Are students allowed to pray at a public school?
ANSWER Individual students are free to pray, express religious viewpoints, read the Bible, and have religious discussions with other students, so long as they are not disruptive or disrespectful of the rights of other students. Students may also meet as a group for religious purposes. Under the federal Equal Access Act, if a secondary school permits extra-curricular student groups to meet during non-instructional time, religious groups must be given equal treatment. However, the Act does not allow teachers or other adults to lead the meetings, and courts have ruled that students may not deliver a sermon to a captive audience in a classroom or at a school-sponsored event. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held that prayers, including devotional Bible readings, organized or sponsored by a public school, whether over the public-address system, in the classroom, or during graduation ceremonies, violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Moments of silence, if us
