Should Students Be Allowed In Public Schools?

The Constitution of the United States promises American citizens certain freedoms. Among those freedoms consist of freedom of speech, religion, and the press. The Bill of Rights states that “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” and also guarantees “freedom of speech” and freedom “of the press” (Madison). However, public schools in America have challenged those rights through a series of court cases. Nonetheless, students still retain these religious freedoms in a limited way, and schools cannot stop students from exercising these rights. Schools should allow students to freely express their religious beliefs as long as their expressions do not severely interfere with the activities of the classroom and other students.
Alliance Defending Freedom claims that students can “pray on their own or in groups during non- instructional time at school as long as [praying] does not significantly disrupt the activity of the school.” With this evidence, the reader can understand that students do in fact have the right to pray in schools. Furthermore, the US Department of Education reinforces this idea by stating, “students may pray when not engaged in school activities or instruction, subject to the same rules designed to prevent material disruption of the educational program that are applied to other privately initiated expressive activities.” This also asserts students’ rights to pray during free time. In addition, schools cannot stop students from