By Jordan Edwards
The March 7 deadline for the BJC’s Religious Liberty Essay Scholarship Contest is just around the corner. Open to all high school juniors and seniors, this year’s contest asks applicants to discuss whether or not religious messages written by students should be allowed at public school events. The full writing prompt is:
In many public high schools, cheerleaders and other students display banners for student athletes to run through at football games. In some schools, the messages on the banners have included Bible verses or other religious references. In response, some high school administrators have banned the use of these “run-through” banners out of concern these messages might convey that the school is promoting religion. In several instances, students have argued that the banners are expressions of their personal religious beliefs, asserting that they have the free exercise right to display religious messages at school events.
Should religious references be permitted on student banners used at school-sponsored events? Why or why not?
Write an essay in which you discuss both the students’ rights and the school administrators’ responsibilities in the public school setting. In order to support your point of view, articulate your understanding of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause in the First Amendment and their relationship to each other. Discuss what you believe is the best solution to the controversy over school banners with religious messages. Be sure to explain how your outcome helps to defend and extend religious liberty for all people.
The BJC receives hundreds of entries each year competing for the prizes of $2,000, $1,000 and $250. The grand prize winner also receives a trip to Washington, D.C.
“Our topic for 2014 provides high school students an opportunity to reflect on their personal rights to religious expression in a public school setting,” said BJC Education and Outreach Specialist Charles Watson Jr. “We hope students will take up the challenge of researching and writing about this religious liberty issue.”
For complete rules and topic, students can visit www.BJConline.org/contest.
From the January 2014 Report from the Capital. Click here for the next article.
