The Place For Prayer? Students Disagree On Whether It’s Appropriate At School

Every morning at 8:10 a.m., the drafting classroom in Sandpoint High School becomes a place for prayer.

Ten to 15 students gather for a few minutes to read from the Bible and pray out loud, preparing themselves for the day.

Does it bug anybody?

“Having a club like we do … it’s a good club,” said Lisa Birdsall, president of the group Rising Generation. “For the people who want to pray, it’s a good way to get their mind on God and priorities.”

Most students don’t oppose the club, but some do oppose plans in Congress to mandate prayer, even a brief period of silence, in the classroom.

“I think the number of people who strongly practice religion has seriously decreased,” said Sandpoint senior Brian Luce, “and not enough people would take it seriously. Even if it is only two minutes, it’s a waste of two minutes.”

Prayer in school has once again stepped into the national spotlight since the November midterm elections. Even President Bill Clinton has made statements advocating a moment of silence each school day.

School prayer was first banned after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Angle vs. Vitale in 1962. The court found it psychologically harmful to children.

With the recent elections, however, the Republicans are now in the majority in Congress. Many Republicans feel that the nation’s family values are deteriorating and that prayer should be incorporated into the school day.

It isn’t actually illegal to pray in school. People do it all the time - before school, before lunch, before tests.

And it’s more common in an organized form than most people think. There are regular prayer groups at Ferris, Deer Park and other high schools around Spokane and in North Idaho. At Shadle Park, a group of teachers meet occasionally before school to pray.

“People have come to the conclusion at Shadle Park that as long as no one objects, there’s nothing you can do about it,” said senior Matt Bachmann. “It’s kind of a dead issue here.

“My problem with it, though, is that it’s OK to lead a Christian prayer, but if a teacher leads a Buddhist prayer or a satanic prayer, they’ll be out on their ear. But it’s really the same principle.”

Mead’s Tara Miller, a senior and a Mormon, takes issue with a moment of silence.

“(It) would be a waste of time and very unnecessary,” she said. “Prayer shouldn’t be trivialized.”

Sandpoint students have strong opinions when asked about bringing sanctioned prayer back to public schools. Even Birdsall isn’t for it.

“I don’t think that it (prayer) should be required,” she said. “It’s dumb for people who don’t like prayer to have to do it.”

Some adults agree.

“I would hate to see it legislated,” said Sandpoint vice principal Mary Steele. “I would like to see where different schools could do it how they want to, if they want to.”

Steele does not favor prayer itself, but thinks that a moment of quiet time is a good idea.

“If they want to have a time for what you would call silent reflection, then I think it belongs in the school system,” she said. “But when they call it prayer time, that’s what I have a problem with.”

Steele feels that those students who are against taking a few minutes out of school should have an opportunity to voice their opinions.

“If they (students) do have a problem, they need to have an opportunity to be heard before it becomes a law,” she said. “That’s when it should be discussed.”

U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich has pledged to vote on the school prayer issue by July 4.

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Frank Cipriano Sandpoint Tracy Verrette from Mead contributed to this story.