IT IS NOT recent news that Granger is one of the most culturally diverse schools in the state of Utah, and with multiple cultures comes multiple religions. Granger has students belonging to just about every religion in the world. But do students feel comfortable engaging in their religious activities in front of the school? Many students know with recent political action that publicly engaging in religious activity can cause heads to shake and opinions to flow.

“I think if Granger were to make a room for space and privacy of students they would have to make it for everyone because people would take it the wrong way because of how people think now, but it is a great idea to help the students catch a break from the stress at school” Fatima Halilcevic(11) said.

Fatima follows the Muslim faith and has seen the discrimination of fellow members on many occasions. A quiet room would let Muslim students -who have to pray five times a day- pray in peace and disperse their fear of judgement.

“I think the only people who could really use the room are Muslims. Hindus don’t really have special prayers or need that type of room. But it makes sense to have one here because even airports have Mosque Centers inside of them. As long as the room is not forced upon us or is interfering with class then it is a good idea” Amitoj Singh(11) said.

Muslims are not the only ones who could use this room. Apart from Muslim prayer there is also Buddhist Meditation which requires total concentration and relaxation. Some students are not religious and could use the quiet and relaxing room for some time to think.

Although the idea of a ‘safe room’ sounds great, it has its issues and drawbacks. The most important being the issue of separating religion from state, so this room could be seen as a religious establishment being used during school hours which is unlawful. If this room were to be used as a room for everyone then it would be considered lawful.

“A room where all these religions and cultures can go to peacefully worship is beautiful on the surface. But with the different political opinions these days it is a safe bet that it would come under some fire. It reminds me of chapels in hospitals where families can go and pray or sit alone to think and calm down. Then of course that is a hospital and this is a school and I believe strongly in separation of church and state. So overall it sounds super great, but I think it is too risky and it would be abused by the students to get out of class.” Mrs. Ward said.

There is the protest of the pledge at school going on at schools around the country to ban it from being somewhat required at school for the line “one nation under god…” because not all student’s religion worship a ‘god’. But there is no fine line of what is considered too religious and what is not, of course there is the blatantly obvious but most are open to opinion and have to be ruled judicially and this room lies within those obscure cases where problems exist only where one looks to create them.

“We have had something like this here at Granger before. It wasn’t a room specifically made for prayer or worship, but we did have an employee who was Muslim use a vacant room to pray. Of course a room like this could be established here at Granger if it was asked for enough and if it was open to everyone because of the problems that could arise if it was only for certain religions” Mr. Beck said.

There is no certainty of the response Granger would receive if a ‘safe room’ were to be established. Students could take it very well and welcome the idea of diversity or take it the legal way and see the problems associated with it. So far students have come to like the idea and say that it would be a nice thing to do especially for future students who may need spaces like this. Perhaps now is not the best time for this idea to take place, but there are students certainly ready to fight for this room in the future.