School prayer
School prayer in its most common usage refers to state approved prayer by students in state schools. Depending on the country and the type of school, organized prayer may be required, permitted, or proscribed. The separation of church and state, in the United States, is one legal reason given for proscribing state sanctioned school prayers. Freedom of conscience, as in Canada, is another. This article focuses on national policy towards organized prayer in public (state-supported) schools. In the countries discussed in this article, unless stated otherwise private schools are free to organize prayers or not, as they see fit. In the United States, public schools are prohibited from sponsoring religious observances such as daily prayer. The legal basis for this prohibition is the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which requires that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
