Or is teaching 6 Yr old about crucixation out of order?

[Whostoblame]

I might be over reacting but after multiple nights on the trot sleeping no more than 45-60 mins at a time I'm at the end of my tether. 6 year old goes to a non dom school and we are agnostic/atheist at home. School have been teaching them about Jesus and Easter etc including how Jesus was crucified. I now have a sobbing child every night who can't get the pictures out if her mind (and I'm not surprised!!)and subsequently cant sleep from about midnight, crying. Aibu to complain to school that 6 is way too young to be taught this?!

Lovely post @RumpleDumple 👏👏👏

Thanks to those that were helpful, giving an insight that it is in fact normal to be taught at this age (my girl is my oldest so haven't been through this before) and happy Easter to all who celebrate it.

You certainly sound like a very discerning person @RumpleDumple
You put the nitwits squealing It's bad for our children's mental health! It shouldn't be allowed! to shame.

I went to a catholic school and my children go to a catholic school and I've never heard of any child being upset or traumatised over this. Usually it's the opposite I've found young children can really enjoy the gorey stuff

It's the best school where we live, my husband and I both went to Catholic school (the same one actually) we might not believe in God, but we believe in a good education. I don't tell my kids it isn't real, i just smile and nod when they tell me Jesus "facts" or come home singing songs like they've been to a bible camp. I am partial to a classic banger anyway "Sing Hosanna", "shine Jesus shine" love it 😆

Try and find out after Easter what she was told exactly. If it wasn't that bad(and I really don't think it was but I could be wrong) try and explore where her strong reaction came from. Sometimes it can be the lack of detail that causes upset as kids fill in the blanks with their own imagination or worse, ask other more "knowledgeable " peers and it all goes downhill from there.

Well that's exactly what it says in the Gospel accounts, so it's not surprising that that's what they were taught.

Then the people there spat in Jesus' face and beat him with their fists. Others slapped him. They said, “Prove to us that you are a prophet, you Christ! Tell us who hit you!” Matthew 26.

I used to go to a Catholic school and some of the hymns we sang in assembly were so fucked up.

'were you there when they crucified our lord? Were you there when they crucified our lord, woooah, Sometimes it causes me to tremble'

All sang to a joyful merry tune.

Fucking weird.

Crucifixion was a punishment by an occupying power (Romans Empire). Presumably at least some children at the school will come from military or refugee families, or have parents who work in jails or family who've been to jail? It's helpful to think through the human face of all this, in an educational setting?

Christ on the Cross is meant to show that even someone who is being bullied to death can be viewed as valuable, loving, innocent, even powerful.

Possibly some children or parents/carers at school are in abuse situations. Empathy, complicity, responsibility, and hope can be taught through images like Crucifixion and maybe give children an emotional language that will help them articulate what's going on in their world.

FWIW, I went to a non-denominational school & don't remember being taught about the crucifixion, but someone must have taught it non-traumatically as we certainly knew about it by the age of 6.

That is not sung to a joyful, merry tune, op. Stop playacting.

A little googling, it'll have been Jesus (1979), will have been around 1987 when we watched it. From the images doesnt look like something I'll be sticking on for my 5 year old!

The world needs more people like you ❤️ Thank you, I am Catholic and I agree with you and appreciate your good will and logic.

Exactly. It is a somber mournful tune.

@Flounder2022 - well it’s great that you have found your way onto this thread and can continue your education

Because learning about different regions is essential to understand different beliefs and different cultures. What you consider to be a load of old bilge is important to others. It's really not that difficult to understand, surely?
The story of Jesus being crucified and then coming back to his apostles to say 'oi, look at me mate, I'm still here, my body maybe rotting away but my soul lives on' is kindda the corner stone of Christianity.
Just as in primary they teach about Ramadan, because it's an essential part of Islam, or Diwali because it's important to Hindus.

Wouldn't have called a spiritual with with a minor tonality (going from C F C to F - Am - F - Fm) as being in the slightest bit joyful and merry, but maybe the fact it was a spiritual confused people.

See you’re lying to her. That’s going to feed anxiety.

The bigger picture might not be true but fact is people were persecuted and executed for their beliefs.

I think it’s normal to explain to 6 years old about Easter but without focusing on the details or graphic image of crucifixion. The fact that lots of PP’s children were ok with this didn’t prove anything. Maybe these children were ok because their teachers presented the idea in a really age appropriate way focusing on the story side or anything else, not on the details of crucifixion.
It’s a very upsetting image for 6 years old. Some posters are saying that we should teach children everything from the early age, surely not everything at once, we have words “age appropriate “ for a reason.

Im a little confused by your comment. I went to catholic school and was raised catholic though my parents were not especially religious although my mam does have a faith.

However I have no faith and my son is not Christened. I am well aware of the story of Easter. My point was I am not fully aware of the details my son was taught apart from what I mentioned.

@whostoblame

Alpogies if i seemed harsh. I didn't explain myself. All i meant was that if you child is experiencing fairly extreme emotions on this topic, it can be easy as a parent to be outraged on their behalf and vocalise how such things should not be taught in schools, thereby exacerbating her emotions. Emotions which she might not understand why she is feeling them.

Her emotions ARE valid and I have no way of knowing what was and was not taught that day in class. However there is next to no chance that the barbarity of what crucifixion actually entailed would be even fleetingly mentioned so, assuming the discussion went along the lines of - nailed to cross, died, resurrected- , then I think your daughter is very empathetic and sensitive and that is no bad thing. But it is often tempting as a non believer to dismiss outright religious beliefs as nonsense, which have no right to be taught to kids.

I would speak to her teacher and ask what was taught, to gain a better understanding of your DD has reacted as she has.

Apologies if I came across as harsh

Thank you xo

Do you mean the Crucifixion? It is Easter. If all they're saying is that he (was nailed to, maybe?) and died on a cross=fine. What do you think people learn at Sunday School, at a younger age? They presumably talk about Islam and other religions too sometimes.

If they went into extreme grizzly detail that'd be different.

Kids can be randomly freaked out by stuff and you can't necessarily know how it's going to hit them- most in the class probably haven't given it much more of a thought.

Watership Down terrified me for weeks when I was 8/9.

*talk about Islam etc at school too, I mean.

The story of Jesus being crucified and then coming back to his apostles to say 'oi, look at me mate, I'm still here, my body maybe rotting away but my soul lives on' is kindda the corner stone of Christianity.

@anunlikelyseahorse Hey his body rose too, he vanished from the tomb. Otherwise he'd be a bit more like a normal bloke. Though variations on it will happen to us all in the end now.

99.9999% of the time children aren't at all traumatised by hearing the story of Easter, so something else is going on with that has made it a very intense experience.

Perhaps they have homed in on telling you what you the stories want to hear. It happens.