Religion in Schools, is it Good or Bad

What would happen if religion was introduced into the public school system? Could they even teach religion in school properly? Both sides have been discussed and debated many times. If they did introduce religion in schools, how would the impact affect the school itself? How would the public educational system go about teaching something so broad? Different religions believe, view, and act in different ways. What class would religion be paired with? If religion was placed into today’s school system would every student be required to participate?

Pros of religion

Assuming that religion was was placed into public schools it could either hurt or benefit the schools and/or the students.

Educational institutions that implement a religious system into their system might have trouble with their scheduling. As of right now, without the addition of religion a student might not have any time in their school day to be praying at all . “Rather than debate about religion, we should focus on teaching students practical skills” (Sawicky).

If students get put into a religious class they might not learn what they need to from other non-religious classes. Although it could benefit the school by improving the students behavior. “One of the key arguments in allowing the teaching of religion in schools is that it promotes the beneficial aspects of religion, not sectarianism. Allowing children religious freedom permits them to gain a level of spiritual enlightenment, and keeps them away from the temptations of peer pressure and gangs” (Rowling). As Rowling hinted at not only would it keep the students out of trouble during school but also after school.

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The students, hopefully, would be more focused and better behaving. The teachers would still need to be careful. “For example, teachers approach religious topics academically instead of devotionally. They help students understand religions without advocating acceptance of any particular religion. Schools educate about religions but neither promote nor denigrate faiths” (Thomason). The teachers would have to try to teach the subject in such a way that it would not degrade other beliefs. When they teach the subject they could not really go into specific ideas, for concern that it might be against someone else’s beliefs. If they don’t teach religion then they would not have to worry about offending anybody’s direct personal beliefs, making them feel as if they were being converted. “Because the truth is different people want their children to believe different things, and that’s everyone’s right” (Sawicky). Personal beliefs and opinions can vary from person to person . And there is no law to force a singular person to think or believe a certain way. “Church and state were distinct in that the Federal Government could not elevate one denomination over others” (Flax). That being said, teachers, if they do teach students religion, they would not want to separate a group of individuals or a singular person based on their beliefs.

The educators would prefer to not say anything against someone’s beliefs, what they teach would have to be something very broad and non-specific in its view. Possibly they could place more focus on religious times and events into a history focused class. “As any honest historian will attest, there is no way to divorce American government and history from the religious beliefs of those who created our government and lived that history” (Beckett). The reason to have it in a history class is because, some religious beliefs had some effect on history. The negative side of pairing religion in with another class is, whatever class it does get paired with will be lacking the time normal used to make it through its current curriculum. “Rather than debate about religion, we should focus on teaching students practical skills. In our increasingly integrated world, technology has brought diverse groups closer together, requiring individuals to go outside their bubbles and understand broader society” (Sawicky). Learning practical skills is often beneficial when it comes to actually needing to use them.

Difficuties

Often people are lacking in certain skills pertaining to group belief. That meaning, not everybody in a group will collectively believe something in exactly the same way. “Children of all faiths are allowed to pray and even allowed to organize prayer in groups, but the school is not allowed to enforce a single, organized prayer” (Rowling). The pro side of having everyone pray all at once is that there won’t be people that feel left out or separated from the group. And everyone would have something in common that they could possibly connect upon. As said many times, with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Meaning that if everyone is forced into a group prayer that there is bound to be people that are unsupportive of the idea of a group prayer. And due to that there will be people that don’t agree with the idea of a group prayer. “Even the most basic type of prayer affronts those who don’t want to pray” (Sawicky).

With the idea of religion being placed into the school system and the students would have no choice, but to participate. The positive side of this would be that if the student’s religion does not match up with what is being taught then they don’t have to participate. “Children of all faiths are allowed to pray and even allowed to organize prayer in groups… This system allows access for those who want to pray without forcing participation on anyone” (Rowling).

What would the effects of religion be if it was introduced into the public school system? Could they even teach religion in school properly, without being bias? Would it actually be hard to teach and educate people on religious beliefs without making a mistake or causing an infraction on someone’s constitutional rights. They all have their positive and their negative sides. As written, the many facets to religion can both impact students and families in either a positive or negative light. The capabilities of religion has shown its ability to have an influence on many topics and thus, has proven to be possible of being a hindrance and a help to education. The question being; Is, it more beneficial or harmful to the public education system to have or not have religion.