As a country that historically maintains separation of church and state, it is alarming to see that public schools across thirteen states in the US, including Alabama, Florida and Georgia, are reportedly replacing student counsellors with religious chaplains. According to The Humanist, this trend is rising at a disturbing pace.
Learning Con Law professors used to emphasize this boundary, ensuring that public school spaces cultivated open thought without coercing students towards a particular religious belief. After all, the purpose of schools is education and not conversion. However, with events such as the Supreme Court allowing state funding for Christian schools in Maine and public schools employing religious chaplains, the clear line of church and state separation is under threat.
Legislators in these states seem not to worry about potential implications on the mental wellbeing of students. More alarming is that the provision for these chaplains to be certified by the State Board for Educator Certification is missing from most bills, including Texas SB 763. The only stated requirement for chaplains under this law is a clear criminal background check.
To understand the potential harm this could do, consider the perspective of Dr. Lindsay Bira, a psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry at UT Health San Antonio. She warns that chaplains are not trained to understand the brain’s working or to offer optimally beneficial support in line with mental health best practices.
The push for the religious counsellors is strategically mistimed and erroneous, given there’s an unmet need for trained counsellors in schools. As opposed to placing religious personalities, several states, including Maryland, have been advocating for Counselors Not Cops.
This chaplain move is seen as a veiled narrative to divert attention from the real issue – prioritizing and allocating substantial budgets towards student mental health support. With the Supreme Court seemingly hesitating to enforce the leniency of the Establishment Clause, the incursion of Christianization efforts in the public schooling system is expected to rise.
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