To think you should put your child in the required school

[Catvsworld]

Today at my little ones nursery they were getting the children ready for Easter and all the children were invited to make Easter bonnets for a parade they were having

Standing in reception waiting for the door to open one of the children was really crying my daugter asked why she was crying I replied I am not sure

The mum then said she wants a hat were jw and don't do Easter I was like oh right and just kept my self to my self

She then proceeded to give the staff a leftlet and ask that her child not be involved in any Easter activitys

Bit sad really all the tables were Easter bunnie themed

I think it's really sad and if your not happy with Easter, Christmas or birthdays, Dewli , can you not just find a religious school or your donomation for your child

It's just a bloody hat with a a few bunnies on and some bunnie themed activities ffs I am not Muslim but can see the good in allowing my little one get involved in eid activitys

By finding out more about a religion your not committing yourself or forsaking your god the way to stop people bombing the metro is to get the young educated in Diffrent ways a cultures surely

[GooseberryRoolz]

YABsoU.

[ConfuciousSayWhat]

Jw's have always removed their children from these things and assemblies, and mainstream schools rightly accommodate them

[GooseberryRoolz]

It's Diwali, BTW.

[ConfuciousSayWhat]

And it's not just a hat and a few bunnies ffs it's easter one of the major festivals in the Christian calendar

[witsender]

Pmsl...Have you ever heard of a Jehovah's Witness school?! We had JW at DD's school, they got on fine. There were some tthibgs they couldn't join in on, but just got on with it.

[SelfRaisingFlour]

I've never heard of Jehovah's Witness schools in the UK.

[lem73]

I agree with you. My dh and dcs are Muslim and they participate in everything at school.

[meditrina]

If there was a JW school in every town, then you'd have a point.

But there isn't, and people don't necessarily get their first preference (or any of their preferences).

So are you saying that JWs should have special priority treatment on the admissions code, so that they (uniquely) can be guaranteed a school that matches their religion? That would be VVU.

[Catvsworld]

There is one in Watford and is also is a boarding school

[WhoKnowsWhereTheChocolateGoes]

Have you got a JW school locally that they could go to? I guess not. Just as well mainstream schools will respect their wishes then.

[witsender]

JW specifically precludes participation/acknowledgement of certain festivals...not all religions do.

[IloveAntbuthateDec]

There are no schools that cater solely for JW's. Children from JW backgrounds are exempt from any form of Christian worship and festivals within schools. And Gooseberry Eid is a Moslem festival. Diwali is not :)

[witsender]

So they should ALL go to these two schools you know of? Why can't they just do what they do...just exclude themselves from the bits they don't want to do? It causes no harm to anyone else.

[Mousefinkle]

How many Jehovah's Witness schools do you know of exactly??

That's their belief system. They don't celebrate any holidays, not even birthdays. I went to school with a couple. One of them resented it entirely and is now gay so they've all turned their back on her which she's grateful for if anything. She couldn't go to birthday parties, couldn't accept presents, couldn't accept Christmas cards, had to leave assemblies, couldn't join in the nativity etc. We all felt sorry for her.

[toomuchtooold]

God no, the woman has my total sympathy. DH and I both staunch atheists but we live somewhere where the nearest non-denominational school is miles away in another country so I'm starting to get lots of questions about Jesus. I started with the "well, some people believe..." line but it was too complicated to get so I've ended up telling DD1 that the Bible is a fairy story like Little Red Riding Hood. (Well, to us it is!)

[SanityClause]

There was a JW in DS's class in junior school.

When they made Christmas stockings, he made a pencil case, and so on.

DS used to feel sorry for him, because he didn't get birthday presents, but I reassured him that I was sure his parents would give him nice things, just not for birthdays or Christmas.

[Floggingmolly]

Easter is about slightly more than the bunnies, op...

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

It's fine if they exclude themselves without making a fuss. What is not fine is what happened at my DDs little playgroup which was run on a shoestring. For Easter and Christmas, the mother insisted that her child did different activities in a different room and wasn't allowed in the part of the main room where the Christmas decorations were. As the playgroup couldn't afford the extra staffing for this, one of the staff had to do many hours of voluntary work so that the JW child was catered for

She also had to be taken aside when they got the birthday candles out for the other children. She wasn't allowed to overhear them singing Happy Birthday.

[Catvsworld]

At my daughters nursey it was about bunnies nothing more they had a simple display about what Diffrent people around think about Easter who celebrates it at then lots of bunnie activitys

That's it hardly the passion of the Christ

[pudcat]

We got round Easter (with parents' permission) by letting the Jehovah's Witness children do Spring related activities and at Christmas Winter related activities.

[Tigeresslady1]

This is my first post here - but when I have taught JW they have only been excluded from Christian activities. They have wanted their children to learn about other religions but felt that Christianity would confuse their children with their own religion. The families have been some of the nicest and most supportive families I have worked with and were always happy to advise us with when to include their children and when to find something alternative for the children to do.

[catkind]

It's not like eggs or bunnies actually have anything to do with Christianity. I wonder if school (together with jw parents) could make their lives easier by simply omitting the word 'easter' from a few things. Presumably JW kids are allowed to do craft as part of their study of seasons/spring?

[catkind]

Ah pudcat beat me to it

[Catvsworld]

People need to get a grip if you want a mono eduction with no culture of religion

Then homeschool or find a school to pander to your whims


I very much think if there is a god chocolate bunnies are not very holy