Religious Education at School... Good or Bad?

Question

Should rligious education be taught at schools or should it be upto the parents to make that infulance directly to their child?

Ok, my spelling is poor... :O)

No im not a teacher... I have a 6 year old daughter and am concerned that she will be infulanced or guided at school...

Answer 1

Instruction regarding a variety of cultural holidays and basic belief systems is good... we all need to know about how our neighbors celebrate good times and their faith.... ignorance breeds prejudice breeds violence.

On the other hand, NO faith or culture should be taught as the "right" way. Basic introduction using general statements "this is the way that Christians celebrate...." "this is the way that Jews celebrate..." "this is the way the Muslims celebrate..." "this is the way the Bhuddists celebrate..."

If parents are strong enough in their faith and instruction at home (love, warmth, and firm belief), their kids will learn basic multi-cultural information without being swayed away from their home faith.

NO ONE FAITH SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, especially NOT as the "right" faith. Even if the entire community is that faith. Public schools must be open and welcoming to all members of our society, and that means not imposing any belief system as "the right way."

PARENTS are responsible for teaching about "the right way"... whatever way that is for them.

Answer 2

If you are going to teach religion at school, which religion should you teach. Which one is appropriate? I think values can be taught at school, but religion should be kept to the mythology section and taught as such. Joseph Campbell did a really great series wherein he picked a theme, such as the myth of the virgin birth, and demonstrated how it occurrs in many different religions throughout the world and throughout history. Further, he explains why the myth was developed and how it has served to benefit the society where it was propagated. He covers all the myths: the floods and other natural devistations, the commandments, the hero savior, the miracles, etc.

For kids, Aesop's fables are a really good source for learning morality and good common sense.

For that matter, so are the original episodes of Star Trek.

Answer 3

I go to a Catholic school yet i am a Methodist myself. People might think that this perhaps would have some effect, that perhaps i would be pushed into becoming Catholic, yet I have found this not to be the case. My school yes does have masses, yet you are not forced to participate, that decision is down to you and your parents, and i have found it is very accomodating of different religious beliefs. If a Catholic school can do this, then so a non-religious school should be able to do the same. RE is not just learning about God, and the Bible, but about developing as a moral person that can account for their actions and their resposibility to others, and raises issues surrounding current world issues or events that might not be covered in another subject. Therefore, i think that it is good to teach religious education in schools so that children can develop an understanding, and perhaps they may choose this religion for themseleves, so long as schools do not force a religious denomination upon them.

Answer 4

Very very bad. I dont know where you live but in my school it was horrible. We always had stupid teachers. Every year another one because they didnt hold out more than one year with us. Almost everyone of my class made fun of our teachers during the lesson(not me I am just a nice person) and nobody did what they said because they only thought us stupid things that we already had heard about a thousand times or tried to force their opinion on us. The last teacher we had was the worst. We only did stupid things that had nothing to do with religion in her lessons. One time we had to write a letter to ourselves. What has this to do with religion?
I think it should not be taught at schools because the parents can do that and we have to go to those classes that are organized by our church anyway(in our country I dont know about the others) where they teach us exactly the same things. And if none of the students take it serious its only a waste of time and bad for the teacher who is made fun of.

Answer 5

I am a Christian and I am an elementary school teacher. In my view, if a school is going to teach about religion, it should be from a cultural/historical context. For example: These are the x people from x. Their religion is called x and it focuses on x. The school should not endorse any particular religion unless it is primarily a religious school. This gives the student multiple resources, which can then be discussed at home and at your place of worship (if you have one). We need to give people the freedom of choice and enough information to make the choice.

Answer 6

Those who say "Let their parents instruct the children" will deny those whose parents are not religious any knowledge of religion. A kid who has a faith has he extra benefit of peace of mind and a set of values. Kids left to educate themselves or whose parents cannot give them a faith are like blind men fumbling their way along. So too are those whose parents left them "to make up their own minds when they are older". How can they make decisions about something they know nothing about. The decline in good citizenship may be a result of failing to provide wothwhile values. Let them be tught at school and exercise their minds on faith and values from an early age. Anyway, it is well known that people who attend churches, temples and mosques live longer than people who don't.

Answer 7

There are too many school kids to do that. You might end up offending someone by teaching a certain religion. You would have to add a whole grade to make up for all the stuff that can be taught over just a single religion. If the kid wants to learn about a religion, they need to do it themselves or at their religion's meeting place.

Answer 8

I think Religious Education is extremely important in terms of teaching understanding and acceptance of other beliefs.

It is a common misconception (or a bad education system) that RE is only about one form of religion. I believe it is vital that students learn from a young age about world religions, customs and beliefs in order to foster a greater understanding of eachother.

There is no other subject where such philosophies can be taught.

Answer 9

Everyone pays taxes on public schools. Agnostics, Atheists, Pagans, Buddhists, Muslims and Christians. If you want to teach religion in a school paid for by a variety of people, a variety of religions should be taught.

I don't see that happening. Better to leave it to a college curriculum, historically less biased.

Answer 10

I think religion should be taught in school only as long as it covers most/all religions.

I am a non-believer, but will make my 10 month old son aware of most of the religions as he gets older, then he can decide what faith, if any he wishes to follow.

I think that the choice of following/studying a religion should be left up to the individual.