The Removal of Prayer from Public Schools

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The removal of prayer from public schools is a very controversial and misunderstood debate. This paper will address the history of the debate, common myths and misunderstandings, and the current trends. History of the Debate: Public schools originated in 1647 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and soon spread across New England. They began with an elementary school for every fifty families and a Latin school for every one hundred families. Their mission was to “ensure that Puritan children learn to read the Bible and receive basic information about their Calvinist religion.”1 By 1840, conflict was at a climax in New York City. The public schools had taken on a “common school” education that included a nondenominational course of religious instruction. This meant “students would recite a few basic prayers and read passages from the Protestant, King James Bible without commentary or interpretation.”2 This did not please the some 200,000 Roman Catholics within the city who had serious objections to Protestant “non-sectarianism”2. In 1842, New York City attempted to decentralize the issue by mandating that “no sectarian religious instruction was to be offered. All public schools would now educate students in the three R’s and leave religion to the churches.”2 This action led to the creation of church-led Sunday school’s, that were to give religious instruction. By the 1950’s, Americans began to grow concerned about the morality of their children, especially since “the common school inculcates all Christian morals; it founds its morals on the basis of religion; it welcomes the religion of the Bible.”3 School boards across the region began to investigate ways to teach moral... ... middle of paper ... ...ovinfo.about.com “Public Schools in the United States: Some History.” ERASE, www.arc.org/erase. Redlich, Norman. “Is the Wall Crumbling?” The Nation, 9 October 2000: 26. “Religious Timelines: School Prayer.” 2002. www.atheism.about.com Riley, Richard W. Letter to American Educators. May 30, 1998. www.ed.gov/speeches/08-1995/religion. Robinson, B. A. “Religion and Prayer in U. S. Public Schools.” 2000. www.religioustolerance.org. Scott, Darrell “On target.” Handguns, October 1999: 106. United States Supreme Court. Abington School District v. Schempp. 374 U. S. 203. 1963. United States Supreme Court. Engel v. Vitale. 370 U. S. 421. 1962. “The U. S. Supreme Court on School Prayer.” Education Week, 14 December 1994. Wright, Elliot. “Religion in American Education.” Phi Delta Kappan, September 1999: 17.

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