I made my own survey and sent it to people in my politics class. I wanted to see how people of today, in a politics class, felt about prayer in public school. Although I had information from a previous survey, I wanted to conduct my own and encourage more participation and awareness on the political issue of prayer in public school.
Interestingly, or the 28 people who participated:
20 felt that prayer in public school should be allowed, while 7 people thought it should not be allowed and 1 person did not know. 74.1% of people voted a yes.
Majority of people voted on preferring silent prayer in public schools. This does make sense, because that way it is kept totally private without making others feel uncomfortable around them. The order of preference went silent prayer, moment of silence, spoken prayer, and no opinion.
This survey was great because it differed from results of the previous survey I found and gave me an idea that people all over do think differently.
I want to know what others still think. Do these results surprise you? Excite you? Make you mad? Make you confused?
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Survey Results!
PAGE: 1
| DownloadCreate Chart1. Should prayer be permitted in public schools? | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| answered question | 28 | ||
| skipped question | 0 | ||
| Response Percent | Response Count | ||
| Yes, prayer in public school should be allowed. |  | 71.4% | 20 |
| No, prayer in pubic school should not be allowed. | | 25.0% | 7 |
| I do not know. | | 3.6% | 1 |
| DownloadCreate Chart2. If you had a choice, which would you prefer in a public school? | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| answered question | 28 | ||
| skipped question | 0 | ||
| Response Percent | Response Count | ||
| Moment of Silence | | 35.7% | 10 |
| Spoken Prayer | | 14.3% | 4 |
| Silent Prayer | | 46.4% | 13 |
| No Opinion | | 3.6% | 1 |
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
What anonymous people say...
from http://www.publicagenda.org/charts/more-two-thirds-americans-say-school-prayer-should-be-permitted-public-schools-when-asked-choose-half
Feel free to comment on what you think. These are anonymous quotes from people.
"No one is preventing prayer in schools. The constitution prevents schools from endorsing or recognizing it"
"Yeah true but kids get scared to pray because they don't know what could happen, they think it's wrong to pray in school because thats what they are taught. Plus if we are a christian nation, why do we always try to promote other nations"
"If i had 2 chose between neither, both, no opinion, moment of silence, silent prayer, or spoken prayer i would chose........spoken prayer, because if we ask certain people if there is something going on bad at your home they could tell us and we will mention it in our school. For example, what if my Great Grandmother became very sick and i told the school about it and they mention it at our school, i would know that people does care about m Great Grandmother and my other problems around me"
"Moments of Silence"?
The ADL stated that Federal courts have determined that moments of silence that promote prayer are unconstitutional.
This really confuses me. What if someone in the school passes away? What if the person that passes away was religious? Would they not want to have a moment of silence offered for them with a purpose of prayer?
According to http://www.publicagenda.org/charts/more-two-thirds-americans-say-school-prayer-should-be-permitted-public-schools-when-asked-choose-half, Public Agenda gave Americans a survey on if they had to choose to allow a spoken prayer, a moment of silence or silent prayer, both, or neither. 28% voted a moment of silence, while 22% voted for silent prayer and while 21% preferred both moment of silence and silent prayer. 16% would prefer spoken prayer while 1% has no opinion. This survey shows that most Americans would agree with allowing moments of silence in public schools, so what is the big deal?
Graduation Time....what is or is not allowed?
Since the graduation season is coming to an end, what is allowed at public school graduations?
In further description, prayer initiated by a student at a public school graduation ceremony is not allowed, according to the ADL. In contrary, valedictorians are allowed to say prayer or speak on a religious topic, because they get to choose a topic of their choice. The only reason this is approved, as the ADL says, because the school is not promoting or organizing the prayer, then it is allowed.
I think the explanation of why a valedictorian can say a prayer does make sense, but I also there could be many other circumstances justified by someone with the right words. Also, the same goes for baccalaureate services. Why are baccalaureate services even a part of the public school graduation process when prayer and religious discussions are not permitted in school. The ADL says this is because the service is separate from the school, and the school does not organize it.
How would you feel as a valedictorian? Even if you wanted to pray, how would you feel giving a prayer to an audience of public school where normally prayer is declared as unconstitutional?
What about those that do not have a religious faith? Would you want to attend a baccalaureate service?
What about private prayer?
The ADL says that “All students have the right to silently say a prayer before a test, or grace before a meal. However, school officials must not be involved with private student prayer in any way” (1). In other words, silent prayer before a meal or before a test is allowed, as long as it does not interfere with the school's activity. School teachers, principles, or other faculty are not allowed to lead prayer or be involved in the student's prayer in any way.
This makes me wonder, how does a teacher feel when they see a student silently praying to themself?
If you a student about to pray before a test or a meal, does it make you uncomfortable being in an environment that is not exactly welcoming of prayer?
How do other classmates feel?
Why some people think prayer in public schools could be a "YES"
There are some people that feel that prayer in public schools should be allowed. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion is important in schools, and important for children to learn and grow (2).
The US Supreme court makes too big of a deal of a simple prayer (2).
There are societal benefits to prayer, and schools need to teach lessons and issues other than solely academic (2).
The U.S. Supreme Court has urged school cooperation with religious authorities for “it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public service to their spiritual needs (2).
The Equal Access Act EAA forces schools to treat religious clubs formed just the same as other extra curricular and student initiated clubs at school (1)
According to a survey done by Public Agenda, http://www.publicagenda.org/charts/more-two-thirds-americans-say-school-prayer-should-be-permitted-public-schools-when-asked-choose-half, 69% voted that prayer in public schools should be permitted, while 27% felt that prayer in public school should not be allowed. 4% said that they do not know.
Now I want to know what others think of this.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HKSKSTV
Here I have posted a survey just like the one discussed earlier. It is completely anonymous; what do you think about the topic? How do you feel?
What about religion present in curriculums?
The ADL also says that religon can only be mentioned in a part of historical, cultural, or economic development, and “must be discussed in a neutral, objective, balanced and factual manner. The curriculum's approach may not be devotional or doctrinal, nor have the effect of promoting or inhibiting religion” (1).
The ADL explains that “Creationism -- which includes any theory that the universe was created by a divine being -- may not be taught as a scientific fact in public schools” (1).
Why prayer in Public Schools is a "NO"
Two main reasons why people feel that prayer in public schools should not be permitted is to keep the separation of church and state, and allow freedom on conscience.
The ADL “The United States Supreme Court has clearly ruled that organized vocal prayer and ceremonial reading from the Bible are unconstitutional practices in the public school classroom”(1).
The ADL feels that keeping the church and state separate is necessary to keep religious freedom in the schools. They feel that religious liberty is very important, especially in the schools.
The ADL
The Anti Defamation League (ADL), is a group who works to protect the religious liberties and civil liberties of people. It fights to keep God out of the classroom in public schools. Although there are many points of views and opinions on both sides of this issue, both sides will be addressed in this blog, in future blog posts to come.
Any mention of the ADL uses information from this website:
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