Imagine being  in a religious family and incorporating that in life, even school. But at school not everybody likes what you stand for so they torment you for it. Well, this is the case for 33% of kids in schools. In this article I will show you why we need to stop religious discrimination, but to do this I researched where most discrimination takes place--the schools. According to Rokia Hassanein, author of "U.S Department Of Education Takes Aim At Religious Discrimination " 2,000 K-12 teachers published in April, more than one-third of the teachers noticed anti-Muslim sentiments growing in schools during this election cycle." That means 33% of schools will have  religious troubles in the hallways. This could easily be resolved with a school meeting and an expansion on bullying motives on how to stop them. "Just this week, a Muslim woman’s clothing was set on fire and two Muslim women who were pushing strollers were attacked by a woman who told them to get out of the country" (Rokia Hassanein).This shows that the school discrimination is starting to branch out to the public life and this could end up costing the U.S    

Bullying is wrong, we all know this. It is repealed by most schools in the U.S as a sinful way to treat anyone. The ads to stop bullying are aimed at  looks, personalities, and clothing,  but what happens when it hits closer to home? What happens when it is about a person’s religion?

Stop Bullying says that "Very little research has explored bullying based on religious differences, but more about how they express it." Bullies will target those that are wearing  Hijabs, Turbans, and Yarmulkes.  All of these items are representations of people's religions. This is upsetting to most people.  It would be like a white person getting for wearing Converse.

Bullying also points out "Several reports also indicate a rise in anti-muslim and anti-sikh bullying over the past decade." Not only are they being targeted, there are rises in the numbers. That could mean that a boy who wears a yarmulke would be bullied  in middle school and all the way until high school. The bullying may not be that big of an issue in schools right now but if bullying cases have  increased heavily in the last decade then it is bound to be a problem. For the students that are bullying teens for their religious thoughts, It is stated in the First Amendment that:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
Through the U.S Constitution, bullies are prohibited from bullying kids about their religion but that doesn't mean that the problem is solved.

The U.S is infamous from letting immigrants from other countries come in, in fact, this country was started by people from other countries, but not all of them have religious freedom. Though there is torment because of religious beliefs, humans have their own way of thinking and this should be respected.  It’s unbelievable that we should be dealing with religious discrimination. According to Pellot "In 13 countries, atheists can be put to death for their lack of belief." Granted this doesn’t happen in the United States, but it is happening in other countries. Should other countries practice this? In my opinion, we should be role models for the other countries so we can help. When people from other countries come over to America they should not be greeted with constant torment because of what they believe. If other countries practice this we could have more peace and stop the wars going on because of religion, but the only way to do that is by stopping discrimination.

Problems of religious discrimination are all over the country, It's wrong and we all know that but should we be allowed to discuss religion in public schools? Isn't that what private schools are for? Well according to the U.S Department of Justice "Public primary and secondary schools, as well as public colleges and universities, should be open to all members of the public, regardless of their faith."  The answer is yes. As an American citizen I have the right to practice any religion I want. As for private schools, those are citizens’ choices to make childrens’ religious beliefs stronger. This should be the same for public schools too but with different sorts of beliefs, No child should have to worry about discrimination because of their religion.

Separation of Church and Sttate is in the U.S Constitution. Despite this fact, bullying on religious belief and attire is at an all time high. In order to fix this we need to reconsider why this law was put in the Constitution. Well, why was separation of Church and State added inside the constitution? According to Ellen Pearson, "The expression separation of church and state" can be traced to an 1802 letter that Thomas Jefferson sent to Danbury Baptists association of America, He stated Religion Is "a matter that lies solely between man & his god." With that quote the President of the U.S. at the time, Jefferson, asserted that religious thoughts should not be judged or persecuted for any reason, and we should be freely able to make our own religious decisions. Jefferson made a boundary between church and state which made us free to practice whatever we please with no appointed religion, Jefferson established this vision because it is a matter of human rights to practice the religion of  a person’s  choice.

Religious discrimination is a very serious issue and we as people need to stop it. We will get our word across to stop the bullying and make the environment safer, we demand this now.