i may not believe in god,
but i believe it is wrong to punish a student for praying before a test. they say that since its a public school ur not allowed to pray.

do u think its fair or unjust?

i believe that's very unjust to do

it's not like that in our school,i think
i never saw someone pray,but i never heard of something like that either

I think that's very unfair.

I've never herd of this kind of thing before, and at my college, we have a prayer room for anyone who wants to use it.

In my opinion, if you believe in god, praying is showing grattitude for living and for having the things you have today.
If you don't believe in god then I believe praying is hoping only in a stronger manner.
I wouldn't really mind if someone would pray for a very important test.
I would hope that all my studies would way off.

Yes, it's very wrong. The laws cover the school itself from doing anything religious, but not individual students. Whether you want to pray to Allah, Jehovah, or make a pact with Satan himself, you have every right to do so.

They can't stop you from praying.

They can stop the teachers from forcing you to pray, but students having a silent prayer before a test? They can't stop you. It's freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. There's a significant difference that not enough people recognize.

I remember that my classmates and I prayed before the final exam in a notoriously hard class. Nobody stopped us and nobody complained. And the teachers were EVERYWHERE at my school, too.

I think this is unjust.

They aren't allowed to force you to pray.

That also means that they aren't allowed to stop a student, an individual student, from willingly praying.

I think it's very wrong that they punish children for that. Schools seem to be taking the "No Religion In Schools" thing very seriously. When in fact it's just to keep schools from forcing students to pray when they're not religious.

Then again, many students appreciated the "prayer time" or the quiet time before school. I normally used it to write my essays, since I was queen of last minute essays.

My school got me for brining non-christian religious books to school. (I was trying to find a religion I believed in) But they didn't do the same to a guy who ALWAYS brought and read his bible at school. I ended up having to get a friend who was an office assistant to steal my book back for me since the school had "confiscated it for being a disruption to the class."

Depends. I cannot see punishing students for praying silently to themselves, but if students try to lead a prayer in class or prays outloud or brings attention to the fact that they're praying, I can see justification for punishing the students.

As long as it is not disruptive to the learning environment it is allowable.

I do remember one class I had in high school where one student would insist on everyone taking a moment of prayer--including bowing you head and such--before tests were handed out and I found it very offensive.

Omgoodness that is horrible punishing someone for doing something so innocent, I think praying is fine even in a public school. I do think though that there is a time and a place to do it but if a person needs that extra strength or whatever they gain from praying then they should be able to do it without the fear of being punished or tormented by it. I don't believe in god or religion and I don't pray however I can see how some people have the need to do it

I don't think that's very fair.

Part of the whole "freedom of religion" thing is that everyone should have the right to practice their religion. As long as the person who was praying wasn't being open and attention-seeking about it, or trying to convert other people, or interrupting the class in order to do so, they should be allowed to do whatever they want.

I don't think it's very fair.

But the school would have a reason....the Separation of Church and State law....that's why schools are starting to crack down and pull "Under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance. It bring religion into the classroom, which is illegal. It makes sense, but at the same time, it's sorta stupid. I mean, it's only the Holy Trinity religions that it's towards, because the government assumes that everyone else must follow the same belief or something....What hurts the most is the fact that I'm a Catholic Taoist (which IS possible. Taoism isn't a religion, but another way of living and viewing the world), and I've had to stick up for a Mormon because she prayed before the finals and the teacher tried to give her detention for it. I have a bad reputation with the teachers for sticking up for what I know is right....@.@ But it wasn't right. Yeah, it's "breaking the law" but it's a stupid law!

I think praying before a test should be allowed, as long as sermons don't become part of the school curriculum.

all very good views :3

one of the kids last year in my math class used to pray before his test but the only thing the teacher did was eye him.
she also didnt yell at him.
though if it were another teacher i think it would be different :[

Freedom of religion means everybody is free to practice any religion or not practice any religion. A voluntary individual prayer fits perfectly within this, and thus should be entirely permissible. It would be antithetical to the purpose of freedom of religion to deny a person's right to pray (or wear religious garb, or eat according to the dictates of their religion).

Of course, if the student was leading the class in prayer, that would be different.

(simply playing devils advocate because what is a discussion without both sides? I, personally, think its unfair.)

There is a law stating the separation of church and state. As it stands, if the school allows one child to practice there faith they not only have to allow other children to practice (which can include disrupting the flow of class as Muslims bring mats and kneel on the floor to pray) but they also have to understand an atheist child's right to not have to endure other students religions being put into there face.

Why should anyone be punished for practicing their religion?
Isn't not as if they were belittling someone else's religion, or forcing their own religion onto others. They were simply practicing their own beliefs, and in the earlier times (even now), most people looked for religious freedom. If you can't feel safe in your own school...that's pretty sad.

Who punished the kid? And how severe was it?

*Roflmao!* XD Zomg...

I have no problems with prayer at school if it's not in the classroom and non-mandatory...

You can pray all you wanna, but believe me..if all you're doing for the exam is praying the morning OF the exam...you're gonna need a lot more than God to help you out, buddy. Pray away!

That's unfair, public schools shouldn't care about religion...

"As long as algebra is taught, there will ALWAYS be prayer in public schools." A silly little quote, but it's true.

Even if a school tries to prevent students from praying (which I don't think they can legally do), students can still pray. Prayer is merely communication with God, and doesn't require bowing your head, getting on your knees, folding your hands, etc. So...*shrug*

As far as should schools stop students from doing it if they want, HECK NO. They have no right to interfere with a student's beliefs, even if the system disagrees with said beliefs.

Originally Posted by Krystyne

"As long as algebra is taught, there will ALWAYS be prayer in public schools." A silly little quote, but it's true.

Even if a school tries to prevent students from praying (which I don't think they can legally do), students can still pray. Prayer is merely communication with God, and doesn't require bowing your head, getting on your knees, folding your hands, etc. So...*shrug*

As far as should schools stop students from doing it if they want, HECK NO. They have no right to interfere with a student's beliefs, even if the system disagrees with said beliefs.

Actually, legally, they HAVE to. At least if its obvious thats what they are doing. Separation of church and state. (AGAIN playing devils advocate)

@Infinitys:

I understand about the separation thing, but students and staff are different. I can see why they'd want staff to remain (at school anyways) nuetral, but a student has no obligation to not speak of religion.

Saying a student cannot pray in school, because it's religious would be the same as snatching all the crosses, virgin mary, or david star necklaces from students necks because they are religious.

Originally Posted by Popcorn Gun

@Infinitys:

I understand about the separation thing, but students and staff are different. I can see why they'd want staff to remain (at school anyways) nuetral, but a student has no obligation to not speak of religion.

Saying a student cannot pray in school, because it's religious would be the same as snatching all the crosses, virgin mary, or david star necklaces from students necks because they are religious.

Symbol and act are two different things. While my cross cant be considered legally offensive to anyone just by being, if I start talking about it, that can offend someone.

I'm not saying its right. Like the incident recently in (I think) Chicago were the atheist was screaming foul when a girl next to his daughter was praying before class started. These kinds of people DO need to get over themselves but they DO have a right under the law to say "I dont want my kid to hear that sort of thing in school" even if it was another kid and not a teacher.

I'm just saying its precedent to side with the "offended" party.

The school were the OP sited may have been trying to save not only themselves but also the praying child and there parents a load of headaches if someone in the classroom was offended by it.

My mum always said "Choose your battles." Your not going to reason with the "offended" party because they think everyone associated with religion is out to get them or force things on them. I'm ALSO not saying these fears are unfounded because many people do try to push it on those who dont want or care.

That is just ridiculous!
I'm not religious at all either, i'm not even that fancy about religion even, but it isn't right to stop someone that is religious from doing what they think is best.

As long as these kids aren't trying to force their religion into other's heads { just as teachers can't }, it should be fine for them to be able to keep to themselves and do a little prayer!
It would be understandable to question this being right or not, if the kid was disturbing others by praying out loud, or something like that, but as long as they keep to themselves, it shouldn't be a problem!

Some kids in public schools could be very religious, in very religious families, but maybe they cant afford to go to school of religion! D:

Wow.. Really!?
I can barely believe such a thing!
I think it's wrong to just prohibit such a thing. It doesnt make sense. It's not as if anyone can even consider it cheating.. It only gives people more confidence in how they will do! I consider it wrong to take someone's confidence away.. <_<