Religion electives in public schools

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If anybody is in a position to change things about public schooling, please help me with this idea. I feel middle and high school should offer religion as an elective. In the U.S., prayer in public school is outlawed yet drugs are epidemic. To offer religion, say the big four - Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism - taught in a survey manner with high focus put on the value of human lives might make a big difference in the lives of our young people. Let's rally together and do this! I'm trying to plant the seed with the U.S. Department of Education. Anything you can think of to drive this issue provided that you agree with me would be very much appreciated.

(1) Prayer per se is not "outlawed" in public schools. Compulsory State-sanctioned prayer which would violate the 1st Amendment's separation of church & State is.
(2) Religious children are more selfish, cruel, and vindictive than their secular counterparts
(3) Under the current regime (including the Vice President and the Secretary of Education), any religious initiative in the public school system is guaranteed be exclusively Fundamentalist Christian.
(4) 'Comparative Religion' is often offered as a Liberal Arts elective in college. High School students are frequently given the opportunity to audit college courses.
(5) Considering the literacy level of some High School graduates I've met (including literacy in fields like science, economics, and civics), the public school system has much bigger fish to fry.

Religion should not be part of the curriculum in any public school anywhere. School should be about facts and skills and especially the facts and skills kids will need in life. That doesn't include imaginary friends and fairy tales

I fully agree with Piobaire and Skilpadde, and not at all with RightGalaxy.

Any state-run school is prohibited by law from giving precedence to any religion; and, by implication, from excluding any one religion as well. So, if any one religion is to be taught in a state-run school, then all religions must be taught. This includes both Christianity AND Satanism, as well.

And if only the "Christian" religion is to be taught, then which one? Roman Catholicism? Jehovah's Witness? Southern Baptist? Branch Davidian? The People's Temple Agricultural Project and Guyanese Kool-Aid Party?

I noticed that the OP omitted Islam from her list of "Big Four" religions. I have to wonder what her REAL agenda might be...

It wouldn't likely be constitutional in the US. Some of the Founding Fathers were vehemently against religion being taught in schools and their policies are reflected in law. Among them, Thomas Jefferson was the most stern in his disapproval of the practice. He considered religion a strictly and profoundly personal matter and thought that when institutions tampered with it or forced it on the people, it compromised their religious liberties.

Anyway, even if you made an effort to develop an unbiased understanding of each religion in policy, you know that the system would be abused by those who favored one or the other. I learned about Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism in Catholic School. They were mere scraps and usually only taught in the context of "and this is why we're right." There's no reason to think that pre-dominantly Christian public schools will be any different. I mean, look at how they treat religion in history. You can always tell what religious background the teacher/writer comes from.

If parents want their children to learn religion, then their options are:

1. The parents can teach religion to their children themselves. Parents have been doing this for thousands of years anyway, and it seems to work.

2. Send their children to a privately-run religious school. This is also an historical practice, and it also seems to work.

3. Change the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to allow the federal government to allow public schools to teach religion. The only sticking-point would be deciding on which religion, which sect of that religion, and what religious doctrine to teach.

I absolutely believe in the total separation of church and state.