In the article "Georgia public school teachers humiliate kids for not praying to ‘God our Father’: lawsuit" (link to article) it states that in the Emanuel County School System of Swainsboro, Georgia, a teacher forced children to either participate in prayer or leave the classroom. The Freedom From Religion foundation has recently filed a lawsuit against the school system in response to this. The students involved in this case had been teased by the other kids at school and had been made to feel like they were bad people because the teacher punished them for not praying. The basis for this lawsuit falls on the idea that forcing prayer on children is a direct violation of the freedom of religion that is found in the first amendment of the Constitution.
I think that it is horrible that children in a public school were made to feel bad about themselves because they didn't want to pray. I am surprised that this had been allowed to go on for so long considering that most public schools focus on banning all types of religious conversation and prayer in school rather than supporting it. I think that the Freedom From Religion foundation will most likely win this case because the evidence of the violation of the first amendment is extremely clear. The freedom of religion that is awarded to each citizen of the United States should prevent this type of thing from happening. Children should be allowed to pray in school if they want to, but teachers should never be allowed to force students to pray if they don't want to.
I agree with Hanna -- I'm surprised at how long this has gone on because, as recent news has shown, everything violating a person's freedom FROM religion is emphasized and legally handled immediately. I don't think it's right for a teacher to force her students to participate in prayer if they do not believe in doing so or do not wish to do so. I wonder how they will handle this situation and whether the teacher will be fired.
ReplyDeleteI'm also shocked that this public school forced children to pray! Usually it's the other way around, like the student who said "God Bless America" over the intercom. I wish that everyone would want to pray, but I do think it is a violation of these children's Constitutional rights, and could even come close to an established church that the government was funding through the Georgia public school system.
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