School prayer in the United States, if organized by the school, is largely banned from public elementary, middle, and high schools by a series of
Supreme Court decisions since 1962. Students may pray privately, and join religious clubs in after-school hours.
Public schools, such as local school districts, are banned from conducting religious observances such as prayer. Private and parochial schools are not covered by these rulings, nor are colleges and universities.[
dubious – discuss] Elementary and secondary schools are covered because students are required to attend, and are considered more at risk from official pressure than are older students and adults. The Constitutional basis for this prohibition is the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which requires that: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...