Peer Pressure and Public Prayer

I am facinated by those who insist that school-lead prayer is a good thing and that those who don't want to particpate don't have to do so. And I wonder if those people remember anything about what life was like when they were in school.

Let me start by saying I see nothing wrong, whatever, with any student, at any time, saying a soft prayer. As long as there are math tests, there will be prayer in school.

But, while it is one thing for an adult to refuse to participate in public prayer, it is quite another for a child. Children want (and need) to belong to the group. A child who refused to participate in public prayer would be ostrasized. And it is tough enough already to be part of anything.

As a late developer, I know what it was like to be 5' 6" as a senior in high school. Not big enough to participate in sports, not smart enough to be a nerd, not "handsome" enough to be a hit with the girls.

I was thinking of the lyrics of "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian. Remember?

"To those of us who knew the pain
Of Valentines that never came
And those whose names were never called
When choosing sides for basketball
It was long ago and far away
The world was younger than today
When dreams were all they gave for free
To ugly duckling girls like me."

Again children want and need to belong. Forcing them to make a choice at their age between fitting in with the group by praying to something in which they don't believe or not participating and being outed, seems to me to be most unfair.

And, besides, isn't it the folks who are pushing public prayer who also want to forbid schools from teaching morality and sex education saying that is the job of the parents and churches? Of course it is. But they only feel that way when it is their ox which is being gored. Hypocrisy.