religion in Public Schools Essay Paper

Prayer in School

There was a time in America, where although the constitution guarantees a separation of church and state, many of the government institutions still encouraged or at least included components which were based on religious practices. In the past, the children of American public schools would enter the classroom, stand at attention for the pledge, and then join in with the class in prayer. In the locker room, the football or basketball coach would lead his players in a prayer both to win and that no one was injured in the game. The majority of the population of American citizens was Christian and so they would logically pray to a Christian god or to the savior of that religion. Students who did not belong to the Christian religion could either choose to abstain from this activity, or they could pray along with the other students in order to participate. That was before legislation was passed which made prayer in school to be unlawful because of various criteria and constitutional protections. After a series of lawsuits, the government got involved in the issue of school prayer, eventually passing a constitutional amendment which banned prayer in school.

During the 1970s and 1980s, there began a series of lawsuits against public schools and public school districts. Often these suits were initiated by members of the community who did not belong to the Christian religion. These families, and their political supporters, felt that their children were being forced to participate in religious practices outside of their system of beliefs. The reasoning was that this demand for participation in prayer was a violation of the constitutional sanction separating church and state. Even though prayer is officially banned in schools, there are still cases where public schools are promoting religion, particularly Christianity, and violating both the law and constitution itself (Eckholm). Because of situations like these violations, the idea of prayer in school is still a constant source of debate and rhetoric, even five decades after initial legislation was passed.

Following these suits, the United States government passed legislation banning prayer in public schools. In the court case of Engel v. Vitale in 1962, it was determined that forcing children to participate in prayer in a public school setting was unconstitutional. Employees of the government thus could neither force or even encourage students to pray in a public school setting. The following year, Abington Township School District v. Schempp declared that school-sponsored readings from the Bible were also unconstitutional. According to the United States Department of Education:

The relationship between religion and government in the United States is governed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, which both prevents the government from establishing religion and protects privately initiated religious expression and activities from government interference and discrimination. The First Amendment thus establishes certain limits on the conduct of public school officials as it relates to religious activity, including prayer (Guidance).

This position would provide the basis for the ban on school prayer, but would also lead to challenges of the ban which some claim is a violation of their right to express their religious beliefs.

For more than a decade, school prayer has been illegal in American public schools. This seemed to be the end of the debate. However, in recent years there has been a surge in the amount of suits challenging the ban on prayer in school. For example, a football team in the American south brought about a challenge. According to news reports, the team captain wished to lead the team in prayer. Over the stadium loudspeakers, a student chaplain gave a Christian prayer. Since neither the coach nor any other public school employee was involved in the prayer, the team believed that they should be allowed to pray as an expression of their own religious beliefs and the issue went to court. The United States Supreme Court decided in that case, Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, that this violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and prevented the school from continuing the practice.

In addition to banning morning prayer and prayer in the locker room, the ban on school prayer has had other, far-reaching effects. One teacher in Florida was arrested for offering a mealtime prayer at an event for school employees (Duin). In another incident, the Santa Rosa County School District was sued by senior class president Mary Allen. She was barred from speaking at her class’s graduation because it was feared that Allen, a Christian, may say something religious (Duin). Among other things, schools are not allowed to host speakers or school events which promote any religious belief system (Guidance). This has included widespread banning of holiday celebrations in the public school system. Holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and St. Patrick’s Day are not allowed to be celebrated in public schools because some groups feel the celebrations promote one system of religious beliefs over others. The fear is now becoming that with the present society being so quick to sue and the population in general being oversensitive to things they find offensive, the situation will become all the more punitive until the fight against indoctrination of religion may create a population devoid of identity.

When school prayer was first banned in public schools, the reasoning was valid. There was a large population of students who were not Christians, but were being required to participate in Christian prayer. Banning the practice ensured that these students were not made to feel uncomfortable, nor were they in any way forced to feel pressure because they did not belong to the majority religion. However, things have seemingly gotten quite a bit out of hand. People on the whole are so quick to seek remuneration for perceived damages, that the government as a whole is in fear of offending anyone. The result of this fear is that very little individuality is being allowed to formulate or develop. Instead of a group of non-Christian students being indoctrinated into Christianity, there is now a group of non-religious students being indoctrinated into a hegemonic relationship with all of their peers.

It is unlikely that this question will ever be satisfactorily answered for all parties concerned because both of the sides of the debate are adamant that their position is the correct one. Those who favor prayer in school say that the eradication of the practice has led to moral decay in the United States and that reinstatement would lead children to moral responsibility. They also assert that by banning prayer, the public school system is prohibiting their children from practicing their religion. Those that oppose prayer in school maintain that allowing the practice violates the constitutional mandate barring interrelation between church and state. It is unlikely that either side will abandon their position and let the debate rest.

Works Cited:

Duin, Julia. “School Prayer Charges Stir Protests.” The Washington Times. 2011. Print.

Eckholm, Erik. “Battling Anew over the Place of Religion in Public Schools.” The New York

Times. 2011. Print.

“Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools.”

US Dept. Of Education. 2003. Web. 2012. http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionandschools/prayer_guidance.html

---

Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply

Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?

Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.

Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?

• Plagiarism free papers
• Timely delivery
• Any deadline
• Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
• Subject-relevant academic writer
• Adherence to paper instructions
• Ability to tackle bulk assignments
• Reasonable prices
• 24/7 Customer Support
• Get superb grades consistently

 

Online Academic Help With Different Subjects

Literature

Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.

Finance

Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.

Computer science

Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!

Psychology

While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.

Engineering

Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.

Nursing

In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.

Sociology

Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.

Business

We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!

Statistics

We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.

Law

Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.

What discipline/subjects do you deal in?

We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.

Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?

Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.

What if I don’t like the paper?

There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.

Reasons being:

• When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
• We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.

In the event that you don’t like your paper:

• The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
• We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
• Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.

Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?

Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.

What if the paper is plagiarized?

We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.

When will I get my paper?

You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.

Will anyone find out that I used your services?

We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.

How our Assignment  Help Service Works

1.      Place an order

You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.

2.      Pay for the order

Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.

3.      Track the progress

You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.

4.      Download the paper

The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!

---