Skwim
Veteran Member
All the while being an illegal act.
Considering "There are over 49.5 million public school students and 3.1 million teachers" in the USA, this means that at 8% there are almost 4 million kids being led in prayer in public schools by 248 thousand teachers. So my question is, what the hell is wrong with these teachers? Are they simply ignorant of the law "Duh, What's up doc?" or don't they care they're breaking it? "Screw the Constitution!"
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May teachers pray in school?
It is unconstitutional for teachers to pray with or in the presence of students in school or in their capacities as teachers or representatives of the school. Indeed, teachers may have their free speech and free exercise rights to speak about religious matters and otherwise say prayers in the presence of students abridged in an effort to ensure that there is no appearance that the school is violating the Establishment Clause. Because teachers hold such a special status in the school and are viewed as government officials speaking to a group that is both a captive audience and extremely impressionable, religious speech by teachers or other school personnel will be seen as a state endorsement of religion.xv The Supreme Court has said that "the interest of the State in avoiding an Establishment Clause violation 'may be [a] compelling' one justifying an abridgement of free speech otherwise protected by the First Amendment... ."xvi It is also impermissible for a teacher to read the Bible in front of students during a daily silent reading period.xvii
source
It is unconstitutional for teachers to pray with or in the presence of students in school or in their capacities as teachers or representatives of the school. Indeed, teachers may have their free speech and free exercise rights to speak about religious matters and otherwise say prayers in the presence of students abridged in an effort to ensure that there is no appearance that the school is violating the Establishment Clause. Because teachers hold such a special status in the school and are viewed as government officials speaking to a group that is both a captive audience and extremely impressionable, religious speech by teachers or other school personnel will be seen as a state endorsement of religion.xv The Supreme Court has said that "the interest of the State in avoiding an Establishment Clause violation 'may be [a] compelling' one justifying an abridgement of free speech otherwise protected by the First Amendment... ."xvi It is also impermissible for a teacher to read the Bible in front of students during a daily silent reading period.xvii
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Nearly 10% of public high school students say their teachers have led the class in prayer, an action that violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.
That damning statistic is part of a new report from the Pew Research Center all about teenagers and religion.
Just look at this map:
It says that 8% of public school students overall — 12% in the South — have had a teacher lead prayers (presumably Christian ones) in the classroom. It’s lower in other parts of the country, but any number higher than 0% is troubling. Keep in mind there’s an important caveat here: The question asked whether the students have ever had a teacher lead the class in prayer, and it’s possible some kids went to private religious schools when they were younger where that sort of thing would be normal and legal, but the numbers are still disturbing.
Pew also asked the students if they thought it was “appropriate” for teachers to lead the class in prayer. Roughly 40% said yes, including 68% of evangelical Christians.
The irony is that many of them know it’s illegal.
… roughly half of teens who attend public school (53%) know that teacher-led prayer is prohibited and also find the practice inappropriate. At the same time, roughly three-in-ten (29%) know that it is unconstitutional but say that it is appropriate for a public school teacher to lead a class in prayer. Smaller shares think that teacher-led prayer is both legally permitted and appropriate (11%) or that it is permitted but inappropriate (4%).
So… nearly a third of public high school students understand the law, yet want their teachers to proselytize in class anyway. Disturbing.
Other parts of the Pew report are cause for optimism. 91% of all students say they rarely or never see their classmates reading religious scripture outside of class, 83% have rarely/never seen kids pray before eating lunch, and 73% have rarely/never seen their classmates invite someone to church. Those are the numbers you’d expect from the least religious generation we’ve ever seen.
source
That damning statistic is part of a new report from the Pew Research Center all about teenagers and religion.
Just look at this map:
It says that 8% of public school students overall — 12% in the South — have had a teacher lead prayers (presumably Christian ones) in the classroom. It’s lower in other parts of the country, but any number higher than 0% is troubling. Keep in mind there’s an important caveat here: The question asked whether the students have ever had a teacher lead the class in prayer, and it’s possible some kids went to private religious schools when they were younger where that sort of thing would be normal and legal, but the numbers are still disturbing.
Pew also asked the students if they thought it was “appropriate” for teachers to lead the class in prayer. Roughly 40% said yes, including 68% of evangelical Christians.
The irony is that many of them know it’s illegal.
… roughly half of teens who attend public school (53%) know that teacher-led prayer is prohibited and also find the practice inappropriate. At the same time, roughly three-in-ten (29%) know that it is unconstitutional but say that it is appropriate for a public school teacher to lead a class in prayer. Smaller shares think that teacher-led prayer is both legally permitted and appropriate (11%) or that it is permitted but inappropriate (4%).
Other parts of the Pew report are cause for optimism. 91% of all students say they rarely or never see their classmates reading religious scripture outside of class, 83% have rarely/never seen kids pray before eating lunch, and 73% have rarely/never seen their classmates invite someone to church. Those are the numbers you’d expect from the least religious generation we’ve ever seen.
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