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...

@B33Fr33

As a former RS teacher (with no faith) it is very important to understand the positives and negatives of the various faiths. To recognise the need for cultural sensitivity, to learn to reflect on ethics and laws and understand the religious bias they come out of. Basically as a human but mainly add a woman: know your enemy.

Wouldn’t it be more productive to teach law tho? Why aren’t religious studies just an aspect of history class. I have no moral or religious objection to teaching it. I just think our education system is absurd, we avoid to many life skills, taxes, law, learning to drive, self defence.....when the fucking is knowing so many poems ever come in handy??

How can you dd even know she disagree with religion if she knows sweet fuck all about any religions, history, culture.

Yet another one of these magical "cardboard box" children.

God, some people are thick.

For example, Rembrandt's wonderful painting 'The Hundred Guilder Print' is a complete mystery unless you know the new testament.

It isn't. It really, really isn't. What an arrogant and narrow-minded statement.

Besides, you're far more likely to learn about/be inspired to learn about Christianity from looking at a Rembrandt than vice versa.

Still baffled as to why so many posters think children grow up with literally zero exposure to the dominant culture of the country they live in, and somehow manage to reach secondary school without ever having heard of or had any exposure to the concept of religion. RE classes are largely irrelevant and most kids derive the majority of their religious knowledge and religious education from other sources than a once a week RE lesson.

Not wanting to attend a weekly boring and limited, possibly racist/biased RE lesson =/= wanting to live in a box and be totally ignorant of the existence of religious faith entirely.

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.

Sadly this isn't an option for everyone. I'm sure you're thinking in a UK context but where I live 95% of schools are faith schools and religious "instruction" i.e. indoctrination is dispersed throughout the school day. If I want my mortgage to be paid I simply can't take my DC out of school. I would be fine with all religions being taught as an academic subject but that is very much not the case here. It's very, very wrong.

Everyone’s experience is different but mine definitely had a white Presbyterian Christian focus. Was like 16 years ago hope the curriculum has progressed. Teacher was great for helping you get uni prepped she was also the careers councillor. But that class was pretty irrelevant in my life. Except for helping me become agnostic, I suppose.

All the girls who felt forced to take the class came away with pretty epic dick drawings skills and some pretty comedic test answers & maybe their maths homework done.

Teach GCSE RS ....3 teachers in the dept all different religious beliefs and that’s what we teach - according to GCSE syllabus

Honestly think you should check. I work in lots of different schools - some v multi cultural, some not, and not for the past 25 years have I experienced really partisan RE lessons. Usually they encourage understanding, experience and knowledge of different beliefs etc. In my experience the children who are pulled out of these lessons are withdrawn because of parental dogma , and generally wishing to discourage opinion / understanding. Perhaps your child’s school is an anomaly- but sounds like good discussion and debate is stemming from this - hence why allow “ opting out” of a whole class lesson? It’s the only lesson children/ parents can choose to miss , but I have rarely seen anyone benefit from missing it.

OP, this attitude has so clearly come from you. You won't do her any favours with it. It's better for her to learn than to be ignorant.

Ours was pretty damn bigoted now I think about it. Learned a lot about Jews cause that was safe (not many here) Islam & Hinduism was brushed upon, Mormons, rastas, wicka etc forgotten & Catholicism was a total no go topic

@HeidiHaughton

If religion isn't important to a child and family.they don't have to go. Simple. Freedom of conscience.

If maths or art isn't important to a child and family they don't have to go either?

I have a career based in art but no I don’t think it’s a core skill. My bothers stickmen did not get any better. And my art teacher taught us nothing just left us in class to have his affair. Maths is tho it’s essential for jobs and every day life.

If you fail art & RS you can still get into uni. Can’t fail maths.

@MossandRoy

Thanks for responding all. Not a faith school, no. She's Yr 7. Been annoyed at rs from about Yr 2. This morning's lesson particularly annoyed her. It was about a famous religious person who is idolised, but there was no balance to say that this person was also very unkind to those who didn't hold the same views, would only help 'believers'. We had a chat about it all and that prompted the conversation (again) about taking her out of the lessons. She has very much already decided for herself. 'You don't need a god to be a good person'

I can't disagree.

Why has she been annoyed since Year 2? What are your views towards religion? Have a look at the RE curriculum on the school's website and see what the pupils learn. RE isn’t simply reading the Bible.

As an atheist myself, having had religion rammed down my throat as a child, I didn't want to subject my sons to that same treatment, so I had them removed from RE classes.

Then, when my younger son was halfway through Year 10, his school called me in and said that even though I'd removed him from these classes, he still had to sit in the same classroom and that it was MY responsibility to provide him with alternative learning for these sessions.

My son told me not to worry about it because by being made to sit in the same room, no matter what he might be working on, he could obviously still hear (in his words) "the rubbish the teacher was spouting" and would actually like the opportunity to voice his beliefs because she was only covering Christianity and nothing else. So by his choice, I officially put him back into the lessons.

The teacher didn't like him saying that there were more religious (and non-religious) options available than just Christianity and she complained to the head teacher, who called me into school and I referred him back to my son. At the end of the year the teacher left the school.

Year 11 rolled around and I went to parents' evening in October and spoke to the RE teacher who told me that her mother was Muslim, her father Jewish and that she herself was Atheist! She told me that she taught the subject holistically, based on the premise of people of various different religions believing different things and that my son would be encouraged to include his beliefs (or lack of) in class.

This new teacher was an absolute breath of fresh air, so much so that when exams and results came around, to my astonishment and sheer pride, my son actually achieved an 'A' grade, basically because he'd followed this lovely teacher's way of dealing with the subject and stating in his answer to the first question on the test paper that he is Atheist and on the subject in question his beliefs were abc, people of other religions might believe jkl or xyz, that there was no right or wrong as to their choices but that we are all human and have the right to believe whatever we choose and should all respect the rights of others to choose for themselves too!

I'm stunned. How can you not believe in a god?????

I'm right here.

This new teacher was an absolute breath of fresh air, so much so that when exams and results came around, to my astonishment and sheer pride, my son actually achieved an 'A' grade, basically because he'd followed this lovely teacher's way of dealing with the subject and stating in his answer to the first question on the test paper that he is Atheist and on the subject in question his beliefs were abc, people of other religions might believe jkl or xyz, that there was no right or wrong as to their choices but that we are all human and have the right to believe whatever we choose and should all respect the rights of others to choose for themselves too!

Thats how it should be taught. I am definitely supportive of RE like this.

Religion taught as unquestionable fact has no place in schools.

@Harmonypuss

But the same school had previously allowed a teacher to teach her own syllabus? Did you put in a formal complaint?

@MossandRoy if you take her out she won't be able to question what she is being taught and give her own opinion to help balance things out.

I was a non-Catholic who went to a Catholic school. In year 7 I might have described myself as (culturally) CofE but I gradually became an atheist by listening and thinking about what I was being told. When I asked searching questions in class it encouraged other students to think about what they were being told too. Better to face these things head on than put your hands over your ears and say la-la-la. Removing her from class will achieve nothing. Leaving her in will develop her critical thinking skills.

This really made my day to read this. I am am atheist but believe it is important children learn about religion, its significance,meaning and why some people believe. It also leads to other conversations about life. My daughter has chosen to take RE as a GCSE but is an atheist. Learning about religious beliefs is part of history and our cultural society, it allows questioning and therefore knowledge

My DD is an atheist and took religion & philosophy GSCE. she really really enjoyed it and actually got a grade. She says it helped her to view the world through other peoples eyes. I had no influence on her taking this subject, it was optional so I was really surprised. From what I can gather, its actually a very interesting subject, especially for teenagers who like to think about how things are viewed by other cultures, and why they have those views.

I sent a letter in to school opting DD out of religious worship, no church visits etc at her request. But have not opted her out of RE as it's called in her school because it's important to understand different religions and she's happy with that. We discuss it at home too. I'm an atheist and didn't get her christened either. It's her choice to make. I'd rather she was educated about all religions in order to make her own choice.
Also vegetarian and didn't force her into that either. Not my choice to make. As long as she's been taught all aspects previously then absolutely respect her choice at this stage. I was subjected to RS in secondary school and fought my corner against the views expressed when I felt it was unfair and disproportionate while still being respectful. I understood, I just wouldn't stand for things being rammed down my throat.

@indemMUND

At my children’s school, visiting places of worship is part of RE.

My kids are Christian but have visited a mosque, Gurdwara and Synagogue during RE lessons. Neither of them came home demanding to change their faith, nor did they feel the religion had been pushed on them. They could however compare and contrast them with our church. They also thought the faith leaders were lovely, kind, humans and they had a generally nice time.

Meeting people of other faiths, and feeling welcome in their place of worship, despite not sharing the same beliefs, can be very powerful in multi faith communities.

@Flipflops85 DD hasn't had that option. Termly visits to the local church only. I'd be more than happy for her to experience different settings.

This is an interesting thread. My son is only year 1 but he’s a smart and opinionated little bean. He already dislikes the way they speech religion at his school ( which is a c of e school). He’s doesn’t like having to pray in assemblies, dislikes the school motto which is a phrase about god and had asked me why he had to go to a religious school.

I’ve told him he didn’t have to pay but he can sit quietly and respect that others are praying. I also said he could be removed from worship ( I think some of their assemblies are worship s) but he didn’t want to.

We talk a lot about different beliefs at home ( eg what different people believe happens after death etc). So I think he finds it odd when anything is mentioned about religion as fact rather than as “some people believe”.