Should teachers have the right to punish a child for praying in class, when it is done in silence?
487036
Everyone should be able to decide what they believe in and practice it even if no one else likes it.
309307
No.\n\nReligion should be taught by families and in churches, temples, mosques, etc. \n\nWhile I would like my children to have strong morals, faith and belief, I also want my children to have as much knowledge as possible. \n\nIn public schools, a comparative religions class is perfect (and necessary, I believe). Everyone should have a firm and accurate understanding of other religions (what they blieve, some traditions, explanations, how they are different and most imporantly how they are similar). Telling children which is religion is best or right, however, is not acceptable. Parents and Guardians have the right to raise their children as they see fit, but children also have the right to choose the religion they believe is best for them.\n\nWhat should be taught in public schools are things like reading, writing, arithmetic, history, language, philosophy, and science. Children go to school to gain knowledge (including knowledge of religion, for exmaple, in a comparative religions class), not to gain faith. I won't trust others to teach faith (and one cannot truly teach faith) to my children, and I don't think most people should. Not in a public school anyway.
832397
Absolutely not...the teacher has taken their position of authority and abused the power that goes along with it.  When you are an authority figure, you have to live up to standards of behavior that are above and beyond what is expected for any normal individual.  With an act like sleeping with a student, there is no way that the teacher can be considered responsible enough to educate children nor model appropriate behavior.
644165
I think the real question is: "why are you preaching God in a public school?"\n\nYou could be offending any number of people. Public schools are there to accommodate all religions, races, creeds and social standings, not just Christians. Your Principal should be fired if she allows this just because she too is Christian. She would probably never allow a Muslim teacher to preach Islam, so why the double standard?
297549
Yes, they can say it would invoke controvery and therefore it shouldn't be allowed. Some schools have crosses and jewish stars banned, because it could start religious controversy. But shouldn't schools be teaching these kids to be more tolerant, instead of pretending these problems don't exist?
320554
Are you actually allowed to discipline children?\n\nHere in the UK if a teacher disciplines a child they run the risk of being reported for child abuse or contravening the childs human rights.  For example - any contact between teacher and child is assault, there was a case in the news a few days ago where the parents had to be called in to stick a plaster on a child.\n\nShort of talking to them or getting used to the noise I guess there isn't much that you can do other than stick some headphones on.
579324
Yes, in our democratic society, it is hard.  One of the founding principles in this country is the separation of church and state.  One argument in favor of prayer in schools is that studies show that prayer, meditation, or some other form of silent reflection help people to focus and stay on task, and as a teacher, I can testify (no pun intended) that staying on task is one of the hardest things any student can be asked to do.  \n\nHow can we justify prayer in schools, though?  That's a real toughie.  You could allow for "moments of self-reflection" or set aside time for journal writing (many schools have DEAR time-- Drop Everything And Read-- when students must devote 30 minutes to reading at the end of the school day).  But if you call that moment of silence "prayer time" you are treading on thin ice.  No one can force anyone to pray.  It cannot be mandatory.  Nor would a true Christian want someone to be mandated to pray, because God wants people to come to Him freely.
127116
This isnt a civil rights issue, but one of privacy.  His right to privacy was violated if the teachers told students things that they weren't at liberty to discuss.
407478
Yes! Even though separation of church and state exists in this country we also have the freedom of religion. You don't have to pray if you choose not to but should allow someone his or her right to pray at any time or place. How could that interfere with anyone else's freedom?
578657
If they teach in a religious institution, then yes.  If they teach in a public institution, no.  If they teach in a private school, then they should act in accordance with the school policy.\n\nI have a very simple rule for answering these questions.  I substitute Satanism in for religion and see how I respond since that is also a religion.  Do I want a teacher in a public school talking about his or her devil worship?  No.  Therefore, no to all religious talk in public schools.
118119
I don't believe so, no.  I think that only the parents should be able to administer corporal punishment if and when they see fit.  If the school has an issue with a child and they feel that corporal punishment would help quell that issue, then I believe they should contact the parent(s) to come down and issue corporal punishment if the parent agrees to it.  If the parent does not administer corporal punishment at home, then it should be a non-issue and the parents and the school should work together to come up with a punishment suitable for the action of the student.
192227
There is nothing the governement can do to stop prayer in schools. The Establishment Clause, however, prevents the government from sanctioning prayer in public schools. Christianity was traditionally (and probably still is) the unofficial, official religion of the U.S. However, the founding fathers, all of whom recognized the downfalls of a state sanctioned church, specifically wrote the First Amendment "to prohibit the federal government from declaring and financially supporting a national religion, such as existed in many other countries at the time of the nation's founding.  It is far less clear whether the Establishment Clause was also intended to prevent the federal government from supporting Christianity in general.  Proponents of a narrow interpretation of the clause point out that the same First Congress that proposed the Bill of Rights also opened its legislative day with prayer and voted to apportion federal dollars to establish Christian missions in the Indian lands.  On the other hand, persons seeing a far broader meaning in the clause point to writings by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison suggesting the need to establish "a wall of separation" between church and state.\n...\nThe question of school-sponsored prayer has, of course, proven highly controversial.  In the landmark case of Engel v Vitale in 1962, the Court ruled that New York's practice of beginning school days with a prayer drafted by school officials violated the Establishment Clause.  This is the case, the Court said, whether or not students are given the option of not participating in the prayer.  Following Engel, the Court has faced a whole series of prayer-related cases in the public school context raising issues such a prayer in special circumstances (e.g., graduation ceremonies), periods for silent meditation or silent prayer, and student-initiated prayer.  In general, the Court has demonstrated a willingness to strike down any practices that might be likely to be perceived either as coercive or as a state endorsement of religion."\n\nIf you want to pray in public school, then pray. If you don't want to pray in public school, then don't. If you are a public school teacher and pray in school, do it silently and don't ask students to join you.
163018
I am not a teacher but I think teachers have to put up with a lot of crap from students. There are so many kids today that are just plain lazy and disrespectful and then they whine because the teachers are mean. I personally think that "discipline" should be brought back into the classroom and home. If I said or did half the stuff kids do today I would have gotten my butt kicked!
676583
Tell you mother. What your teacher is doing is illegal.
346238
See above. The line between school-sponsored prayer and school-allowed prayer is analyzed under two prongs: entanglement and coercion.\n\nFirst, is the school too entangled (too involved) in the prayer process. Do they set aside special rooms for prayer, or do they choose to grant special privileges to those who want to pray (privileges that other students cannot get for non-prayer reasons). For example: if students are allowed to set up a booth or hand out pamphlets on religion, but are not allowed to set up a booth or hand out pamphlets on other social issues, then the school is favoring religion over other areas and that constitutes entanglement. \n\nBut the reverse also applies. If the school allows student groups to set up booths and hand out pamphlets on other social issues, the school cannot single out religion and prevent expression of those religious viewpoints. Basically, religion cannot be either unduly favored or unduly restricted, relative to other types of expression.\n\nThe second prong is whether the prayer situation could be considered coercive. Or put another way, is someone forced to participate who doesn't choose to? A student-led prayer at a school sporting event might be considered coercive if all team members and cheerleaders must be present (on the field) before the prayer starts. However, allowing people to gather privately to pray, and then having everyone meet on the field is fine. The first creates an implicitly coercive atmosphere, since the school is requiring people to be present for the prayer whether they want to be or not. The second situation is not coercive, since people can pray or not as they wish, or do anything else they wish, prior to showing up at the appointed time.
834899
lol. no there are absoulutley no laws about teachers making students not eat in school because they kept them in at lunch time. but there's a first time for everything. maybe if you took a test or quiz that day after lunchtime you could complain you didnt do well b/c u were too hungry and its proven that brains arent active when theres not food to digest and go to court. It could go to the Supreme Court b/c its a good argument and you'd be a hero for all students across the U.S
306521
I don't know.  I was recently teaching a Sunday School class and this second grader gave me the finger.  \n\nSuddenly my whole theory about teachers making education enjoyable came crashing down. \n\nIt's kind of my fault.  I was teaching them this prayer with their hand and was telling them that the middle finger reminds us to pray for those in power like the president. Anyway, that back fired. It's been a long year.