Why do we need prayer in school?

Question

Can't kids just pray when they get home?

Answer 1

It is mostly a ploy to get kids into religion. The religious people cannot force themselves onto others as easily as they once could. Forcing heretics to convert by force is no longer tolerated in the US.

Also, prayer cannot stop a bullet. Get 100 people to pray that the gun fired at them will not hurt them and you will still get 100 people hurt from the gun.


Now if a student wants to pray that is no big deal. Let them as long as they are not expecting everyone to stop what they are doing to allow them to pray or to join in with them. The schools themselves are not allowed to set aside prayer time or to try to get the kids to pray.

Answer 2

I went to school when prayer was part of the morning school ritual. Those of a different faith or didn't believe would just stand quietly while the rest bowed their heads in reverence.

Think of all the things that have gone wrong since public prayer was abolished. Teen pregnancy has greatly increased. School violence has significantly risen. What used to be settled with a school yard fist fight is now settled with guns. Teachers are having inappropriate relationships with their students.

Yes, children can pray when they get home, to thank God for getting them through another day. But most importantly, they and their parents should pray in the mornings before they go to school.

Answer 3

Not all homes are places where children are encouraged to pray; school is often the only experience of prayer for some people. I think like lots of other choices in life, it's good for schools to give praying a shape and structure for children to recognise, understand so they can choose their own way, or no way. It should be left to them to choose, or it's just meaningless propaganda, but they need to understand something to choose it or decline it. We don't ask the same question when we teach children about drugs or sex ed in schools - we recognise the need to inform them, incase they aren't getting messages at home.

Answer 4

To me, this involves two separate issues: allowing prayer and sponsoring prayer. I do think students should be allowed to pray in school, in a personal way. A student praying to him/herself is not disruptive any more than a provocative shirt on a student might be, and telling a student that non-disruptive, personal practice of his/her religion is not allowed seems rather harsh.

On the other hand, I do not think a class or school should allow anyone to lead the rest of the class or school in prayer. Besides the First Amendment issue (which expressly allows private religious freedom but disallows state-sponsored prayer - with a school being a state-sponsored organization), it implies to students that the school is more in favor of those who practice a particular religion in a particular way - thus doing a disservice to the students the school is supposed to be educating.

Incidentally, I have never understood why some Christian groups work so hard to try to allow school-led prayers in public schools. The Bible itself states that prayer should be done privately, to oneself. Having a school board or principal or student parading Christianity through public prayer is antithetical to that.

No student should be told not to pray to him/herself in school, but there is no justification - even within the religious perspective of those who seem to push the issue hardest - for making it a group exercise.

Answer 5

Children should be allowed to pray anywhere they go. Prayer is important because prayer moves the hand of God. Especially the faithful prayer of a child in need.

Answer 6

I've been asking this same question for years. If kids want to pray, they should be allowed to do it on their own time....during recess...lunch....before school....after school....

If a group of christians want to meet at the flagpole either before or after school, and pray around the flagpole...I'm fine with this....as long as it's not a school sponsored prayer required by everyone....

But....you have it right...if you want to pray...do it like the Bible tells you to in Matthew 6......in private.

Answer 7

if you don't like it, go to a public school.
kids can pray at home, but to pray in school teaches kids to bring God into their every day lives. It teaches that religion doesn't just happen in church or when your parents are there. it also teaches that you don't need to be ashamed of having a connection with God. Also, it teaches kids how to do it, since many parents aren't big prayers, but still want their kids to follow a religion.

Answer 8

We don't need prayer in school. But if a Muslim is allowed to kneel east then why can't someone pray silently to themselves before a meal?

Answer 9

Because God needs to be in your life all the time! Not just at home! You need to pray at school and at home!

Answer 10

Why do kids need to eat at school? Can't they just eat when they get home? Nobody will starve to death in 7 hours.

But do we want kids to be better energized for their studies? Let them pray and eat and let them use the physical and spiritual power towards their studies.