Title: Are Bibles Allowed in Public Schools? Can Students Pray in School?
Headings: Are Bibles Allowed in Public Schools? Can Students Pray in School?
Are Bibles Allowed in Public Schools? Can Students Pray in School?
What Rights Do Christian and Other Religious Students Have Per the U.S. Constituion?
Taking Bible and Payer Out of Schools
What Students Can Do
When Teachers Can Require Bible Reading
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Written by FM Editors

Content: The 1963 ruling was about upholding the law of separation of church and state. The ruling did not impact individual rights. What Students Can Do
While public schools cannot mandate that students pray or read the Bible (or any other religious book), the law does allow individual students to read the Bible and pray on their own time. This is a right protected by the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Department of Education lays out helpful guidelines on this in “Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools,”
The guidelines explain in one part that “… teachers and other public school officials may not lead their classes in prayer, devotional readings from the Bible, or other religious activities. Nor may school officials attempt to persuade or compel students to participate in prayer or other religious activities. Such conduct is “attributable to the State” and thus violates the Establishment Clause.” The Education Department adds in its guidelines: “ Although the Constitution forbids public school officials from directing or favoring prayer, students do not ‘shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate…'”
These laws protect not just Christian students, but also Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and children of all faiths. When Teachers Can Require Bible Reading
So in practicing their right to religious expression, public school students “may pray when not engaged in school activities or instruction…” In addition, students can “read their Bibles or other scriptures, say grace before meals, and pray or study religious materials with fellow students during recess, the lunch hour, or other noninstructional time to the same extent that they may engage in nonreligious activities.”