I am not a very religious person. But I recently went to my sons 5th grade graduation and they still say the pledge of allegiance there. It was nice to hear it since most people dont do that anymore or they dont say "One God" Now I hear a college somewhere will no longer play the Star Spangled Banner because its to violent and against their faith.
I grew up in a private school, but don't ever remember praying in public school when i went or for my kids. My kids know they do not need permission to pray while in school or anywhere else. I will tell you what though....They will never take prayer out of Nascar. =)
I think there should be a couple of minutes of silence each day to either pray or meditate or just think about the day ahead. I live in a small gated community with an association and we start our meetings that way. I think it's a good way to calm and refresh before starting the day. We did that every day when I was in school.
Religious attire? What if my god is Butticus Nekidous and, yep, you guessed it, I must go everywhere in the buff. Sometimes your religious attire can be a huge distraction and not conducive to the learning environment. Schools are not a place to display your allegiance to your imaginary sky friend. That should be reserved for places of religious instruction like temples and churches and to be practiced in the home.
And, by the way, just who will decide which god your kids will pray to at school?
I was referring to Jeff's position on bringing it back to the schools. Sorry, should have clarified who that part was responding to.
I more or less agree with Mr. K's position on the subject. Just the part about religious attire and other activities that may be distracting (like singing all day long). Those can cause problems that seriously detract from learning.
While I'm not the most religious person you'll come across I don't like the attack on religion (specifically Christianity) throughout our society.
While separation of church has it's obvious purpose; not allowing state/federal sponsored or mandated religions but if an individual wants to speak about a religion, pray, sing coombaya all day long, they should be able to. However, a class leading a mass prayer is not an individual liberty it's sponsoring a particular religion which I don't agree with.
Bottom line: Individuals or groups of individuals who so choose to pray, wear religious attire, or speak about their religion should be able to do so.