I'm sorry, but this is all a bit silly. Prayer hasn't been forced out of school. We just don't say the Lord's Prayer in the morning any more, and we shouldn't have in the first place. Separation of Church and State, might want to look at the Constitution.

Look, Im being totally serious here. My teacher prayed (silently, during the moment of silence) and even told us that was why she wanted us to be quiet, even thought we were supposed to be anyway. No one stopped her, no one complained. She didn't make a big deal out of it, she just let us know. There is nothing that says that you cant pray in public schools, that would also be against the law, freedom of religion. However making it madatory to have a prayer come over the PDA, since I think thats what some of you are getting at, wouldnt be fair unless you wanted to have a prayer for every religion and deity... well to a point, there isnt enough time in school to do all of them. The point of the matter is that with this issue, like so many things, you can only please so many without going to the extreme

I am a Christian guy and thought I would just say, "Prayer is not prohibited in public schools."  Also, I thought it might be mentioned that it is not the public school's job to teach our kids morality, although they should enforce morals.  In other words, if we are concerned with our children praying, we should teach them to pray and tell them that they are free in America to pray whenever they want to.

Yes it should be put back into schools. When I went to school it didn't heart me any.. May have even done some good too. It should have neaver been took out of schools in the first place... Are country was founded on the right of prayer and the beleaf of GOD.. If it afendes some one OH WILL thats there problem not the ones that believe in GOD...

I want "God" back in school as well. What I'm confused about is that I never knew "God" was in school. I never seen him there.I want him back in school so some child can ask him where's he been all these years.And why America? They sure could use "God" in the schools in the Midle East far worse.

I completly agree.  Answer me this though how is it that one woman can take prayer out of school but thousand of Americans can't get our troops home from war. (A war we stopped wanting a long time ago)??  Just a thought.

Yes, My granddaughter's school started holding church services on Sunday, over a year ago and it made alot of people very happy. Plue, thanks to my granddaughter doing a book report , about David in the Bible. That helped get the ball rolling and also, the children can also pray if they want. She is in a public school.

No ones stopping your kid from praying except their own fear of what their peer will think. Athiest wont care, Muslism wont care, Pagans wont care, Buddist wont care. It will be the kids who claim christrian or just idiotic children who would care or laugh. However making a prayer over the PDA would be disrespectful to everyone who does not belive what you do.

Question: Is the aim of this petition to introduce compulsory prayer for everyone, or simply to allow people who want to pray to pray (to the god of their choice), while the rest of us can go off and do more profitable things? If the former, I oppose it utterly, but if the latter, I have no problem with it.

If you want YOUR kids to pray then simply send them to a christian, jewish or catholic school. its that simple. your views and way of life cannot be the same as every parents views and beliefs. so religion in school will bring many problems for many people. i think thats why there are schools for different religions. If you dont wnat to pay to put them in then tahts your problem

Putting prayer back in public schools would rightfuly offend atheists and members of non-christian religions and is an affront to the concept of a multicultural society. The fact that christians are trying to do this is probably detrimental to the worlds's perception of the christian religion. What would christians think if muslims were to try to force schools to teach Islamic beliefs in the classroom....it is absolutely no different than what christians are trying to do....or should schools (and the taxpayers) accomodate all the religions on the planet and hire as many teachers and build as many classrooms as needed?

Reply to Erica P: You say "it takes more faith to be an atheist than to be a christian, I would highly advise you to believe in God before its to late." Really, as an atheist I have no faith, unless my belief that things work according to scientific laws can be called faith (and as a good Popperian, I am able to contemplate the idea that any scientific hypothesis may some day be shown to be inaccurate). Atheism is not a faith -- it stems from an attitude of scepticism, questioning and testing.
You also say "Christianity and God are not myths or superstitions." Well, to me, they don't look any different, in terms of evidence, from the ancient Greek myths of Zeus and Apollo and Dionysus, except that Jehovah is a far less appealing character than any of these. What grounds do you have for claiming they are not myths or superstitions?

Preach it sister!

    Dear Lord, when will they ever listen. In 1968 prayer and the ten commandments were removed from our schools. Would any of you non believers like to check it out and find out when our children started killing one another. These kids are allowed to listen to all the trash music out there, they can sit in front ot the T.V. for hour after hour, watching people getting shot, sliced up, hung, beaten to death, drugged up, raped  and then you expect them to behave and do onto others as they would like to be treated. Don't get me started on video games.

All of the charts you want to find or can find, clearly show a steady rise in young offenders crime. Every single day you can turn on the news and yet another school shooting, two dead one injured. Small children are being picked up and sometimes directly out of the back yard. Just last week a new born baby boy in western Canada was taken from the hospital nursery by a nineteen year old. Thank God he was found, and the main reason he was found, was because pretty much all of Canada who are believers prayed collectively, and I am quite certain that many Americans who heard about it joined in. Now don't tell me that prayer doesn't work.

As for prayer in our schools, what is wrong with the teachers allowing students a two or three minute time period first thing in the morning to pray to their own God. As for the ten commandments, have any of you non believers ever read them. Each and every one of them can be used by every faith. All you need to do is use your own words to tell everyone not to rob, kill, covet, lie, take Gods name in vain, have no other Gods etc.

It really is just that simple. It is a proven fact that children who start their days of with prayer are both mentally and physically, happier and healthier through out the day. When you yourself, start your day off in a posative manner.  When you look good, you feel good and when you feel good your day even at work turns out to be a more productive day, and that my friends should make you feel just great.

Even our Courts have removed the words IN GOD WE TRUST, from behind the judge's bench. Swear on the Bible not in this Country. 

Our money still says IN GOD WE TRUST, but I kind of think it's the money that you worship, you just have to have those things.

Our young offienders walk down the street with the middle finger up to a policeman and he can't do a darn thing with him until age 18, until then they can get away with just about anything,

"If any man lack wisdom, let him ask it of GOD." ......sounds like a request for "prayer" to me. People say that schools are for teaching "FACTS" not "superstitions"........per capita, I wonder what the "FACTS" support, concerning deaths per child per school hour, in both our "PUBLIC SCHOOLS" (no prayer) and "PRIVATE SCHOOLS" (with prayer).  "There is a way that SEEMS right unto man, but its end is death." UHMMMMM? Everyone SEEMS to be so concerned for "The Children" in policies written in our governments, i.e. health care, child support issues......but no one in government seem to care about a child's "Right to Choose" when it comes to matters of spiritual issues. It appears that as long as the "issue" before the people, ultimately leads to "wrecked lives" and "death" then those issues are "protected"; .......if those "issues" promote "civility and life", these are reviewed with great disdain and shunned. "Old School Thinking" ...."The FOOL has said in his heart, "NO GOD!!!"  As a society, we are slowly saying "YES" to everything, EXCEPT for GOD. No one ever BREAKS the Laws of GOD, but only break themselves upon them. If the ideas that I have presented here represent "WEAK MINDEDNESS" then sign me up!!!!  "Good Judgement comes from EXPERIENCE, EXPERIENCE comes from BAD JUDGEMENT." "PUT PRAYER BACK IN SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"