Should children be told basics about religions at school?

Question

In Europe as far asI know children are not told any longer anything at all about religion. Do you think it is a good or a bad thing. For my point of view, 50 years ago or more everyone was told a couple of hours a week about the stories in the Bible . Today as the world is more cosmopolite I guess they also could include Muslim religion or Hindu religion and explain about the particularity of each of them.
Surely knowing the basic of religion gives the children a better idea of what is right o wrong. Today so many have no notion of what is right or wrong.

Answer 1

No. A parent should be held responsible for teaching their children right from wrong--not the public schools. The public schools are already taking over too many of a parents responsibilities; let's not add to it and encourage parental laziness.

"If" a school scores highly in national tests for educating their students, I see nothing wrong with offering an elective course in world religions at the high school level. Perhaps to go through the basics of the world's top 10 (or 20) major religions:
http://adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html

At the elementary level, I think that an elective course in world religions would be too complicated. And only teaching one religion would be unbalanced and discriminatory.

If the school has failing grades in national tests, then the school has other more important things to concentrate on.

Answer 2

I think that it is valid to teach about religion in schools. It shouldnt be taught as if it is the truth but there is a place for it it is under humanities in the subject area called religious education.

I tok a 1/2 GCSE in RE and we studied Christianity, in my text book there was also information on Judaism and Islam as well as Hinduism. We were in earlier years taught about some Hindu concepts and festivals but we never studied Islam at all. I wish we had as I was fully versed in Christianity but I cannot join the debate on the differences in islam or the teachings of the Quaran (look i cant even spell it).

If parents teach about religion it comes from a personal perspective. If a teacher teaches about it you learn facts about the basic beliefs of the religion. I was a Christian but I was methodiat I learnt an aweful lot about catholics and the Church of England. The facts of belief are different from encouraging belief. If you learn about religion you become more well rounded and able to join the debate properly about why you beleve one thing and not another. You become able to understand anothers view point even if you dont agree with it. RE should not be used to convert but it should be used to educate and therefore stop some of the stupid questions you see on this site that are born out of ignorence. And for the athiests out there - athieism should also be a part of the RE process and there are valid arguments and beliefs people should learn aout that too.

Answer 3

Sure, I think kids should learn the basic beliefs and history of a number of different religious traditions in schools (and I'm an atheist). The problem is that, in many districts, such attempts are skewed toward endorsing one particular set of beliefs and/or undermining others. As such, a secular approach (secular as in religiously neutral, not anti-religious) is best. If this is not possible (i.e. the teachers are unable/unwilling to be objective), then it's best to just leave it out.

Teaching kids about a specific set of beliefs in the context of having them follow, and the difference between right and wrong....that's the parents' job. Any religious instruction in the schools that endorses a particular set of morals (whether universally held across religions or not) is unconstitutional. If schools want to address the issue of morality and ethics, it should be done in a philosophy course.

Answer 4

For how such a situation should be done...parents would not agree.

You would have to show the validity of all the world religions and the underlying harmony.

This will not necessarily improve moral fiber - for children learn such things by example, not lecuturing them.

Also not willing to discipline children is the problem...I've seen children have free reign to do as they wish while the parent turn a blind eye.

The lack of religion is not the problem.

~ Eric Putkonen

Answer 5

It is the parents job. But what if the parents don't have a religion then they don't have a clue about any of them so that child would grow up not knowing anything and the first one they heard they would think it was true. So somebody needs to be there to tell them.

Answer 6

not really. Its really the parents job to educate their children on religion. not the school system. people all have different religions and beleifs so what if they taught a child something that goes against their faith? I think religion in public schools is walking a very thin line.

Answer 7

To rely on religion to teach what is "right or wrong" is living in the dark ages. Religion should not be mentioned in public school except for historical content.

Answer 8

No because everyone has different religions. Kids in school have different religions. It should be the parents who must tell the basics

Answer 9

Only if by the basics you mean " religion is an intellectual crutch for those too stupid and gullible to investigate the truth" then yes, it should be taught in school.

Answer 10

It won't do any harm. I was taught religion at school and forced to pray every morning but I still grew up an atheist.