How often do we hear complaints that schools have become religion-free zones, or that students are not allowed to pray? Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. But there are right ways and wrong ways to conduct religious activity on campus, rules that try to ensure the religious freedom of everyone.
In South Carolina, the Georgetown School District has done the right thing: put an end to improper evangelizing from a community member, and instituted policies that will allow for a student-led club with a religious focus.
AU's Rob Boston has more at the Wall of Separation blog:
Some students at Georgetown High have decided to form a prayer club that meets under the guidelines of the federal Equal Access Act. Passed by Congress in 1984, the act allows for student-run prayer clubs that meet during “non-instructional” time at secondary schools.
The act also mandates equal treatment. If even one “non-curriculum” related club is permitted at the school, others must be as well. Thus, if a Christian club begins meeting at Georgetown High, the school must also accommodate a Jewish club, a Muslim club, an atheist club and so on.
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The key is that since the clubs are not school sponsored, no student can be pressured to attend or take part in religious activities. The decision to pray or read a religious text thus becomes a matter of personal choice – what it should have been all along.
Public school classrooms are not laboratories for religious activists – whether Gideons, a proselytizing teacher, or a well-meaning member of the community. But there are plenty of ways for students to engage in religious expression – starting especially with private prayer, but also including groups meeting outside instructional time, provided they are student-led.
