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School Multi Cultural Visits
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Today Youngest Junior O (12) has gone on his 4th multi cultural visit to a mosque and a sikh temple. They have their lunch boxes checked to make sure there is nothing in it (i.e. a ham sarnie) that will cause offence. I have had to pay £10 for the honour. I wonder how many Moslem/Sikh children go on multi cultural visits to churches/synagogues etc? I have decided this is the last one he is going on and will keep him off school when they have to go again next year. On a lighter note, he announced this morning he needed a bandana to wear in the Sikh temple. I couldn't find one so much to his disgust he has been sent with a pink & silver scarf.
Rant over.
Rant over.
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NewJudge - forgive me but most of the first paragraph of your last comment is pure supposition as to what they are told, as i doubt you have ever been on a school trip to a mosque . I have a 12 year old and yes -he is quite capable of making his own mind up about a religion even though he may see two different sides to it - he just has to watch any news programme to see the bad side of Islam so a trip to a mosque is not going to sway him into thinking the Muslim faith is something it isn't -no more than visiting a catholic church is going to sway him towards celibacy or homosexuality.
Sorry if it was not clear, fred, but no, I do not believe children should visit mosques or any other religous establishment of any faith as part of their schooling. What they are told, what they absorb or what they believe are not relevant. Religion should not be taught in schools. It should be a matter for the children's parents or the children themselves when their parents deem them old enough.
"Sorry if it was not clear, fred, but no, I do not believe children should visit mosques or any other religous establishment of any faith as part of their schooling. What they are told, what they absorb or what they believe are not relevant. Religion should not be taught in schools. It should be a matter for the children's parents or the children themselves when their parents deem them old enough. "
Ridiculous, with respect. That way all children will ever pick up about religion, unless they are lucky, is either their parents' own beliefs or no information at all. Proper "Religious Education" .i.e. education about religions, as opposed to religious indoctrination, is just as valid a school subject as any other.
Ridiculous, with respect. That way all children will ever pick up about religion, unless they are lucky, is either their parents' own beliefs or no information at all. Proper "Religious Education" .i.e. education about religions, as opposed to religious indoctrination, is just as valid a school subject as any other.
I don’t understand a lot of things. In particular I don’t understand any religion. But I don’t fear or hate them, I just don’t understand them, that’s all.
It is all very well saying it is only “education about religion” but mrs_o’s son’s teachers are hardly going to say “Today children we’re going to a branch of an organisation which treats gay people as an abomination and which subjugates 50% of its followers to less than second class status based solely on their gender”. If Islam was not a recognised religion but simply a group of people who held such beliefs they would be castigated and children would not be allowed anywhere near them at any time, let alone having an introduction to them provided as part of State education.
The reason that there is “bad feeling” in some communities is because people insist on manifesting their religious beliefs in public. There is also no place for this. I am always amused when I hear about Northern Ireland’s “Catholic areas” and “Protestant areas”. There would be no such enclaves if people kept their religious beliefs to themselves. I have no idea what, if any, religion my neighbours follow, and why should I? As a result I have no good or bad feeling about them one way or another, certainly not as far as their religion goes.
I must say that I have directed my attention towards Islam because it was the original subject, but most religions have some disagreeable or objectionable aspects about them and are best given a wide berth. There is obviously discomfort among some parents being taught about some (if not all) religions. That is how mrs_overall’s question began. Religion not a matter of fact, it is a matter of opinion and causes massive strife throughout the world. The best way that children can be educated about religion is to show them the results of some of that strife and suggest to them that they try to conduct their lives without running the risk of falling foul of indoctrination by any of them. There is certainly no place for it in State education. I don’t think I can say much more.
It is all very well saying it is only “education about religion” but mrs_o’s son’s teachers are hardly going to say “Today children we’re going to a branch of an organisation which treats gay people as an abomination and which subjugates 50% of its followers to less than second class status based solely on their gender”. If Islam was not a recognised religion but simply a group of people who held such beliefs they would be castigated and children would not be allowed anywhere near them at any time, let alone having an introduction to them provided as part of State education.
The reason that there is “bad feeling” in some communities is because people insist on manifesting their religious beliefs in public. There is also no place for this. I am always amused when I hear about Northern Ireland’s “Catholic areas” and “Protestant areas”. There would be no such enclaves if people kept their religious beliefs to themselves. I have no idea what, if any, religion my neighbours follow, and why should I? As a result I have no good or bad feeling about them one way or another, certainly not as far as their religion goes.
I must say that I have directed my attention towards Islam because it was the original subject, but most religions have some disagreeable or objectionable aspects about them and are best given a wide berth. There is obviously discomfort among some parents being taught about some (if not all) religions. That is how mrs_overall’s question began. Religion not a matter of fact, it is a matter of opinion and causes massive strife throughout the world. The best way that children can be educated about religion is to show them the results of some of that strife and suggest to them that they try to conduct their lives without running the risk of falling foul of indoctrination by any of them. There is certainly no place for it in State education. I don’t think I can say much more.
New Judge wrote:
//The best way that children can be educated about religion is to show them the results of some of that strife and suggest to them that they try to conduct their lives without running the risk of falling foul of indoctrination by any of them. There is certainly no place for it in State education. //
I totally agree with you. My children have been partly educated Canada and no religion what-so-ever was taught in school. That was what Sunday Schools were for - at the choice of the parents.
//The best way that children can be educated about religion is to show them the results of some of that strife and suggest to them that they try to conduct their lives without running the risk of falling foul of indoctrination by any of them. There is certainly no place for it in State education. //
I totally agree with you. My children have been partly educated Canada and no religion what-so-ever was taught in school. That was what Sunday Schools were for - at the choice of the parents.
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