SKL Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 My kids attend summer day camp with some public school students. My dd5 "tattled" on my other dd5, saying "__ was talking about God in school." They then informed me that some of the kids declared that they are not allowed to talk about God in school. Really? I know teachers are not allowed to say much about God, but little kids? Apparently it came up because a kid said "oh my God" and my dd did not like hearing that. I've taught my kids that's disrespectful to God. I never send them out into the world as missionaries, but if they want to make a comment based on their beliefs or feelings, I don't think it should be prohibited. Do your kids have this rule at school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSUBuckeye Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Since the first amendment applies to both freedom of religion and freedom of speech, schools don't and can't ban students from talking about God. Usually, it's okay to talk about God up to the point that you're insulting someone else. Students can talk about God as much as they want and can wear religious t-shirts, they just can't tell another kid their religion is wrong or say that they're going to hell. Principals are cautious to sponsor Bible clubs just as equally as they're cautious to sponsor gay-straight alliance clubs because of the controversies that can arise from either, but legally both are allowed in the schools. In the elementary schools, teachers focus on giving kid's an understanding into multiple traditions. A good elementary teacher is likely to share the story of Jesus's birth, secular Christmas/winter tales like Rudolph or Frosty the Snowman, a Hannukah story, and a Kwanzaa story. This provides cross-cultural understandings and a lot of festivity, but it doesn't mean that a kid is suddenly going to become Christian, Jewish, or otherwise from these lessons. My mother had to adjust her teaching only once, when a student was a Jehovah's Witness (no holiday celebrations). As a high school social studies teacher, I field a lot of religious-based questions ("Do Muslims believe in God?" Yes. "Well then, do they believe in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior?..." They see him as a prophet. "Catholics, they're Devil-Worshippers!!!" Um, no, no, no. :001_huh:) Most of these questions come from biases passed on from their family's religious services. In the state curriculum for world history, there's a lot of time spent teaching the differences between faiths - like how pre-Reformation Catholicism practiced indulgences and focused on the priests as messengers of God in addition to the Bible which nobody could read, while Martin Luther's new religion focused on reading the Bible as the sole source of God's truth and believed that good works were what were important. Some students inveritably say, "Oooh, you're not supposed to talk about religion..." until I explain that it's state curriculum, testable like anything else. Or a kid might exclaim that they think that religion is made-up, to which I also respond "we will respect other's religious beliefs, and the point of this lesson is to see how people viewed religion over time, and what caused different religions to disagree with one another." Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneezyone Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 My kids attend summer day camp with some public school students. My dd5 "tattled" on my other dd5, saying "__ was talking about God in school." They then informed me that some of the kids declared that they are not allowed to talk about God in school. Really? I know teachers are not allowed to say much about God, but little kids? Apparently it came up because a kid said "oh my God" and my dd did not like hearing that. I've taught my kids that's disrespectful to God. I never send them out into the world as missionaries, but if they want to make a comment based on their beliefs or feelings, I don't think it should be prohibited. Do your kids have this rule at school? :confused: My DD does it all the time and I've never heard a peep. The school is far more obsessive about any hint/whisper of 'exclusion/exclusive behavior' than religious speech. IMHO, the reports of playground/behavior chit-chat that I get from my 7 yo let aone 4yo are are not to be taken as gospel. There's usually more to the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murmer Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 A lot of public schools and people within the school freak out when children express their religious beliefs because of a misunderstanding about the separation of church and state. So that might be where this is coming from...but legally a child can talk about their religious beliefs as much or as little as they wish its a 1st amendment right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 The elementary school my kids started at never discussed religion, because, frankly, there was just no TIME. The school was focused on math and reading and making sure everyone could speak English. I do recall one conversation my daughter's teacher had with one kid, trying to explain what Christmas was (in the context of why there was a break then), but it went by pretty fast and it was obvious the student was just confused by the quick explanation. It would have been great if there'd been any time to cover anything else, but the schools around here are barely keeping their heads above water. And given the number of religions represented in the schools here, I imagine that any sort of attempt to cover them all would take way more time than is available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 I agree here. One of my most memorable moments as a PS band teacher was listening to my 5th graders while they were cleaning and putting their instruments away-one of the boys made the mistake of trying to tell a Jehovah's Witness that she was going to Hell-and she nailed him to the wall, figuratively speaking, without ever raising her voice or sounding more than slightly amused. It was painfully obvious that she knew EXACTLY what she believed and why, and he knew that "my church says you're going to Hell". I figure that for those kids, it was probably the most educational thing to happen all day :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkacademy Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 A few years ago my youngest son went to a hybrid school for a few months. They went two days a week then did homeschool 3 days a week. It was through the Hoosier Acadmey with K12. He was told not to talk about God. My kids are not overly religious we don't even go to church regularly but he does know about God. They were talking about something to do with bugs and he was saying God made everything basically. He was told he can't talk about that in school. I was given the impression that they are not to speak of God period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaraby Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 They were talking about something to do with bugs and he was saying God made everything basically. He was told he can't talk about that in school. I was given the impression that they are not to speak of God period. During class time or during free time? If it's during class time and it's germane to the discussion then they could continue. In a discussion about bugs in a science class it would not be appropriate and should be treated like any off-topic comment. It's not the time or place. In topics where it's appropriate (history, comparative religions, a book where characters hold religious beliefs, etc) as a pp has mentioned then it can continue. During a student's free times, in personal conversations with others, etc it's within that student's rights to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Peach Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 The policy for teachers at my DH's school is that if a student brings it up, he can answer questions and talk about it. The only thing about religion in the student handbook is in regards to bullying and/or discrimination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyK Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 It is as OSUB said. Students quickly learn that a)freedom of speech does not mean that the target is req'd to listen b) the school discipine code has provisions for harrassment and put downs aren't allowed So, walking around telling your classmates that they will go to h*ll for playing video games will get you ignored here; if you persist and get in faces, the discipline code will be applied. Prayer before eating is done, religious garments are worn, etc; anyone who objects and tries to make that person feel wrong about it will find out that the discipline code applies to their disrespectful behavior choice. This was our experience too. Holidays were de-emphasized in school as well, but the main thing was preventing or stopping any put-downs or harrassment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchel210 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 My kids attend summer day camp with some public school students. My dd5 "tattled" on my other dd5, saying "__ was talking about God in school." They then informed me that some of the kids declared that they are not allowed to talk about God in school. Really? I know teachers are not allowed to say much about God, but little kids? Do your kids have this rule at school? That has to be just kids that dont know any better. They most likely dont talk about God at home...so wouldnt talk about God in school. I have never been told we cant talk about God. My son is very open in PS with his religion and the teachers and kids often get into religious conversations without issues. My son even does his projects at times based on religion. Ive never had an issue with it. Hopefully your dd knows to ignore that. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 We don't really talk about god at home (maybe sometimes), but my kids "know" all sorts of things about God. I am assuming they are learning from other kids at school. Nobody seems to have a problem with any of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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