For everyone to see: Optional or mandatory, it does not matter. State-sanctioned prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution. It's advancement of religion by the state, and therefore unconstitutional. You can thank the Founding Fathers for that. Let me make this clear: [b]State-sanctioned[/b] prayer is unconstitutional. Kids can pray in school if they like, you just can't have the school organize and promote the prayer. For example, If a some kids want to make a Bible Club and pray at lunch, they can absolutely do that. But you can't have the public school, an agent of the state, organize the prayer.