Should religion play a part in education

[Garysobers]

My niece said that religion is important at school(catholic school yr12)
she said that"It gives her a strong moral grounds on many issues" I think she is right and i think that learning these values in school great but you must practice it at home if she has real convictions of her faith then at home is where it all starts and not at school but we are all different in all are belief and how we choose to practice:) them

[mumtok&z]

I agree with you on this. My son's are only 2yrs old and 11 months old ( 1 in 2 weeks:smiliedance: ) but i have already started to teach them a love for Allah ( we are Muslim) and other beliefs and practices from our religion. We vist a mosque every Saturday morning where they have Islamic lessons for children and even though they are a little too young to sit in on these classes they do participate in a play group run by my Sister. I have also started buying story books based on stories from the Quran and we read at least one on a daily basis. I am planning to send them to an Islamic school when they reach a schooling age but am wanting them to practice it at home aswell.

[BlueGin]

I think religion has a part in all schools, but not as religious instruction. That belongs in secular schools. I think all kids should be taught about religion as I think this helps us all live more peacefully with each other.
If taught compassionately it should also lessen the misconceptions people have about certain religions.
In saying this though, I am not sure how the religions taught would be chosen, is a modern religion which could be seen as a cult as valid as something ancient like Budhism?

A tricky area, but yes, I think religion has a definite place in schools :thumbsup:

[cmd'smum]

I agree with Bluegin :thumbsup:

[Ana Gram]

There is a huge difference between learning about religion and religious education. And I think religious education should not be in public schools.

[Beany]

There is a huge difference between learning about religion and religious education. And I think religious education should not be in public schools.

Completely agree.

[cheezelkat]

I agree with ChelleGoth.

I will allow my son to make his own choices in regards to religion, and do not expect my choice of school to impose any religious values onto him, although he can be educated about it.

[SassyMummy]

I do believe that religion has its place in schools, but that said, I don't think there should be religious education taught in public schools. Teaching ABOUT religion is different...but I think it's important to teach about ALL SORTS of religions, and not just Christianity/Catholicism.

Generally, I think that it a parents responsibility to teach their children about their particular religion and beliefs. I think it is then up to the child do what they will with those teachings.

I will be teaching my daughter that she can choose to believe whatever she wishes...it's up to her. I will do my best to help her become a better person (through kindness and such) but she can choose not to adopt my personal beliefs about the universe.

I think that religion is so diverse...even within specific religions the degree of which people follow them is very different. It would be impossible to make sure that everyone is adequately covered...

I also think that everyone is religious to some degree...a lot of us just don't follow an organised religion. Religion, IMO, is just a belief system...the only difference between myself and someone following an organised religion is that I make up my own rules regarding my beliefs...so therefore, I AM a religious person.

[ForeverMine]

I went to a religious high school for 3 years... and while they were great with the younger kids, (primary) they would force the school's beliefs into our head. I went to a brethern school, and had no idea even what Christianity was before going to that school.

I ended up becoming an AOG (which is more modern day church) and was shunned by staff and some students for the beliefs I had.

My school was very strict on the religion in it's teaching and I hated it. When we had sex education, we weren't taugh about sex, rather... don't ever have sex until you were married. They even made us sign little contracts saying we wouldn't. I wasn't taught about safe sex or STD's... because my school didn't believe in it, therefore I didn't need to know.

I never learnt about most sciences as they contradicted what my school believed, they taught around it.

For that, plus many many other reason's, I'm not really 'for' religious education... but I've had a bad experience with it....

BTW, I'm not trying to step on any toes here, just my opinion and personal experiences... :)

However, with public schools and religious education, I believe it should be taught, but a bit from all of them. So kid's get a 'feel' for them, and aren't so blind to what the world offer's.

[Tam-I-Am]

I went to a Catholic all-girls high school, and had a completely different experience to you, Chrissie (which I'm glad about!)

My school must have been particularly open-minded, because, while we did have Catholic religious education, we were also taught about heaps of other religions, and their beliefs customs, and practices. Additionally we received sex education every year from year 7 onwards - each year becomming more advanced (it was very age appropriate).

I think I tend to agree with Chelle and others here - religious education is important, because religions are a part of life. I don't agree with public schools pushing one religion over another though. If a parent sends their child to a school with a particular religious affiliation, that's very different.

[ForeverMine]

I went to a Catholic all-girls high school, and had a completely different experience to you, Chrissie (which I'm glad about!)

My school must have been particularly open-minded, because, while we did have Catholic religious education, we were also taught about heaps of other religions, and their beliefs customs, and practices. Additionally we received sex education every year from year 7 onwards - each year becomming more advanced (it was very age appropriate).

I think I tend to agree with Chelle and others here - religious education is important, because religions are a part of life. I don't agree with public schools pushing one religion over another though. If a parent sends their child to a school with a particular religious affiliation, that's very different.

My school was what people and some media classed as a "cult" school, when I went there, only recently found out, and they have (hopefully) cleaned up there act. I still talk to the school and they seem much better now.

[Mister Noodle]

I agree with 'chelle and Beany (of course :P)

I think of it much like politics. You'd want the schools to teach them how governments work and what the issues are... but you REALLY wouldn't want them teaching your kids who to vote for.

[Mum&bubs]

I always said i wanted my DD to go to a private school but not a religious one (is there any that arent religious btw?) but i would like her to learn morals and such but i think that could start with at home :) Her father has strong catholic beliefs and wants to take her to church and teach her about his faith but i dont really have one so i wont force anything on her.

[bronny-jane]

i think religion should be left out of schools, and id like to go a step further and suggest it be left out of politics too:smiliedance:

[Tam-I-Am]

I always said i wanted my DD to go to a private school but not a religious one (is there any that arent religious btw?) but i would like her to learn morals and such but i think that could start with at home :) Her father has strong catholic beliefs and wants to take her to church and teach her about his faith but i dont really have one so i wont force anything on her.

Sure are independent schools that aren't government OR religious.

Did a quick search on google and came up with this (http://www.aisq.qld.edu.au/maps/online_maps.html) site. have a look!

[FourAngelKisses]

My kids go to a PUBLIC school and they have scripture once a week, plus they go to church twice a year for Easter and Christmas. I don't think religion should be a part of public schools, if I wanted my kids to learn about that stuff I would have sent them to a Catholic school.
My 8yr old son is an atheist (his choice, not mine) so I have asked for him to be excused from it this year. If my 7yr old decides she doesn't want to do it anymore, I will ask for her to be excused too.
It was compulsory up until this year, I never got a note home asking if we wanted our kids to do it or not until this year. I think it is very wrong. Kids should be allowed to make their own minds up, it shouldn't be shoved down their throats in school.

[kymmy]

I think of it much like politics. You'd want the schools to teach them how governments work and what the issues are... but you REALLY wouldn't want them teaching your kids who to vote for.

My thoughts exactly!
I think that values are one thing but beliefs should be taught at home and at church - the beliefs I hold are very different to the standard anyway.

So, has been said - about religion might be okay (though I am sure it could be twisted to suit, IYKWIM) but to teach a child to believe is a different thing.

[melfunction]

I think teaching kids about the differences in religion is one thing, but to stick to just one is not educating IMO.

[ButterflyKisses]

I don't see anything wrong with having scripture classes taught at schools like they had when I went to infants/primary school. I went to a country State School so there were only about half a doz different religions in the town. It should be a non-compulsory lesson IMO.

they had volunteer representatives from all the local churches come and the children just went into the classroom or sat outside with their specific denomination for about 30 mins and they did their thing. They didn't get into the nitty gritty of your specific religion. They mostly only talked about the popular biblical stories ie David & Goliath, Sampson, Moses etc. none of the heavy stuff.

If you did not belong to a denomination or your parents did not wish for you to attend you got a supervised (by teachers) free period.

I recall for the 1st one or two years of high school we also had scripture classes that were non-compulsory that I use to go to - had to as my aunt or mum use to do the classes - lol.

having said all that if you want your child to have more nitty gritty specific religious instruction then it should be up to you as a parent to take them to church or have them attend a religious school that gets into the heavy stuff.

[jessgray]

i went to a public girls high school and there was many religions in the school. there was a christian fellowship group held once a week in the morning and there was also a budhist group but i am sketchy on the details.

i think as long as a public school doesnt force a religion onto students its ok, the school i went to let people practise whatever religion they wanted:)

[Mister Noodle]

I always said i wanted my DD to go to a private school but not a religious one (is there any that arent religious btw?) but i would like her to learn morals and such but i think that could start with at home :) Her father has strong catholic beliefs and wants to take her to church and teach her about his faith but i dont really have one so i wont force anything on her.

Hm. Interesting connection you make between religion and morality, there.

[mrsd]

My niece said that religion is important at school(catholic school yr12)
she said that"It gives her a strong moral grounds on many issues" I think she is right and i think that learning these values in school great but you must practice it at home

Sorry, this might be a long post .

I agree with your niece. Our whole legal system has to be based on some kind of beliefs about what's right and wrong (I think that's why the abortion threads we've had on the site lead to such heated debate).

I guess it's hard for people who don't have religious beliefs to understand why people who do have them think those beliefs are so important and vice versa - that's the difference between believing and not, I suppose.

I'm an old-fashioned Catholic (at my ancient age of 33) and I live my whole life that way because I believe that's the way God wants it. My kids go to the local Catholic school because I expect that they will support our beliefs at home - we don't believe in using contraception, we do think going to Church on Sundays is good, we believe that if Jesus was the Son of God we should be doing things his way.

Before I get a string of people who tell me that they don't believe that, I'M NOT PREACHING. Anyone else is free to believe whatever they want to - I have great friends who come from other denominations or who are athiests - If I only associated with people who believed what I did, what a lonely (and boring) life it would be !

Having said that, though, I do think that there is also a place for scripture teaching in Govt schools, too. As an English teacher in one, kids need to get basic biblical allusions such as David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah, walking on water etc to achieve well in English, for example. It's also helpful in Family and Community Studies and HSIE when looking at relationships, belief systems and community values. After all, we are supposed to teach values now. Where do they come from otherwise ?