Reaction Paper to Common Schools Essay

When I first started watching this video, I thought that it was just going to be another boring homework assignment like in all my other classes. To my surprise, the video actually wasn’t boring at all. I enjoyed watching it and would recommend it to anyone to watch. I enjoy informative videos and documentaries. What stands out in my mind about the video is how God was actually brought up and taught in the schools back then. The children were given the book The Primer and the hornbook which had a prayer in it. It’s crazy how much has changed since that time. Now in many schools when the Pledge of Allegiance is said, people will leave out â€Å"under God† because nobody wants to offend anybody who doesn’t believe in God. Even now when I look back at my elementary days, times have changed quite a bit. I remember when my teachers would have the class pray before we would go to eat lunch. As I child, I never thought that it was a bad thing to do. If anything, it would make children feel a little more appreciative of what they have instead of what they do not have. There was also times around Christmas and Easter when we would do projects that would involve God but nobody would ever make a big deal about it. Recently I have gone back and observed in a few classrooms in my hometown and it is totally different. Teachers don’t mention religion at all. Children don’t even say the Pledge of Allegiance and if children have a conversation about religion amongst themselves, the teacher has them stop talking about it. As a child that had religion in school, I feel grateful I was able to have that. Some children don’t have parents that take them to church or have anything to do with it and that little bit of prayer in school was the only thing they had. That gives children a sense of comfort that there is a higher power that is on their side. As a future educator, I feel like I know the boundaries as to where to draw the line with religion and school. I know not to be pushy or make any students feel uncomfortable about religion when they don’t believe the same way as someone else.