Despite the Supreme Court making it clear that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” the fact that the constitutional conflict at Park Lakes would even arise is quite troubling. Every student is constitutionally guaranteed the right to exercise their religious beliefs in a public school, although a school cannot mandate prayer or endorse an official religion. The question is, how long will the people of United States stand to tolerate our government’s overreaching behavior in every aspect of our lives?

When the first settlers of this nation took the risk of beginning a new life here in North America, many of them did so to escape religious oppression and persecution brought on by King James of England against the Puritans. Giovanni certainly did not suffer the wrath of King James in his classroom. However, the fact that religious persecution still exists hundreds of years since the arrival of the Puritans in America and the establishment of religious freedom in the United States, our forefathers would be disappointed to witness the lack of progress we have made. The ignorance of the lessons they taught us and foundations they laid down for us just very well may be the issue at hand.