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 Sticky Subject: Prayer in schools? 
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An often controversial issue is that of Prayer In Schools. It's ironic that I didn't realize that it was such an issue until I was in high school. In Middle School, we would start the day with morning announcements and then a moment of silence; by the way this was in a public school! I was grateful for this moment of silence because it gave me the opportunity to have a 'moment' before starting the school day. If you wanted to close your eyes and pray, that was up to you, but the principle nor the teacher suggested it, you were allowed to do as you wished, it was your freedom to pray or not. But then when I got to high school, there was never a moment of silence after the morning announcements. I became involved in our FCA (Future Christian Athletes) and by my senior year was president of the organization. We met after school and had an advisor, but he could not run the meetings or lead the prayers, the students always had to do it. My question is simply, should we put prayer back in schools? Do we allow a moment of silence? On a personal note, growing up, I found it ironic that when something devastating happened in our country, that's when the "prayer in schools" issue came up, for example, 9/11...It was on this day that I remember so many students stopping, reflecting, and even praying in school. Another day I will never forget in high school was when there was a tragic car accident before school one morning and two students were killed. It was amazing how students came together and formed a HUGE circle in our commons to pray...I wonder what legistlators and such would say if they had walked through the doors? What's your feelings about prayer in schools?

Ps. I found this website that helped answer some of my questions if you're interested in checking it out: http://www.aclufl.org/take_action/stude ... ligion.cfm

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Katie Lamberth


Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:15 am
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Katie:
I agree that prayer in school is a sticky situation. At my high school we also had FCA and it worked in the same manner that your's did. I think that prayer in school is such a sticky situation because of the seperation of church and state. I feel that seperation of church and state is an important part of our government. If there was not a seperation, we would not have the freedom to worship in the manner of our own religion. Don't get me wrong, I am a Christian but I think that prayer in school would be a good idea if it wasn't focused solely on Christianity. There are other religions and even though we may not agree with the other aspects of other religions, we must respect others beliefs.

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Brittany Burton


Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:39 pm
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My personal opinion on prayer in schools is that if a child wishes to do this, regardless of their religion, they should have every right to do so. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe they do, it’s called the First Amendment. However, I do not believe that any school should force a particular religion on any student at all; it's the child who needs to decide that on their own.

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Heath Robertson


Thu Feb 10, 2005 10:34 pm
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I believe that is is important to have a time to reflect/pray in school. I think Katie's school, having a moment of silence, is a perfect way to allow prayer and reflection. No religion needs to be associated with this moment of silence. I was born and raised catholic, but no longer prctice any religion. However, I believe that children need to be reminded that life is greater that themselves...reflection/prayer encourages students to think about the world and others.


Mon Feb 14, 2005 4:00 pm
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Like the other posts, I also was a member of FCA at my high school, however unlike the other posts a teacher at my school, and football/basketball coach, led the meetings. He did not say the prayer, but he was the one that spoke the most. In high school we did have a moment of silence every day after announcements like Katie did in middle school. Like most schools no one told us we had to pray, it was our decision, but we were told that we could not talk or walk around the room. Growing up with this I do not think there is anything wrong with it. However, now I can see how this could bother some students. No one forces you to pray, or even to pray to a certain God, but they do force you to stop talking and moving in respect of others.
Personally I feel that the moment of silence should stay in schools, students should be able to pray when ever they feel like it, but teachers should not teach any religion to their students. They may tell about it on general terms, but they should not "teach" it.

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Darcy Alexander


Mon Feb 14, 2005 5:35 pm
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Darcy:
I agree with all the aspects that you brought up.

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Brittany Burton


Wed Feb 16, 2005 9:00 pm
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I think that like the many replies before me, as long as we as teachers do not force religion on our students, then i think that it is ok, no matter what our religion or no religion. We have to remember the separation of church and state, and that this is a very sticky situation with others in our community.

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~Hannah Bailey~


Wed Feb 16, 2005 9:10 pm
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Everyone keeps mentioning the "seperation of church and state." I wonder where is this argument supposedly at? Certainly it does not exist in the Constitution. The actual place in which it appears has been taken greatly out of context. It is taken from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson that assured a group of Baptists that the government could not interfere with any of the affairs of the church, not the other way around that many have tried to say that religion should not be in political life. If anyone wants I have an entire book about quotes from our greatest politicians and statesmen regarding this very issue.

I feel that I will not force what I believe on a student, but that if a student is interested in what I believe that I am free to say what I believe and will go into further detail at later time if the student so wishes, but that I will not take up class time to discuss it.

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Travis Souther

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Thu Feb 17, 2005 12:16 am
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My feelings on this subject are similar to the other post. In my diversity class we have been talking about prayer in schools and different types of religion. My standpoint is that no religion should be forced upon a kid but I personally believe a moment of silence is something that gives those who want to pray time to do so and those who don't want to simply dont have to. As we touched on different court cases we talked about the fact that prayer before a ball game or at graduation is absolutley constitutional but it should be student lead and not forced upon students. However, the bottom line comes down to the fact that we will have children in our classrooms who come from all types of religions and we must be understanding and accepting of them. I know from experience that it is hard not to bring personal religious biases into the classroom when you feel strongly about a topic. Religion and prayer is a sticky subject and it must be approached carefully but it is possible to make every child feel included and important.

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Ryan Hicks


Fri Feb 18, 2005 12:35 am
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I believe that a moment of silence is fine for any grade level, as long as you personally do push certain beliefs or non-beliefs on the students. A moment of silence at my high school was used by different students in different ways; some prayed for a good day or good grades on a test while others reflected on their morning or what they would doing that evening and I know of at least one student who thought the moment of silence was a good break from listening to the teacher. Even though I am not religious, I do believe that all of us have the right to practice whatever we want within reason. However, school is not the place for us to practice it, regardless of the faith or non-faith of the students. This isn't to say prayer in school is bad, but it should be an individual's decision with no pressure from the teacher and/ or the school.

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Daniel Inman


Sun Feb 20, 2005 3:37 pm
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Like most everyone else here, I think that the moment of silence is appropriate. Students could use it simply to collect their thoughts for the day, or merely just to reflect. However, I think it is highly inappropriate to place any sort of religious implications on it. We have so many different religions in our country, and I think as teachers it is very important that we show respect towards all of those. This is a part of diversity, and though we may not agree with the beliefs of another student or teacher, it is not our place to judge that. We should be accepting and respectful. I do think it would be beneficial and interesting to share cultural and religious aspects as a learning experience, but not as a spiritual one. I think that might alienate some students which is the last thing we want to do.

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Summer Wright


Sun Feb 20, 2005 11:06 pm
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I agree with most everyone else that it is important for teachers to not push any religion on students. Although I don't see anything wrong with a moment of silence to start the day off for anyone who wants to pray to themselves. At my high school I know a certain day of the year we had "See ya at the pole" (i think that is what it was called) Where students met before school and had prayer around the flag pole. Did anyone elses school allow this?

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Stacey Burris


Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:54 pm
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Every Wednesday at my high school we meet around the flag pole and had a prayer led by the FCA Fellowship of Christian Athletes. My school is located in a small town which is also very conservative so there was never any problems with the prayer circle.

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Brittany Burton


Tue Mar 01, 2005 10:42 am
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