As children bring their Bibles to school today, please share your prayers for them, their classmates, their teachers, and their families. Every school day in America should be considered “Bring Your Bible to School Day.”
Sadly, with increasing cultural polarization and broad misunderstanding of our constitutional rights, these liberties need to be re-taught, even to teachers and administrators. This includes prayer, sharing religious beliefs with peers, and a host of other protected activities. Schoolchildren must be allowed to freely exercise their religion—consistent with their schools’ guidelines governing secular speech and actions. They may not be curtailed on the basis of “separation of church and state.”
By a 7-2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed students have First Amendment rights in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. In the 1969 majority opinion, Justice Abe Fortas wrote, "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."
Today, the National Center for Life and Liberty works with Christian families, individuals, and organizations—especially churches and schools—to exercise their constitutional rights freely. Please join us in celebrating “Bring Your Bible to School Day” and praying for every school day to be an opportunity for students to learn about their Creator and Savior Jesus Christ.