Student Who Is Offended By Holidays?

Question

I have one student who doesn't celebrate ANY holidays for religious reasons. The rest of my students really enjoy worksheets with holiday (non-religious) games or graphics and I find them an effective teaching tool to keep these students interests. For the one student who doesn't celebrate, I have made similar worksheets with "nature" themes or the like. Of course that creates extra work for me. If I can't, then I just give him undecorated worksheets or games that work on the same skills. He is still unhappy that the other students get holiday worksheets. How would you handle this situation. I want to be fair to everyone.

Sorry for any grammar or spelling errors. I didn't spell check. :(

Of course I am NOT trying to change his religion. As I said, I make different worksheets for him.

i suppose you are right, but I was "saving" the winter themes for boring old January and February. He is a Jehovah's Witness.

My principal okay'd holiday related lesson-plans as long as they are not religious. For example Santa is okay, but angels are not.

Achtung: I am not "creating" Christmas worksheets for my students. They are included in many past and current teaching resources available here in America. The same resources include other holiday themes that match national instructional standards for Thanksgiving in the month of November, MLK day in the month of January, etc. While I am not spending any time creating Christmas worksheet, I am spending my own personal time outside of work (I'm too busy during the teaching day) creating fun learning puzzle worksheets designed not to offend the ONE student of 86 that I see each day who doesn't want a Christmas worksheet. I don't try to pass on my religious beliefs to him or to any of my students. I am following my schools standards for this. They are set by the school board not me. I could present him with the worksheet and be within my rights as his teacher OR give him textbook work on the same skills that is just not as fun. The point is I want to be fair to all of them.

Answer 1

Sadly. this questioner demonstrates thinly-veiled religious intolerance.

While the purported teacher complains that providing non-religious worksheets is "extra work", she ignores the reality that it actually *IS* her job to provide worksheets that can be used by all her students.

It is NOT her job to require the use of religious worksheets that can only be used by adherents of particular religions. Even if she and her principal pretend that Santa has nothing to do with Christmas, and that Christmas has nothing to do with religion, that does not change the plain truth of the matter.

It might be best to remind this principal, this teacher, and parents and children that the best place to learn about religious holidays and religious subjects is with their families at their houses of worship, rather than at taxpayer-supported government-mandated secular educational institutions.

No matter what the school system and this educator choose to do about promoting religion in schools, Jehovah's Witnesses understand that they cannot expect perfect fairness from any human institution.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/19980708/
http://watchtower.org/e/20030301/article_02.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/19980601/
http://jw-media.org/vnr/5263723221/22812301.htm

Answer 2

This is a tough one. It doesn't seem right if the rest of the class enjoys the holiday themed worksheets for you to eliminate them for this one student. It is admirable that you do take the extra time trying not to offend him, but I don't understand why he is unhappy about the rest of the class getting the holiday games. Unless, of course, it makes him feel like an outsider, which can be tough. I wonder if it would be a good idea to kind of mix the winter theme, as billy suggested, with the holiday games, that way, just make sure the boy who doesn't celebrate gets a winter game. And I wouldn't make a big deal about the change, and maybe the rest of the class won't, either.

Answer 3

I never really understood the need to have superflous stuff in class when I was in school. When ever Christmas or any such event was being Celebrated I just sat out with a book:). As to this class roomif you are truly not pshing these celebrations on the Student then there aint much you can do. I suggest you have a Parent Teacher conference and request a copy of one of our brochures that explains in detail what we believe. Talk with the parents. One simple solution is to save the superfluous stuff for the superfluous things ie save Christmas for the Christmas party. I hope everything works out.

One last thing. Be careful. When I was in 5th grade my teacher instructed all the students to do a report on thanksgiving. 2 of the students in class(my self and a friend) were Witnesses. While some kids painted turkeys. Others gave reports on how good food is and the like. My report was on the original thanksgiving and the political circumstances and the like. I gave a simple historical review. She proceded to yell at the other Witness boy for being rude in that he wrote he feels it wrong to celebrate thanksgiving and then a list of reasons why. She then gave me an F because my report was not like the others and was not Happy.

I assume you are nowhere near as bad a teacher as Ms Gaymon was at that point. I just wanted to ask that you please strive to not give in to that bad example and also to warn that in the course of holiday disscussions there will more than likely come a time when the student will want to dispell the Santa Claus story(depending on the grade you teach) and so on.

Answer 4

I am assuming you teach a primary grade based on your use of worksheets. Most primary grades have holidays as one of their Social Studies content standards. That could be your way out. Also, I always speak with my JW parents at the beginning of the year about what I will be doing in my class. I provide choices for the child, but allow them to choose. I am not the religion police. If the child takes the holiday worksheet, that is his choice. If this child is unhappy with the choices you give him it is really too bad. You have made additional efforts to accommodate his beliefs, but you must also be thinking about the rest of your students too. Again, talk to the parents. My experience has always been that they are very understanding and don't want to infringe upon the rights of the other students. Don't agonize over it. Life is too short!

Answer 5

I would suggest contacting the parents and explaining how the child is having difficulty handling the differences in their paperwork and classroom activities regarding holiday issues. Perhaps they can give you some additional suggestions on how this might be handled to satisfy all concerned. They also can talk to their child and help the child to understand why they have certain beliefs and make the adjustments more tolerable to the child. Keep in mind that the important thing involved here is the education of the child. I imagine the child is frustrated. You also seem to be getting a little frustrated with this situation. Relax. I'm sure you are doing your best. Just stay in touch with parents whenever you have a particular problem with any student. That way at least they know you are trying to help their child and you have covered your bases.

Answer 6

By the letter of the law, what you're doing is oppressing this child. He has the right to come to school and not have his religious views put into question. He is being singled out every time you pass out a holiday themed worksheet, and that's against the law. You may not like it, but it's true. You may not even agree with it (I don't necessarily agree with it), but it's a law all teachers are expected to follow.

To be fair to everyone, you need to find the solution that doesn't offend anyone. Find a way to reach ALL of your students that doesn't put anyone on the offensive. It's more than possible to keep students engaged without bringing holidays into the equation. You just need to find the way that works for your class.

Good luck!

Answer 7

It's a tough situation for you but you can expect to see more of this as the world "shrinks" and we have more diverse populations in our classrooms.

Holiday sheets for primary students are almost expected of us and yet not all the students celebrate Christmas. I believe there should be a choice of worksheets for ALL students. If the JW student sees that other students are choosing the non-holiday themed sheets he might feel better about the fact that he shouldn't be working on holiday sheets.

When you get a chance, try to discuss the situation with the child's parents. If it's too late to put the suggestions in place for this year at least you'll know what to do the next time this happens. Be sure to share what you've learned with the student's teacher for next year and the rest of your teaching colleagues.

Is this student allowed to stay in the classroom when one of your students has a birthday celebration? (Assuming that parents send in treats for their children's birthdays they way they did in my school.)

Answer 8

There are several Jehovah Witness students in the school I work at. It is tricky not just in the class room but at music where they sing Christmas songs and library where they might read a Christmas book. I called the parents and very nicely explained the problem. These parents for the most part, are well aware of the situation and will be glad to work with you. One mom brought in a booklet explaining what they believe and sat down with the class and talked about their beliefs. I also included a lesson on Kwanzaa and Hanuka so that the kids could learn all about different religions. She provided me with several activities that her child could do and had no problem with him sitting in the office or hallway during those times. If approached gently and with concern it shows the parents that you care and are willing to work with them to ensure that their child does not feel left out. Good Luck!

Answer 9

Your student has the right to practice his religion, but for him to want others to practice his religion (in not using holiday worksheets) is infringing on THEIR rights. I think you've gone above and beyond to accommodate his religious beliefs and should leave it at that. If he's that passionate about other people not being able to enjoy holidays, he should either have his parents take it up with the school board or he should have his parents home-school him. It's probably too late in the year now, but for future reference, you could talk about what ALL holidays have in common. I did this with my students this year (I have a student who is JW as well), and we concluded that holidays bring families together. The students also observed that holidays around this time of year focus on helping others. During our discussion, I brought up WHY JWs don't celebrate holidays, and that seemed to make the student feel more comfortable about the whole thing.

As for your actual question- you ARE being fair to everyone. All of your students are receiving the same practice on the skills they need to know, and you're accommodating their individual needs by seeing to it that you don't force the concept of holidays onto that student.

Answer 10

I also have a JW in my 3rd grade classroom. I have talked to the parents and discuss what they consider acceptable for thier child in regards to celebrations flag salute, songs, etc. Anyways, I really don't use worksheets very much. At our school site we use thinking maps and cooperative learning activities. These two techniques require much less in terms of worksheets and are more geared to student produced work, especially the thinking maps. This then requires less effort of designing worksheets and more creativity from the students. Also, if appropriate, you can have the student write about why it bothers them or journal thier thoughts. BTW...you are being fair to all, it would be unfair if you changed everything just to accomodate one childs beliefs. You are going above and beyond to accomodate them.