freedom for who?

While reading our government textbook I was reminded of a conversation I had with my debate teacher about the separation of church and state. At our school’s graduation ceremony student speech, the officer always inserts something along the lines of “god blesses you all you go off to college.” She believes this makes some students uncomfortable, especially when the top students at school are those of Buddhist decent. This raises an interesting question. Does a student speech in school violate the first amendment? While the student is not employed by the state and therefore does not represent the will or opinions of the school or government, the speech is still being given at a school event which the school should be held somewhat accountable for. But in doing so would the school be violating the rights of the student? After all it is unlikely that any action would be taken against the student if he or she said “god bless you” to every student individually. So where do we draw the line? The first amendment is in place to prevent citizens from being alienated for and able to practice their beliefs, whatever they may be. Any student who is made to sit in place while surrounded by others who are openly expressing their religious ideals would feel both trapped and isolated. A mob mentality might also influence the students in such a way that they will begin to doubt their faiths, something that the parents of our nation have expressed strong feelings against. Personally I don’t consider a student given speech to be an unconstitutional influence over the religious rights of others since the speech is simply the thoughts of the student so long as it’s limited to a few sentences at most, and doesn’t push the religion on others. “God bless you” is only meant to be positive words of encouragement, which I believe should be allowed as such.