Prayer in Schools

First I would like it noted that I am saying that I know that prayer is allowed in schools, and that as of right now prayer is not banned. This is not what I am fighting against. What I am fighting for is the freedom to pray more freely in schools. I have read countless times about someone receiving detention for praying in a public school, and I myself have watched someone almost get suspended for having a bible in their locker. It is coming to a point where schools are not just neutral to all religions, but anti-Christian. Now that that is settled, I would like to state that since prayer has been on a tight watch people's morals have declined. Specifically looking at between 1960 and 1990 you see during this period "divorce double(d), teenage pregnancy went up 200%, teen suicide increased 300%, child abuse reached an all-time high, violent crime went up 500% and abortion increased 1000%" (William Bennett). This man was a Secretary of Education, and through the information given was able to clearly show that the more prayer was watched over, and had rules put upon it in schools the worse America's morals became. If students pray in school they are performing a part of their religion, and once they begin to pray their minds wonder to other important things they believe in. Once reminded, they would most likely not participate in many things that in today's society believes is wrong, or by a religion standard is sinful. Citation- . http://restore-christian-america.org... Another point I would like to address is that prayer has been a part of America from the day it was discovered. One of the biggest things that Americans wanted while they fought for their freedom was to have the freedom of religion. They wanted to be able to practice whatever religion it was that they wanted to believe in. Out of the first 108 universities built on American soil, 106 of which were religion based. There was one man, Horace Mann, who allowed his "pupils to sing Protestant hymns, read from a Protestant Bible (King James Version), offered Protestant prayers" (Gaustad). This meaning that students were able to practice their religion in their own school. This was back in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s. By letting his students do so he was able to keep a healthy and wanted environment for many of his students. Teenagers want their freedom, and when something is taken teens do not take it lightly. All teens know that America wanted freedom of religion, and that religion was a huge part of school. When teenagers are told that they cannot pray without being questioned of their intentions, or someone saying that they are offending them of practicing their religion. For them to practice something that they are called to do. Times have changed, but ponder this, have they changed to the point that we as a country have lost the moral that we once had to make America great. Many things need to change, but this is not one of those things. There are certain things in life that cannot be controlled, and praying is something that should not have to be controlled. The first idea for people coming to this country was to practice their religion, no one stopped them. Also, I am debating for inside public schools. If you would go to a private school, you would have the opportunity to pray if you went to a Christian school. This is why for this debate the focus is all around public schools, and nothing to do inside private schools. I would also like to ask that if you are to use any citations in this debate that you would not use any . com due to the fact that many times is unreliable, and instead use a . org or . gov.