Day 10

There are government guidelines regarding prayer and religion in schools. The U.S. Department of Education developed a list of guidelines on religion in the schools. Students are allowed to organize groups, but teachers cannot encourage or discourage these groups. Teachers can meet before or during lunch for prayer or a Bible study. Students are able to organize groups to the same extent that students are permitted to organize other non-curricular student groups. They are also able to freely express their religious beliefs in homework, artwork and other assignments without fear of discrimination. The work should be judged “by ordinary academic standards of substance and relevance and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns” (285). As long as nothing is being forced and it is not during school hours, students and teachers have the freedom to practice their religious beliefs at school.

Although there is freedom in practices at school, some schools still do not allow their students to freely express their religious beliefs. Jordan Sekulow wrote an article for the Huffington Post about protecting students’ rights to religious expression. Throughout the article, he shared stories of different students in schools around the nation who had been demonstrating support for the troops, or wearing a rosary to honor loved ones who had died. The school districts were concerned that the religious clothing were “gang-related”. They did not want the students to wear a red, white, and blue beaded necklace to support the troops, or a rosary to remember the death of family members. The superintendents were taken to court. The personal stories about the students showed that they did not intend to start any controversies within the district. Raymond Hoiser was a seventh grader who wore a rosary to remind him of his uncle and brother who had recently passed away. As Sekulow claimed, “the rosary was simply something he wore to help him cope with two difficult losses.” There are basic rights in the First Amendment that protect students like Raymond from being suspended. His story has gotten national attention now, and hopefully it will cause school administrators to think before they fight the student in a religious action.

People are so obsessed with the phrase “separation of church and state”, that most do not know what freedoms the students have at school. I was surprised to read the freedoms we were granted; it was more than what I thought. Some of these freedoms include discussing religious beliefs in homework and projects, and organizing groups that meet at the school, just not during school hours. It is important that religious groups at school are treated the same as any other student group. It takes courage to start a religion club in a public school to begin with, but it has the possibility to draw people to Christ. My high school started an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) group right before I left. Although the teacher involved in the group was told to take his name off the posters and only put his room number, he still took an active role in the group. People in the group would bring friends and the group grew in numbers. I hope that the group is continuing in its success, and that more and more people are beginning to understand how great the love of God can be and how it is important to honor God in extracurricular events as well.

Article cited above: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jordan-sekulow/protecting-students-right_b_593909.html