the students clearly lost their freedom of speech and religion, which is guaranteed by the Constitution. This to me is quite disturbing. Apparently our lawmakers can and do make decisions depriving us of our freedoms that our country was founded on, and there is no system of checks and balances being enforced. The only other valid argument against prayer in school that I could find, deals with some parents not wanting their children exposed to religion, or be forced to pray. This argument can be quickly diffused by one word, “voluntary”. There were no cases that I could find where the children were forced to pray. The only conflict stated, concerned issues between the Roman Catholics and Protestants, which took place in the mid-nineteenth century. This involved the Catholics demanding that their children be excused from required, daily, Bible reading and prayer, being conducted by Protestant teachers.This conflict was based solely on the differences in the religions, and created a violent backlash from the Protestant majority (Lynn, 1995). Our nation’s children continue to be exposed to many new trials each day. Whether it is another violent child with a weapon capable of maiming and killing, a child predator on the loose, or the temptations from their peers to experiment with alcohol, drugs, or sex, it is apparent our children need a positive force in their lives. For many children in our country, each day can be a struggle just to survive. Other children, if they are fortunate, have a loving parent or parents to guide them through the difficult decisions that face them each and every day. So, I challenge anyone to give me a valid answer to my question. What is wrong with a child saying a prayer in school if he or she wants to?It just might give them the confidence and the courage to make it through, or in some cases live, another day....
