Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
How long has religion in public schools been debated
Why religion should be allowed in schools
How long has religion in public schools been debated
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: How long has religion in public schools been debated
Religion should be prohibited in public schools. There’s no reason for allowing religious displays to destruct the public education system. The involvement of religion in public schools is distracting and unnecessary. The removal of religion, except for educational purposes, is essential to providing a stable and effective learning environment for every student. Without religion, students could be provided with a better chance of succeeding in the classroom.
Only the school board officials and members of congress can take religion completely out of the public school systems. While the ACLU has tried its best to insure that public schools have religion free environments, their actions aren't enough. It’s up to the members of congress to step up and pass laws prohibiting needless displays of religion in public schools.
Some people are opposed to banning of religion in schools. Some feel that banning religion infringes upon the school faculty’s first amendment rights. Others feel that is morally wrong to take out religion. Most of these people don’t see the negative roles religion can play in the classroom. There are many harmful effects of allowing or not allowing prayer in public schools. Besides the controversial court cases between the school systems and the ACLU and the effects of the students and faculty, no side can win indefinitely.
Religion complicates the educational environment. Children can become distracted by the role religion plays with the teachers, instructors, and administrators. Children and young adults are extremely impressionable. They are just beginning to form their own beliefs and morals. Arthur Schopenhauer once said, "the capacity for believing is strongest in childhood, special care is taken to make s...
... middle of paper ...
...hero, Stephen, Grant Wacker, Frank Lambert, Richard Lischer, Claiborne Carson, and Andrew Young. "God in America: "The Soul of a Nation"" Interview by Narrator.Www.pbs.org. PBS, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Religion and Schools. Perf. David D. Cole and Greg Ivors. 1993. DVD. Www.c-span.org. CSPAN, 9 June 1993. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Rosenbaum, David E. "With Little Ado, Congress Put God in Pledge in 1954." The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 June 2002. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Schopenhauer, Arthur. Religion: A Dialogue and Other Essays. 5th ed. London: n.p., 1899. Print.
Shpaner, Roi, and Kathleen Balson. "TED Conversations: A World without Religion, How Will It Really Look?" Www.ted.com. TED, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Waggoner, Michael D. Religion in the Public Schools: Negotiating the New Commons. Lanham, Maryland: Roman & Littlefield Education, 2013. 21-22. Print.
Roof, Wade Clark. "Contemporary Conflicts: Tradition vs. Transformation." Contemporary American Religion. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. 226-27. Print.
Gaustad, Edwin S. The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today. N.p.: HarperOne, 2004. Print.
With sounds of youthful laughter, conversations about the students’ weekends, and the shuffling of college ruled paper; students file into their classrooms and find their seats on a typical Monday morning. As the announcements travel throughout the school’s intercoms, the usual “Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance” becomes no longer usual but rather puzzling to some students. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.” Confusion passes through some of the student’s minds. With the reoccurrence of “God” in the backdrop of American life, the relationship between church and state has become of little to no matter for American citizens just as it has with American students. While congress makes no law respecting an establishment of religion, the term “freedom of religion” presents itself to no longer be the definition of “free”, while also having its effects on debates today. According to Burt Rieff, in Conflicting Rights and Religious Liberty, “Parents, school officials, politicians, and religious leaders entered the battle over defining the relationship between church and state, transforming constitutional issues into political, religious, and cultural debates” (Rieff). Throughout the 20th century, many have forgotten the meaning of religion and what its effects are on the people of today. With the nonconformist society in today’s culture, religion has placed itself in a category of insignificance. With the many controversies of the world, religion is at a stand still, and is proven to not be as important as it was in the past. Though the United States government is based on separation of church and state, the gover...
Education Week talks about the freedom and practice of religion stated in the United States Constitution and how the government has altered that in their article, “Religion in Schools”. They touch base on how “under God” was taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance and elaborate how students can participate in religious clubs outside of school because of the placement of the federal Equal Access Act of 1984.
McCarthy’s claim is that educators are responsible for ensuring that religious indoctrination sponsored by public servants such as teachers and schools does not occur but at the same time that no teacher or school unduly interferes with student’s rights to practice their fai...
Public schools originated in 1647 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and soon spread across New England. They began with an elementary school for every fifty families and a Latin school for every one hundred families. Their mission was to “ensure that Puritan children learn to read the Bible and receive basic information about their Calvinist religion.”1 By 1840, conflict was at a climax in New York City. The public schools had taken on a “common school” education that included a nondenominational course of religious instruction. This meant “students would recite a few basic prayers and read passages from the Protestant, King James Bible without commentary or interpretation.”2 This did not please the some 200,000 Roman Catholics within the city who had serious objections to Protestant “non-sectarianism”2.
Hitchens, Christopher. "An Atheist Responds." The Washington Post. N.p., 15 July 2007. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.
Religion is one of the most controversial issues in society today. The concern of allowing prayer in schools is an on-going debate and has resulted in numerous lawsuits. Religious school clubs, after school activities, curriculums, and moments of silence during school are just a few of the court cases that judges have administered. People in favor of prayer in schools believe that their children can only learn certain values through religious practice. On the other hand, an individual against religious practice in schools views this issue as an infringement on his or her children’s rights as Americans.
This plainly states that public school teachers, principals, and boards are required to be religiously neutral. They may not promote a particular religion as being superior to any other, and may not promote religion in general as superior to a secular approach to life. They also may not promote secularism in general as superior to a religious approach to life, be antagonistic to religion in general or a particular religious belief, be antagonistic to secularism, and they must neither advance nor inhibit religion (Religion in Public).
RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BACKGROUND – RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN AMERICA & OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Third Avenue, NY: Anti-Defamation League, 2012. Web.
Until the early 1960s, religion was accepted in most public school systems across our nation. One of the main purposes for school in early America was for religious purposes (Prothero). Benjamin Franklin stated, "It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand." Thomas Jefferson stated, "The question isn't what religion is. The question is what religious traditions do we need to know something about in order to be an effective citizen."
Haynes, Charles C., and Oliver Thomas. Finding common ground: a guide to religious liberty in public schools. [New & updated ed. Nashville, TN: First Amendment Center, 2007. Print.
The following three articles examine the different effects secularization has had on society. Firstly, Swezey & Ross (2012) discuss what potential implications secularization may have on faculties’ perception of religious institutions who appear to be abandoning its religious mission to bolster academic creditability. On a similar note, Stallones (2011) discusses the implications that secularization has on the development of progressive educators. The takeaway of this article is that progressive educators need to be reminded that education should be student-centered. Stallone states: “[T]his value arose from a conviction each child has dignity, which in turn has its roots in the theological concept [. . .] that people have intrinsic value because they bear the image of God. [. . .] that the school is a community derives from the ecclesiological idea that the Church is actually an expression of the Body of Christ” (p.
While students are attending public schools they should be aware of their religion options. The student should have the right to practice their religion as they please, just on the own time. Yes, religion plays a huge part in molding a person but, should be practiced when the time is available, not in a classroom setting. The government should have the ability to control the protection of the students that just want to learn. The capability to regulate the religious practices while attending public educational institutions should be left to the government. Faith, religion and belief, usually are three words that are used to describe one situation, although these words have three different meanings. To have faith in something or someone you must first believe in it and also accept it as well, but have a belief without evidence. Religion is a belief in a heavenly superhuman power or principle, such as the almighty or creator to all things. Everyone has faith and belief, but not all believers believe in the almighty. Allowing religion into public schools while everyone attending not having the same belief is unfair, unconstitutional and is complicated to teach to a verity of students.
To have prayer in the public school system is against the idea of separation of church and state. The state should not institute school prayer because the public schools are for education, not a place where religion should be taught (Gaylor, 1995, p. 1). The state should not force every child to say a prayer in the classroom because not everyone believes...