The majority of the people all over the world believe in a supernatural being in which they believe provides them with the necessary day-to-day needs. The supernatural being is believed to provide the required needs only when the believer requests them through prayer accompanied by faith. This show is regarded sacred since one is supposed to be consistent, specific, and gentle in his or her prayers. The same is even experienced in small aged children who are school going and not only by ‘praying because their seniors are doing so’, but ’pray’ for their different needs from their supernatural being. This paper analyses the advantages and disadvantages of prayers in schools especially in school-going children further giving the stand of the writer.
School Prayer is believed to bring benefits back to society since it brings a sense of morality. With the increased use of drugs and spread of immorality among the youths, the majority of which are, still ’school going’ tends to disintegrate society. Not only do the above-listed negative acts deteriorate society but also the consumption of alcoholism, teen pregnancy, and HIV transmission demoralizes the community generally. People believe that when school-going students engage themselves in prayer; such negative morals get off them. In the case of a child who is already involved in such ill morals, by belief and faith, prayer transforms him or her. The community’s supernatural being since is believed to come along with only good deeds and never negative ones solemnly do this transformation (FAQ par.3).
In addition, school prayer has the power to create an ample environment, which instills discipline in schoolchildren, as perceived by the majority. Schools are big institutions, which, constitutes of children from different families with very different upbringings. Some may be undisciplined, inhumane while others may be humane and disciplined. With prayer, the majority of the students can be disciplined and be of humility. This enhances children to develop good ethics, therefore, abiding by the school rules (Manali, par.2).
Furthermore, prayer addresses the needs of the ’whole person just as school prayer would do. This implies that it touches on various issues of a person, for example, academics, social life, and even economic life. Schools should not only concentrate on building a child’s mind academically but also socially. This is recommended since a person does not, at all times, live with books but other human beings too, therefore school prayer is very essential (FAQ par. 4)
As the saying goes, “give Caesar what belongs to Caesar”, School prayer grants an opportunity to religious students to observe their religious beliefs while they are at school. They include those who started practicing praying sometime back and are serious about doing it. Since it is one thing they are used to doing, they may feel void and despised when their religious beliefs are not respected (FAQ par. 5).
On the contrary, prayer has its cons. At school, some religious students tend to concentrate too much on prayer than their academic work. The minority of them will shift all their attention to prayers thinking that they can still make it academically without reading but by only praying hard. This promotes laziness in schools (Manali par.5)
At the same time, school prayer is deer to a certain extent. Christians are required to contribute something, however little, to ensure the smooth running of the exercise. The financial contributions assist mostly in organizing and conducting religious seminars, which are based on varied topics such as drug and substance abuse education. Not all people are rich neither all of them are poor, some will comfortably afford the costs while some will strain a lot thus becoming a disadvantage to them (Warner par.3).
Not all students believe in supernatural beings therefore not all believe in prayer. In the majority of the schools around, children are forced to attend prayer meetings (Pros and Cons of Prayer 1). This becomes inconvenient for those who do not believe in it. it is therefore impossible to observe that all students pray voluntarily (sitemap P1).
A school cannot satisfy everyone’s religious needs. Different religions differ in the way they pray therefore that students in schools would pray differently from one another. If these differences are carried to learning centers, there is the likelihood that they may bring controversy. Each student will claim his or her religion to be the supreme over the rest. Therefore, this issue of prayer should not be carried to schools but left at home since the primary duty of a school is to offer formal academic knowledge (FAQ par.13)
Therefore, this ongoing debate of whether prayer should have cooperated in the school daily routine should be viewed keenly before making the necessary conclusions. In my perspective, I believe that prayer should be involved in the school’s daily routine since its beneficial to society in general, allowing religious students to comfortably pray thereby building a morally upright and disciplined society.
Works Cited
FAQ. Pros and cons of prayer in school. 2002. Web.
Manali Oak. Pros and Cons of Prayer in School. 2009. Web.
Pro and Cons of Prayer in School. 2009. Web.
Sitemap. Cons and Pros of Prayer in School. 2002.
Warner K. Pros and cons of Prayer in School. 2002.Web.