RELIGIOUS HARASSMENT

IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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Students are in a particularly vulnerable situation while at public schools. Teachers can and do harass students who express their religious faith. Fortunately, there is a "wall of separation" between church and state which theoretically prohibits the public schools from taking any action to either promote or discourage religious faith. For example, if a school permits student political or hobby clubs of any sort, then they must also permit students to organize Bible study or other religious courses. Schools are free to teach about religious beliefs. Their courses can describe the positive and negative effects that religion has had on society. But they are required to give a balanced presentation and are not permitted to favor one faith group over another. Nor are they allowed to favor religious faith over no religious faith.

Unfortunately, the laws are not necessarily followed by all teachers, principals and school districts. Part of the problem is a misunderstanding by school officials of their obligations under the constitution. Some feel that all religion is banned throughout the system; they have reacted by violating the student's constitutional rights of freedom of speech, assembly or religion. For example, Christian children have been prohibited from bringing their Bibles to school, or forbidden to pray before a meal. These conflicts can normally be cleared up with little effort. Many Christian litigation groups are actively involved in this area. The Rutherford Institute is believed to be the largest such organization. They have stated:"[M]any cases can be solved with a strong and professional letter from an attorney, a legal memorandum from our office, or a phone call from a staff member."  

Various amendments to the US constitution have been proposed that would have the effect of reducing this wall of separation and thus expose students to great harassment. Representative Ernest Istook (R-OK) introduced a "Religious Liberties" amendment on 1995-NOV-28. It has received increasing attention in 1996 and 1997.

In some areas of the United States, particularly those where the overwhelming percentage of people follow the same religion, the school system may take on the religious nature of the surrounding area and actively promote a religion or a particular branch of a religion. This makes life very difficult for students who are of another religion. They can be seriously and continually harassed. Other students often react by physically attacking or ridiculing those of minority faiths.

Example of Religious Harassment