To remove dd from RS

[MossandRoy]

The lack of balance is annoying. There is an assumption that there is a god. There is an assumption that everyone believes in that god. I can remove her. Has anyone done this successfully? I'm concerned she'll be given a hard time...

Do you think your experience represents every, or even the average child?

In your world, does the average 15-year-old sit through RE avidly drinking in the teacher's every word and looking on the world around them with tolerant new eyes rather than sitting there a bit bored for half an hour?

@rosetylersbiggun 👏

I have yet to see anyone on this thread address the questions of a) how other countries manage without teaching RE perfectly well and b) why all of their arguments don’t equally applied to philosophy which isn’t routinely taught in UK schools.

Other countries have all sorts of differences in their educational systems, and question a) is point scoring rather than serious discussion especially as what 'perfectly well' means is so subjective, and what constitutes RS is so variable.

And for b) the British RS course is of course philosophy and ethics, as even the most cursory familiarity with the course content should clearly. So the arguments for keeping RS are indeed the ones for philosophy, for RS is the name under which philosophy and ethics is covered. The name is historical accident, but of course reflects the need for understanding in a diverse society in which many belief systems need to coexist.

Why are you so aggressively against teaching children about religion @KeflavikAirport? And where do you live where it is illegal to do so?

Sorry but I don’t believe that they are presenting things as fact or that they are only teaching about Christianity even my primary school age child learns about multiple religions and he goes to a Church of England school.

Withdrawing your child from religious studies because you don’t believe or even they don’t believe just promotes ignorance and misunderstanding of other peoples beliefs. How can we be a more tolerant society if we promote ignorance?

Not keen to disclose where I live, suffice it to say there are several countries worldwide where religion is off the menu. A quick Google will give you a list.

I'm actually not against spending, say, six weeks of a GCSE ethics and philosophy class outlining the major world religions. I can see the case for that. But the arguments people always trot out for it being a separate compulsory subject are just so weak and parochial, it gets up my nose.

especially as what 'perfectly well' means is so subjective, and what constitutes RS is so variable

It's not point scoring when people on this thread have been claiming that people who grow up in countries without religious teaching can only be horrendous bigots without any appreciation for art and music.

RS is the name under which philosophy and ethics is covered

So call it philosophy and ethics then. You can discuss abortion, the death penalty etc. perfectly well in that without the religion.

I would hate to live in a Country where teaching children about Religion was “illegal”. Sounds horribly oppressive to me. I’m glad to live in a Country that recognises the importance of education about all the different beliefs, the whys and wherefores, and the cultures and traditions attached to those beliefs. Education is the key to dealing with narrow minds. It won’t work for everyone, some people are so bigoted / narrow minded/ stupid that they can’t be helped. But I believe information and education are powerful tools that benefit the vast majority of us.

Good for you. I would hate to live in a country that gave religion such artificial prominence in public life. Each to his own, eh?

@MossandRoy

The lack of balance is annoying. There is an assumption that there is a god. There is an assumption that everyone believes in that god. I can remove her. Has anyone done this successfully? I'm concerned she'll be given a hard time...

Educate yourself on the purpose of RE. It's not to indoctrinate nor to assume anything UNLESS you have opted for a religiously denominated school. Isn't understanding better than ignorance?

This is interesting en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_education

I know it is Wikipedia, but it explains the difference between religious instruction and religious education. RE is not part of compulsory schooling in the USA

@KeflavikAirport

Do you think your experience represents every, or even the average child?

In your world, does the average 15-year-old sit through RE avidly drinking in the teacher's every word and looking on the world around them with tolerant new eyes rather than sitting there a bit bored for half an hour?

No, but is it one or the other?

P

@KeflavikAirport

Not keen to disclose where I live, suffice it to say there are several countries worldwide where religion is off the menu. A quick Google will give you a list.

I'm actually not against spending, say, six weeks of a GCSE ethics and philosophy class outlining the major world religions. I can see the case for that. But the arguments people always trot out for it being a separate compulsory subject are just so weak and parochial, it gets up my nose.

It is a compulsory subject.

There is no reason for RS to be taught in any school. That is any school anywhere in the UK run by anyone. School is meant to be about educating children, not indoctrinating them.

There is absolutely no reason why churches, chapels, mosques, synagogues, etc can't teach RS to the community out with a common school curriculum that was RS neutral.

The same goes for gender studies etc. No reason why this cannot be taught as and how parents and the communities wish to teach their own children. No need for indoctrination to occur in the school system.

@ElliFAntspoo

There is no reason for RS to be taught in any school. That is any school anywhere in the UK run by anyone. School is meant to be about educating children, not indoctrinating them.

There is absolutely no reason why churches, chapels, mosques, synagogues, etc can't teach RS to the community out with a common school curriculum that was RS neutral.

The same goes for gender studies etc. No reason why this cannot be taught as and how parents and the communities wish to teach their own children. No need for indoctrination to occur in the school system.

Re in schools isn't indoctrination.

Parents teaching their own children about gender in this day and age is dangerous.

Thank god that the law doesn't think as you do.

people on this thread have been claiming that people who grow up in countries without religious teaching can only be horrendous bigots without any appreciation for art and music

Except that nobody (except you) has said that.

@ElliFAntspoo

There is no reason for RS to be taught in any school. That is any school anywhere in the UK run by anyone. School is meant to be about educating children, not indoctrinating them.

There is absolutely no reason why churches, chapels, mosques, synagogues, etc can't teach RS to the community out with a common school curriculum that was RS neutral.

The same goes for gender studies etc. No reason why this cannot be taught as and how parents and the communities wish to teach their own children. No need for indoctrination to occur in the school system.

RE in school should be the complete opposite of indoctrination.

It should be, and in my experience does, providing a balanced view of all the major world religions based on a “people on this faith believe...” approach.

If we rely on individual religious institutions to provide religious instruction then that would be more likely to be indoctrination given their preaching will obviously be that their religion is fact as it’s what they believe

I think a subject called ethics and philosophy would be much better, with teaching about different religions and beliefs. Unfortunately, some schools use RS as an opportunity to preach and indoctrinate which I believe is wrong and isn't proper education. The arguments above about ethical debates covering abortion, death, euthanasia, etc are what RS should be about, but Unfortunately isn't the case across the board.

@ElliFAntspoo

There is no reason for RS to be taught in any school. That is any school anywhere in the UK run by anyone. School is meant to be about educating children, not indoctrinating them.

There is absolutely no reason why churches, chapels, mosques, synagogues, etc can't teach RS to the community out with a common school curriculum that was RS neutral.

The same goes for gender studies etc. No reason why this cannot be taught as and how parents and the communities wish to teach their own children. No need for indoctrination to occur in the school system.

School is meant to be about educating children, not indoctrinating them.

@ElliFAntspoo RE/RS is about educating children about religion. RI - religious instruction (or indoctrination if you like) is about instructing people how to be a good Christian/Jew/Muslim/Sikh/Hundu/Other.

Have a conversation with the teacher and head of year before being hasty
You and your daughter may not be understanding the content
I'm a teacher and have never heard of Rs being taught like the way you are describing

Are you in the USA ? Ahh that changes everything

RE in school should be the complete opposite of indoctrination.

It should be, and in my experience does, providing a balanced view of all the major world religions based on a “people on this faith believe...” approach.

If we rely on individual religious institutions to provide religious instruction then that would be more likely to be indoctrination given their preaching will obviously be that their religion is fact as it’s what they believe

That is BS. How do you explain religiously denominated schools? It is not possible for school that already has a designated denomination to provide a balanced view on religion.

I think most of us are talking about non faith schools here @ElliFAntspoo. I think it is unrealistic to expect a faith school not to have RE/RI lessons. If you don't agree with your child being instructed in any religion you shouldn't send them to a faith school. Or if there are no other options they can be removed from the class for the duration.

It is not possible for school that already has a designated denomination to provide a balanced view on religion

It is. Why on earth wouldn’t it be?

My parents took me out of RS, they are staunch athiests. I wish they hadn't, though, as the class was about world religions, not promoting Christianity or any of them, and from what my friends told me actually sounded quite interesting. Perhaps talk to the teacher about your concerns.