Religion In Public Schools

It is estimated that there are 42,000 religions practiced in the world today, and yet America, the land of the free, is still considered “One nation under God”. Why? The government needs to pay more attention to, and maintain the separation of church and state, as stated in the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This means, like the phrase says, that church and state affairs should be separated, completely. The government should be religiously neutral in schools, in laws, and overall, to create the equal society that we all strive for. The phrase, “Separation of Church and State”, is not directly stated in the Constitution. However, it is a commonly …show more content…
The United States has both public and private schools in which kids must attend until they are at least the age of 16 or 17, depending on the state. The difference between these two schools is that public schools are federally funded, whereas, private schools are run by religious officials and are not solely funded by the government. They usually obtain their money from the student’s tuition and private donations. Whether or not religion should play a role in school’s everyday activities has been an unresolved, continuous dilemma for our nation. The answer to that dilemma is that religion should hold no place in public …show more content…
These children should not have to feel excluded or inferior because they do not believe in the religion that is being taught. For instance, there should not be led prayer in school because it might go against someone’s beliefs. Then that person would be forced to sit out and watch everyone else take part. Being left out is something that can really affect a young child, and it could even lead to being picked on. In extreme cases, the children can even be harmed. John Freshwater, an eighth grade teacher, was fired for having religious books and the ten commandments posted in his classroom, but that’s not all. The same man also burned a cross into one students arm with a Tesla coil.(“U.S. Supreme Court Affirms”, n.d., para. 3-5) This is not something that should go on in what should be one of the safest environments for kids. Since the U.S. has such diversity, the public school system should be as generalized as possible. After all, there are private, religious institutions for those who wish to receive that kind of

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