The Public Schooling System During The United States

When looking at the history of America, it is fascinating to see how the public schooling system even got started. The first schools in America were not public schools, as many would presume. Instead, â€Å"the first schools in the United States were religious and not secular† (Elifson 1). Nearly all public schools, up to the 1960’s incorporated religion and prayer in their classrooms; however, in the last 50 years, prayer and religion in public schools has been debated over countless times. Even in Hudsonville, Michigan, which holds the record in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most churches on a single street, there is much debate over prayer and the teaching of Christianity, or any religion, in the public schools. When I†¦show more content†¦Samuel Ayers and Shelly Reid are two educators at schools in Texas and they agree with this statement. They argue constantly in their article that religions are essential in teaching social studies. Rei d and Ayers contend that, â€Å"[the] very faces of Europe and Africa were changed as Muslims and Christians battled over lands during the Middle Ages† (2). They also state that in other countries, â€Å"entire social systems are based on religious beliefs† (2). Consequently, this points to the fact that religion, in its entirety, is immensely important in teaching students the history of nations and many social systems that nations uphold. Reid and Ayers have proven that after receiving the knowledge of religion in some countries and understanding why their respective religions were important to them, â€Å"[students] achieved a deeper understanding of many current events, [especially] those involving the Middle East†(Ayers and Reid 2). It is perfectly clear that in many circumstances, knowing the religious background of a nation will help enlighten the students to better understand why some nations hold a particular stance on a given matter (Ayers and Reid 1-3 ). Another author, Rob Boston, talks about this subject in less detail. He argues that â€Å"legitimate instruction about religion as an academic subject in public schools [is not] a problem. As long