Am i wrong?

[trekbabe 0]

My daughter, Amy, came home from school yesterday and told me she got a detention from her R. E teacher. The teacher asked them all what they found interesting about Islam, and my daughter replied " nothing", so she gave her a detention.

 

Now i learn that thay want her, and all the class to learn about the faith, though the majority of them have told the teacher they do not wish to. That they would rather spend their lesson concentrating on their own faith( roman catholicism)

 

I live in an city where the ratio of Asians is very high,and a lot of Asian children go to Amy's school. Thay do not have to participate in the daily routine of the catholic faith, and rightly so, as it is not their chosen faith and to force them to do so would be wrong. This is exactly how i feel regarding my daughter so i am going to ring the school this morning and voice my objections about making her study a faith she has no interest in, or desire to learn about. Furthermore, if they push the issue i will take it further.

 

Am i wrong?

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I don't think you are wrong at all. I'm not sure what R.E. is but it is not right to force a person to learn about a religion they do not wish to learn about (in my opinion).

 

That's one reason that the public school system here in the United States is not permitted to teach anything "faith based".

 

I myself went to a Baptist Jr. High school for 7th grade and for 8th through 12th grades I went to a school that was basically Pentecostal. At those schools (private schools) there was a daily Bible class and a weekly chapel service and those were all based on our own faith, any studies we did on other religions were informational only and I honestly don't remember too many classes on other faiths.

 

If I were in your position I would not only complain to the school and teacher but I would in turn do something as a reward for your daughter to make up for the punishment. Maybe a movie, or a special lunch out. Let her know it's ok to have no interest in another religion. I would, in fact also let the school know that I was rewarding her for in order to nullify the punishment they inflicted.

 

I suggest this from personal experience, when I was in high school I was suspended for wearing tennis shoes on a non gym day. True, it was a "violation" of the rules but no one else had ever been punished for it in the past and I (and 3 friends) were being made an "example".

 

My parents saw this as an unjust punishment and on the day of my suspension (a Friday) they allowed me to go to a movie (I think it was Rambo: First Blood Part II) with my 3 friends that were suspended with me. Not only that but they called the school to voice their displeasure and informed them of our "special movie day" during school hours.

 

The school didn't like it but that was too bad. My 3 friends parents had the same reaction as my parents and were in full agreement with the "Movie Day".

 

Anyway, I've rambled enough here. LOL

[RikerChick 5]

While I think it's great to learn the basic teachings of other religions, the school system has no right to force religion on anyone. I'd let 'em have it.

[ddillard 2]

I completely agree. It is not right for any educational system to force a child to learn about a religion in which they are not interested. I think that religion should be taught by the church and the parents, unless the child is enrolled in a religious school. I agree with VBG here reward your daughter and let the school have it.

[trekbabe 0]

Thanks for your comments and reassurance. The movie idea is great VBG, I will do that.

[A l t e r E g o 9]

AAARRRGGHHH!

[A l t e r E g o 9]

AAARRRGGHHH!

I've calmed down now and I'm sorry about that, I agree with VBG and if I were you and could afford it I would consider making a Federal Case out of this incident.

[Lessa_Soong 0]

That is outrageous! :lol: Its great to see a mom who stands by her child like you are. While I to think its interesting to learn about other faiths ( I am currently studying the Jewish faith for a story) that was my choice and it was not shoved down my throat.

I agree, let the school have it!

[Abakai2003 0]

The Idea of RE is to educate people about other Religions, to promote understanding. other wise you get a intolarence to others culture. I hated RE but Understood what the aim of the lessons where for. It is not there to brain was kid to a new religion but should teach them about a balanced selection af diferent belefes.

[TrekkieMage 0]

Being a student myself, I'm curious about other religions.

 

BUT, a school has absolutly no right to force children to learn about other RELIGIONS other customs, yes, general beliefs. But not religion. It is up to them and their families, not their school. :lol:

[VaBeachGuy 12]

The Idea of RE is to educate people about other Religions, to promote understanding.  other wise you get a intolarence to others culture.  I hated RE but Understood what the aim of the lessons where for.  It is not there to brain was kid to a new religion but should teach them about a balanced selection af diferent belefes.

I can agree that it's not a bad thing to learn about others beliefs, but to punish a child for finding nothing interesting about that religion is shameful.

 

Here in the U.S. there's always been a big debate about having prayer in school. Currently public schools do not have prayer. I believe prayer in school is a good thing but I agree that it shouldn't be in public schools. It's not for the government to decide what god to pray to. I also believe it's not up to the government to teach about religion. That's for church and families, and if the child isn't interested then there shouldn't be a punishment other then (if this is a mandated class) a failing grade if you don't properly do the work.

 

Trekbabe, let us know how the movie goes.

[trekkergirl220 0]

Being a student myself, I'm curious about other religions.

 

BUT, a school has absolutly no right to force children to learn about other RELIGIONS other customs, yes, general beliefs. But not religion. It is up to them and their families, not their school.  :lol:

I agree, I am also still a student, and that is definately not right! To give someone a detention for their opinion is totally unfair and uncalled for! :lol: You should definately call up the school and complain and then take your daughter to a movie! that is an excellent idea! I have seen similar things hppen to kids in my school and it is not right for the school to force kids to learn religions which are not their own.

[Yillara Skye 1]

No, you are not wrong at all. The school has no right to force the issue. It should be what the child and his/her family chooses to study.. My family is Lutheran, and my little sister converted to Catholocism(Her husband is Catholic)...we supported her choice, and she did it on her own. So, I say let the school have it!!!

[trekbabe 0]

Thankyou all for your support. I spoke to the school this morning and told them that not only would she not be doing the detention but she wouldn't be present in her Religous Education classes either. I explained to the teacher that if Amy was interested in Islam i would have no problem with her learning anything, but she hasn't. The teacher said it was out of her hands( typical i know) as it is a curriculum set out by the head of the school and the bishop of the diocese, so my next step is to take the issue up with them, and i think i willl inform the local education authority as well !!!

 

In the meantime, till i get it all sorted out i have told Amy that instead of going to R.E class, to go to the library and use it as study time.

 

Anyway, i'll keep you posted on what happens. Even though i have put a stop to the detention her Dad and I are still gonna take her to the movies and McDonald's at the weekend. I told her how proud i am of her for telling the truth about how she feels and that she has done nothing wrong.

 

Thanks again everyone.

[Sarah 0]

NOT TO PLAY THE DEVILS ADVOCATE ( parden the pun)

but I see how your daughters comment could have been taken the wrong way by the teacher.....

 

in my history class in highschool the teacher gave a test on what we "thought" about the most influencial people in our lives.......

 

one question asked "out of all our great leaders who did [ I ] feel was the greatest"......to that I replyed that they all were great to me and that I should not have to choose the BEST.......................so anyway I failed the test that was grading us on our own opinion......I went to the principle to straiten things out but I still recieved only a B at the end of the year......

 

teachers read to much into everything the simple answer of NOTHING might just have set the teacher off unexplainablly.......

call the school set up a meeting between yourself your child the teacher and the principle and even more handy is to be able to get a schools counselor involved as well.................Best of luck to ya

[trekbabe 0]

I understand what you're saying Sarah, and you make a good point. Perhaps a lack of proper communication caused the detention, but i still think it's wrong forcing another religion on students who don't want it.

[joeybear 0]

i think it outrageous that a student be punished for voicing her opinion - i too attended catholic school, and sometimes found the stricture too much - standing up for your child is the only way to show her that her opinions, even if unpopular, have merit - BRAVO!!!

[Xeroc 0]

A school has no right to force a student to learn about a religion they don't want to.

[Klingonmike 0]

Glad you did what you did trekbabe,you should be proud of your child for speaking her opinion.I hope your letting the school know how proud of her you are and that she is being rewarded for what she did. :lol:

[Lollypop 0]

I hate it when schools force you to learn something that you are not interested in. We have something similar going on here. The schools want to force the kids to learn Maori. Only 4 percent of Maoris speak maori. What good is a language that is only used in New Zealand ?. I think they should be taught Chinese, or something similar.

 

Sorry to get off the topic but I get hot under the collar about this.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

Giving your daughter detention for not finding a topic (any topic) interesting is shameful. Does that teacher not realize she is only building resentment for the subject by her actions? However, I don't know how old your daughter is but the sad, hard truth of life is that brown-nosing gets you further than honesty - I know because I still speak my mind.

 

Others have mentioned that schools don't teach religion in the US - that is supposed to be true but the same issue has arisen in some schools here - regarding Islam particularly.

 

I wasn't clear if the lesson was to simply to explain what Islam is and the same is also done for other religions. I think one purpose of education is to introduce us to the variety of life and I don't see a lot of difference in learning about a culture based on faith as learning about a culture based on geography. Requiring the child to practice that faith would be different.

 

I hope you get it worked out

[trekbabe 0]

The teacher also wanted them to learn the prayers and kneel on the prayer mats that are used, and apparantly the asian kids were laughing at them....interesting to note that not one of the kids would do it. My daughter told the teacher that when her asian friend ate a bacon buttie she would kneel on the prayer mat. She said she knew her comment was a bit over the top but she wanted the teacher and students to understand how offensive she found the request.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

The teacher also wanted them to learn the prayers and kneel on the prayer mats that are used, and apparantly the asian kids were laughing at them....interesting to note that not one of the kids would do it. My daughter told the teacher that when her asian friend ate a bacon buttie she would kneel on the prayer mat. She said she knew her comment was a bit over the top but she wanted the teacher and students to understand how offensive she found the request.

I find it offensive as well (the request to kneel and pray). Why not teach them about satanic sacrifices while they are at it? That's just unbelievable. Is this a private or public school?

[Theunicornhunter 2]

The teacher also wanted them to learn the prayers and kneel on the prayer mats that are used, and apparantly the asian kids were laughing at them....interesting to note that not one of the kids would do it. My daughter told the teacher that when her asian friend ate a bacon buttie she would kneel on the prayer mat. She said she knew her comment was a bit over the top but she wanted the teacher and students to understand how offensive she found the request.

Wow...I'm glad her friends refused as well; I guess it makes it easier to have company. That seems so wrong to require them to do that. I would like to know if the teacher gets disciplined for going to far.

[trekbabe 0]

The teacher also wanted them to learn the prayers and kneel on the prayer mats that are used, and apparantly the asian kids were laughing at them....interesting to note that not one of the kids would do it. My daughter told the teacher that when her asian friend ate a bacon buttie she would kneel on the prayer mat. She said she knew her comment was a bit over the top but she wanted the teacher and students to understand how offensive she found the request.

I find it offensive as well (the request to kneel and pray). Why not teach them about satanic sacrifices while they are at it? That's just unbelievable. Is this a private or public school?

It's a state run school VBG. Any way Amy walked out of her class today when they asked her to write about the 5 pillars of Islam.... despite my insistence that she not be taught it.Looks like i'm gonna have to go up there in person to get my point across doesn't it?

[trekbabe 0]

The teacher also wanted them to learn the prayers and kneel on the prayer mats that are used, and apparantly the asian kids were laughing at them....interesting to note that not one of the kids would do it. My daughter told the teacher that when her asian friend ate a bacon buttie she would kneel on the prayer mat. She said she knew her comment was a bit over the top but she wanted the teacher and students to understand how offensive she found the request.

Wow...I'm glad her friends refused as well; I guess it makes it easier to have company. That seems so wrong to require them to do that. I would like to know if the teacher gets disciplined for going to far.

I will make sure of her being disciplined, and also my friend( who's daughter goes to the same school )told me last night that she has to write an essay entitled " how would you convert someone to Islam?" for her homework.....and if she doesn't do it she'll get a detention!!! Needless to say my friend is as outraged as I. it just seems to be going from bad to worse. There is definately a hidden agenda here, as i suspected.

 

The city i live in has a very high proportion of Asians, and there is very little integration. Since the riots a couple of years ago and the extra tension since 9/11 there has been talk of trying to integrate communities more, so it probably has something to do with that.That is a good idea in in itself but the hand of friendship always seems to be very one sided. There's no way my daughter is going to be a pawn in anyone's politically correct agenda.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

The teacher also wanted them to learn the prayers and kneel on the prayer mats that are used, and apparantly the asian kids were laughing at them....interesting to note that not one of the kids would do it. My daughter told the teacher that when her asian friend ate a bacon buttie she would kneel on the prayer mat. She said she knew her comment was a bit over the top but she wanted the teacher and students to understand how offensive she found the request.

I find it offensive as well (the request to kneel and pray). Why not teach them about satanic sacrifices while they are at it? That's just unbelievable. Is this a private or public school?

It's a state run school VBG. Any way Amy walked out of her class today when they asked her to write about the 5 pillars of Islam.... despite my insistence that she not be taught it.Looks like i'm gonna have to go up there in person to get my point across doesn't it?

Are there any seperation laws in the UK? (Seperation of church and state). I am not well versed in British law, if there is then this would seem to be a clear violation of the law. If there isn't then there really should be one.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

Are there any seperation laws in the UK? (Seperation of church and state). I am not well versed in British law, if there is then this would seem to be a clear violation of the law. If there isn't then there really should be one.

VBG,

If this is a private school separation of church and state wouldn't apply. Although I've heard some public schools in California have been doing this exact same thing and that is a clear violation. But there too a political agenda is calling the shots.

[TransporterMalfunction 1]

Are there any seperation laws in the UK? (Seperation of church and state). I am not well versed in British law, if there is then this would seem to be a clear violation of the law. If there isn't then there really should be one.

The majority of state run schools in the UK teach RE or RS as compulsory in the first few years. I believe it is known as positive discrimination as the majority of the time seems to be spent on religions other that Christianity.

 

I do believe that it is a good thing to learn a basis of the religions in your community, but I would be totally against anyone trying to make me practice what I do not believe, not only would be an insult to me but also to the people who follow that religion. It also affects the liberty and freedom of the individual.

 

I would have personally thought that there would be some basis for legal action as I am sure something would be done if it were Muslims being forced to practice Christian beliefs.

[trekbabe 0]

Are there any seperation laws in the UK? (Seperation of church and state). I am not well versed in British law, if there is then this would seem to be a clear violation of the law. If there isn't then there really should be one.

Good question VBG, and the answer is i don't know. I shall have to find out. I have never heard of seperation law, and assuming there is one just how would it work in my favour? pls forgive my ignorance, but i know very little about law.