icials, however, should intercede to stop student speech that constitutes harassment aimed at a student or a group of students (Riley, 1998). Students have the right to meet with other religious students (Brinkley, 2001). Under the federal Equal Access Act, 4 secondary public schools receiving federal funds must allow students to form religious clubs if the school allows other non-curriculum-related clubs to meet during non-instructional time. "Non-curriculum-related" means any club not directly related to the courses offered by the school. Student religious clubs may have access to school facilities and media on the same basis as other non-curriculum-related student clubs. Public schools are free to prohibit any club activities that are illegal or that would cause substantial disruption of the school (“A Parent’s Guide”, 2001). In 1993, a court held that a school district that opened its classrooms after hours to a range of groups for social, civic, and recreational purposes, including films and lectures about a range of issues such as family values and child-rearing, could not deny access to a religious organization to discuss the same, permissible issues from a religious point of view. Whether or not the classrooms were public forums, the school district could not deny use based on the speaker’s point of view on an otherwise permissible topic (Lamb’s Chapel v. Center). Students have the right to pray on campus (Brinkley, 2001). The Establishment clause of the First Amendment does not prohibit purely private religious speech by students. Students may pray alone or with others so long as it does not disrupt school activities or is not forced upon others. Specifically, students in informal settings, such as cafeterias and hallways, may pray and discuss their religious views with each other, subject to the same rules of order as apply to other student activities and speech (Riley, 1998).Students have the...
