Prayer in Public Schools

Prayer in Public Schools

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to enlighten and explore the concept of prayer in public schools. There are several litigations regarding that focus their regulations towards this concern. However, diverse sources assert that prayer in public schools is an unresolved concern; some are in favor and contradict it. Prayer in public schools is a complicated issue of religious liberty. The Free Exercise Clause, on the other hand, guarantees all people the right to exercise their religious beliefs within reason. Both of the religion clauses come into play when school prayer is at issue. Whether verbal prayer in public schools should be allowed and in what settings it may be permitted have been controversial political and social issues in the United States that have resulted in a great deal of litigation testing the limits of the religion clauses of the First Amendment.

Current Rulings about Different Prayers in Public Schools

The current rulings regarding different types of prayers in the public schools engulf diverse perspectives. However, according to the judicial authorities, in most of the rulings the prayer concept in the public schools violated the policies and litigations authorized by government of the United States. According to separate studies, the Establishment Clause has received far more attention in the school prayer cases decided by the U.S Supreme Court; because, public school officials are government employees, their decisions about how to handle student- or teacher-led prayers regulate through governmental decisions (Alley, 1996, 89). It is unconstitutional for teachers to coerce their students to join in a prayer. This violates the right of students to exercise their religion freely and would also amount to governmental endorsement or establishment of the scrupulous beliefs professed in the prayer.

The Supreme Court has ruled that forcing or encouraging students to participate in prayers ...