Award Winning Essay...Really???

(from http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/05/how-to-use-the-internet-wisely-for-your-health-and-your-countrys/256898/)

So...this past week on my Facebook timeline  there was a couple of "student" essays all award winners or A+ posted by the few, the proud, the under researched.  One award winning essay from a home schooler discussed those horrible government agencies. Agencies like the Nation Education Association.  That's right, the NEA is a Federal Government institution. I don't know how to tell you this, but the NEA is actually one of the two education unions in the US.  The other is the American Federation of Teachers or AFT.  Award was for what...poorly researched?

Then along came the A+ essay about how prayer and the pledge are no longer done in school.  The "essay" was not an essay in any format I've seen.  So an A+ for what? Alleged accuracy?  I've done this before, but one more time for the slow ones out there.  Most states have some form of a requirement for the Pledge of Allegiance.  Here is the link to that blog for the exact listing.

Next, prayer is not prohibited in school.  What is prohibited is the teaching of religion or school led prayer.  It is a violation of the Constitution.  You recall the Constitution?  I know that the only amendment that is sacrosanct is the 2nd amendment, but there is another that guarantees freedom of religion, and that's not freedom of only your religion.

The Supreme Court has made it pretty clear what schools and other public institutions can and cannot do when it comes to ensuring religious freedom. You probably missed the ruling in 1948 of McCollum v. Board of Education Dist.71 found "religious instruction in public schools a violation of the establishment clause and therefore unconstitutional." You may have also missed Engel v Vitale a landmark case in 1962 that held "any kind of prayer, composed by public school districts, even nondenominational prayer, is unconstitutional government sponsorship of religion." Or perhaps you didn't see Abbington School District v. Schempp in 1963 that held "Bible reading over school intercom unconstitutional" and Murray v. Curlett, also in 1963, which held "forcing a child to participate in Bible reading and prayer unconstitutional."

As far as not allowing students to pray or read the Bible there is another landmark case, Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) ruled "Students do not leave their rights at the schoolhouse door." There are some limitations  like  Schempp that applies to students leading prayer over the loud speaker  which is covered by  in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe in 2000.

Please remember, that your religion is not the only religion., and it took me about two minutes to find these Supreme Court cases.

 By the way, the blog on that one is here.

So here is just a little thought, try actually verifying something rather than just passing it on. Try getting your facts from some place that is not an agenda driven site or from just something from Facebook and Twitter.  Dumb is dumb and passing this dumb stuff only make you look dumb.