Schools censor religion to extreme, need to accommodate community served

A young girl, in the fifth grade, attending Superior Street Elementary School, signed up to be in the school talent show. She was planning on singing a song named “We Shine,” a song that includes verses such as “we belong to Jesus” and “we will shine.” This just seems like a typical school scenario, right? Don’t school holiday performances often include non-secular themes? Shouldn’t this be fine? Well, apparently Superior Street Elementary School thinks differently. The administrators told the girl she could not perform the song because it was “offensive” to non-Christians and they told her to “pick a song that does not say Jesus so many times.” This leads me to wonder if this is the first situation similar to this. Censoring religion causes many problems not only with the students, but with the community as well. Religion should not be censored to such an extreme degree in schools because we have freedom of religion in this country, the discussion of religion does not necessarily harm anyone as long as it remains discussed in a non-persuasive manner, and local schools have an obligation to accommodate the needs and beliefs of the community it serves.

One of the many freedoms we are granted as Americans is the first amendment, freedom of religion; meaning we have the right to choose our religion, and express it openly. Having this right, along with freedom of speech, means we should be able to use these openly anytime. Although our First Amendment rights are restricted in schools, we should still be able to freely vocalize our rights. For example, schools are allowed to have religious clubs, (Fellowship of Christian Athletes, after school bible clubs, etc.) but a student isn't allowed to sing a song for a talent show because it contains Jesus’ name.

Another reason why schools should not censor religion, is that talking about religion should not be offensive, as long as it's not persuasive. A student should be able to have a normal conversation with a teacher about religion. For instance, if a student asks a teacher about something a religious figure did (when it happened, what happened, etc.) the teacher should be able to answer the question, just as if it were a question about any other historical figure, without any backlash from the community or school board. My stance on the situation is, if the teacher is not directly telling students to follow a religion, it should be acceptable.

The final reason why schools should not censor religion is that schools need to take its students needs and beliefs into consideration. If a school is in a predominantly Jewish area, the school should have Jewish holidays off. When schools censor religion, the community may have harsh feelings towards the situation. For example, at my previous elementary school, they would not celebrate Christmas or any other religious holidays. Because of this, the community became angry at the school. This shows that schools should accommodate to the needs and beliefs of their students' religions.

Although separation of church and state is a law that's in place, we should still be able to celebrate and learn about other religions. As long as teachers and administrators are not trying to tell people to follow a certain religion, it should be fine. "Teach, don't preach," say many.

Religion should not be censored to such an extreme degree in schools because we have freedom of religion in this country, the discussion of religion does not necessarily harm anyone as long as it remains discussed in a non-persuasive manner, and local schools have an obligation to accommodate the needs and beliefs of the community it serves. Schools should not censor religion because as long as the teacher isn't preaching, no one is harmed.