My Mom told me last week the city (I grew up in) was tearing down the water tower just down the street from their house.
I felt a pang of sadness when I learned of its destruction because the water tower was a monument on the backdrop of my childhood. I ran on the track and played in the baseball diamond next to it in elementary school. I walked by it every day on the way to middle school. I drove by it on the way to high school. Even seeing it as an adult brought me some level of comfort because it meant I was so close to being home. My husband and I even joked that I might get lost now. (I’m a landmark kind of gal. Who needs street names?)
Turns out, I’m not the only one who was attached to this object. My youngest sister, nearly 7 years old, expressed her despair over the loss of the water tower to her first grade teacher and then asked her, “Will you pray with me over the water tower?”
This put her public school teacher in a tight spot, and ultimately she ended up telling her no.
At Back to School Night, the teacher brought up the incident to my parents so they could talk to my sister about why she couldn’t pray with her. My parents explained everything to her in terms a 7 year old can grasp.
I’m so proud of my baby sister for turning to the Lord with her worries, but I’m also disappointed we live in a world where teachers have to tell their students no, even if they’d rather pray. I hope she absorbed the discussion my parents had with her and that this incident doesn’t deter her from praying in the future, since her teacher is someone I’m sure she looks up to.
So public school teacher friends, I’m wondering, if a child asks you to pray with him or her, and you happen to share the same faith, is it illegal or just frowned upon to do so? I know school officials go to great lengths to ensure teachers aren’t indoctrinating children with a religion (other than that of the state – wink wink), but I didn’t know this would violate any laws or policies.
How would you handle this if it were your child?
**Update** The more I think about this, the more I question whether or not I would want my (hypothetical) child’s teacher to pray with him or her. There is certainly a downside to the teacher doing so if they don’t share the specific “brand” of faith or offer to pray but somehow misguide the child in the process.