Does prayer have a place in schools?
Many private religiously affiliated schools in the US have this routine. Prayer does not have to be oriented towards one religion or affiliation. Prayer is simply a way to center, surrender and ground your day for whatever is coming.
For children in school this gets them ready for the fun learning ahead. Many schools in India do not have a separate music program and through this daily routine followed in many schools through out India children enjoy a bit of music.
In our Primary school ( New Era Girls High School in Baroda, Gujarat) a group of children were selected from each class for different days of the week and they stood in front of the whole school and sang the prayers.
Our prayers were directed to mother nature, the sun, the moon, wisdom etc.
What I got from it was this:
1. No more stage fright: I wasn’t scared after a few times to go in front of the whole school and sing my heart out with my friends.
2. Leadership skills: I volunteered each chance I got to go up there and lead the school in a prayer.
3. Friendship: Our group of girls practiced in recess so we can sing and get better each time we got up there.
4. Importance of taking a pause: This taught me that each day before I began my daily work, I needed to pause and take a breath, gather myself and be ready to take on the day!