I just feel that prayer doesn't belong in public schools if is going to cause problems among students. .
There are so many different religions and beliefs that are practiced in our country. It would be too hard to satisfy every student and their religious beliefs in public schools. You have Catholics, Christians, Baptists, Mormons and many more followers of different religious followings. How do you satisfy all these people and their beliefs in one public school? I don't think you can without completely reconstructing the public school system and maybe not even then. If religious followers want religion taught in school curriculum then what about private schools. There are a great number of religious private schools that do incorporate religious teachings in the curriculum. These schools offer prayer services and teachings about specific religions as well as the everyday teachings of many public schools. Many people that are for school prayer don't feel they should have to pay to send their children to private schools just so they will be allowed to pray. If it's going to prevent their children from being singled out and ridiculed for their religious beliefs then it just might be worth it.
Right it stands that school prayer is ok at public schools, according to the U.S. Department of Education "The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the First Amendment requires public school officials to be neutral in their treatment of religion, showing neither favoritism toward nor hostility against religious expression such as prayer" (United States Dept. of Education Para 11). I think this is ok as long as it is not being taught as a subject, and as long as it doesn't interfere with other students trying to learn what is being taught. The Department of Education also has several guidelines that school officials should adhere to if government funding is going to be granted to these schools.
