No, it was never banned. It was simply going in a wrong direction. People say that Madalyn Murray O'Hair had prayer banned in schools but what was banned was Bible reading. This was in 1963. A year before that the Supreme Court banned officially sponsored prayer in public schools.

Now here is where it gets strange. Most of my school mates are theists. They remember when prayer in public schools was allowed and they remember it as Baptists and Pentecostals. What I remember is teachers saying "those that want to can now have one minute of silent prayer."

In my area of mid Missouri it was nothing more and nothing less.

However let's be clear here, the fuss is about enforcing CHRISTIAN prayer in schools, and even then Protestant Christian prayer.
Imagine the fuss that would be made if Buddhist mantras, Catholic Hail Mary's, Satanic hail Satan's, The Odinsong, Islamic Fajr, Hebrew Shacharit were instituted for ALL students in US State schools?

They tried prayer in schools in Merrimack, NH when religious extremists got on the School Board. Didn't last very long. Quit screwing with our rights to have Division of Church and State.

There can be prayer in school. It just cannot be led by the school administrators or teachers and forced on the students.

Put Prayer back in the bedroom or the back seat of a car..."OH GOD" "OH GOD" "OH GOD".............

On July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died in bed of natural causes. That is one hell of a coincidence, or they were both hanging on, possibly struggling to breathe, until that day arrived.

Perhaps gathering that petition kept the foolish man going, and he wasn't totally foolish to have a cause; though, it was a foolish cause.

I find it all interesting how uninformed people are about what is law or what the exact wording of that law is. But then I feel that way about the interpretation of the second amendment. Also why would it be so important to force kids to pray in school when it should be parents praying with their children at home if that is their belief. Our country was founded on the principle of freedom of religion and also the separation of church and state so that should be the consistent answer

That's because Christianity not being actively taught in schools is seen as an attack by these folks. Anything at all that opens the floor to alternative or no belief systems is "war on christianity". They know damn well that people exposed to reason and secular lifestyles will abandon their organizations en masse.

If they are going to have voluntary prayer groups that's a good thing as it allows the school to identify the kids who need Ritalin.

Anyone who thinks prayer isn't allowed at school had obviously never been to a Midwestern public school

There's a little prayer group at my daughter's school, which she chooses not to attend. I don't see the correlation religious zealots make between prayer in school and all the woes of the world. It's like school prayer is part of a prayer insurance program and if you don't pray in school as your deductible, when you get stabbed in the neck later the prayers won't be there to save you? "Sorry, you didn't make your prayer deductible, so you're gonna die mmmmmkay? Read your policy." LOL