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Peace and Conflict Resolution (Education) In my essay I will discuss the issues of educational conflicts that occur in our country. Basically, conflicts may be of gender, ethnic, power, or cultural nature. The issue of permitting prayer in public schools described below, belongs to ethnic sphere and also touches many other problems of schools, such as students right for freedom of speech, teaching contemporary youth religion, religious freedom, prevention of drug consuming, violence and teenage pregnancy, etc. Nevertheless, prayers at public schools are still debated by public as this issue has many pro and contra arguments. In fact, prayers are allowed by the first Amendment. This means that students can carry religious texts, pray before eating, pray before and after class in classrooms, in the corridors, washrooms and so on.
Students also are allowed to wear T-shirts with religious texts and religious jewellery. According to the article Religion and Prayer in U. S. Public Schools by B. A. Robinson, students have a number of places to pray, for example: there are 350, 000 places of worship that students can attend; also students can pray in school buses, at the flag-pole, in the hallways, in student religious clubs, cafeteria, religious clubs etc.
Thus, it may seem that students right to pray in public schools has no restrictions. However, the issue of prayer faces the mistaken opinion that prayer is forbidden at public schools and, what is more, this opinion it is widely shared by many teachers, principles and school boards. This belief is only partially based on US laws. Normally, prayer is not permitted in the classroom itself if the class is in session otherwise it would violate the principle of church-state separation. (Robinson). Also there are only some points concerning religious activity that are prohibited by constitution and, generally, they do forbid prayer at public schools. In short, U.
S law prohibits public schools from: Requiring students to recite prayers in class; Public prayers at high school games; Promoting any one denomination or religion at the expense of another faith group or secular philosophy; Banning the wearing of religious clothing and symbols; Prayers before Board of Education meetings; "Clergy in the Schools" project. (Robinson) Besides, the issue of prayer has been constantly paid attention by public due to the efforts of religious men who state the following reasons for prayer in public schools: If students are forced to recite prayer each day, they will start realizing that they live in a Christian country where the government and its institutions support Christianity (Robinson); The activity of Sunday schools and the houses of worship if not enough as these institutions are no longer popular about the modern youth; There is a belief that prayer is beneficial for solving such problems as consuming drugs, teen pregnancy, school violence etc. There is also a belief that prayer creates an aura of solemnity and order among the students. (Robinson) Thus, as it may be seen, sharp debates about prayer in public schools are not groundless. Each side of the conflict has its own arguments that reflect different political, ethical and cultural points of view. Of course, as it was stated above, prayers in public schools are not prohibited by law. But prayers as the right for students free speech have too many interpretations and limitations that in whole mainly eliminate the right itself. Bibliography: B.
A. Robinson. Religion and Prayer in U. S. Public Schools. Religious Tolerance Org.
Apr. 27 1995, Feb. 28 2005. < web >
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Research essay sample on Prayer In Public Schools Religious Texts
