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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that a RECEPTION teacher shouldn't have said this ???

725 replies

AutumnalPumpkin · 14/10/2023 11:16

My daughter goes to a catholic school (it was the only school available to us) we are not a religious family, but it does not bother me that she is being immersed in religion. After all, she will only make her own mind up later in life anyway. But this is relevant.
They use god in almost every part of the day, and in all aspects of learning.
As those who are not religious will know, we and a lot of others view god as "made up" or a myth, if you will.
Now this brings me to where I have a problem - her reception teacher has picked up on some of the class talking about unicorns. A typical 4/5 year old thing... and has proceeded to tell them that Unicorns, fairies and dragons etc are all made up, and do not exist.
This is absolute insanity to me!!? They are 4/5 and all have wonderful vivid imaginations.
We regularly take my daughter to "the fairy forest" and she immerses herself into it and tries to find clues to where the fairies could be hiding, and loves to think that at nighttime all of the magical creatures come out to play.
She's now come home saying that it's all untrue and they are made up.
I'm actually really upset about this.
How can you push the belief of god, and they go all out for Santa etc. but actively shut down the belief of magical creatures ??

OP posts:
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BurnToastAgain · 14/10/2023 18:44

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Ericaequites · 14/10/2023 18:55

It’s not nasty to tell children Santa isn’t real. Children as they grow question whether his trip around the world is possible. Elf on the Shelf is worse. It encourages children to expect constant kindly surveillance when being watched in your home is unwholesome and inappropriate. It encourages them to accept a 1984 world where behavior is constantly watched

GoonieGang · 14/10/2023 18:57

SiousieSoo · 14/10/2023 17:17

You are the one who chose to use your experiences as a representation of Catholicism, not me. I am sorry but your lived experience is entirely subjective and is not indicative whatsoever of my experience, my kids nor none of my friends or relatives.... You are trying to invalidate and demonise the OPs Catholic school through your experience and to me that is utterly wrong.

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Are you a religious? why have you been so vile to a person who opens up about a lived experience?
You defend a god and religion but refuse to believe someone’s actual life events could actually have happened.
Why is this? Is it because you are catholic and you are offended that someone’s experience of your religion is not as positive as yours was?

VisionsOfSplendour · 14/10/2023 19:00

Allwelcone · 14/10/2023 17:17

Anti-catholic sentiment is still live and kicking in the UK I see!

Have I missed a memo that we are all supposed to be pro Catholics?

AGovernmentOfLawsAndNotMen · 14/10/2023 19:04

SiousieSoo · 14/10/2023 17:20

I find it is so easy to give Catholic schools a kicking on here. Most people have never set foot in one and think it is ok to denounce and demonise them. One poster called Catholics dour, joyless and savages... Have they ever been to a Catholic wedding??

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Yes.
All of my relatives, some of my friends and mine.
Why?

BurnToastAgain · 14/10/2023 19:06

Please, please can we stop attacking Catholics now 😢

AGovernmentOfLawsAndNotMen · 14/10/2023 19:07

AGovernmentOfLawsAndNotMen · 14/10/2023 19:04

Yes.
All of my relatives, some of my friends and mine.
Why?

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Apologies @SiousieSoo i misread and thought you were asking me if I’d ever been to a Catholic wedding.

toadasoda · 14/10/2023 19:12

It's quite amusing the amount of non Catholics who apparently know all about what is or is not taught in Catholic schools, despite the Catholics telling them to the contrary.

AGovernmentOfLawsAndNotMen · 14/10/2023 19:16

Taytocrisps · 14/10/2023 17:39

Religious schools in the UK must be very different from religious schools in Ireland. At my Catholic primary school we were taught all about Oíche Shamhna (Hallowe'en) and were encouraged to make Hallowe'en decorations at school. At DD's primary school they went a step further and they got all the kids to dress up in Hallowe'en costumes on the last day before the October mid-term break.

Sounds like a very mean teacher to me. If they were 9 or 10, you wouldn't expect them to still believe in unicorns fairies and dragons. But they're only 4 and 5.

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Halloween is another word for All Saints Day and a time in the Catholic religion that graves are blessed. I have no idea if other Christian religions also do this.
Its perfectly acceptable to celebrate it.

givemeasunnyday · 14/10/2023 19:39

MrsSkylerWhite · 14/10/2023 11:31

Atheists here. Nothing but nothing would have persuaded us to send our children to a religious school. You signed up to it so YABU.

I'm not an atheist, but I do agree that you signed up for this school, so YABU if your beliefs are so at odd with their teachings.

Btw I don't recall ever believing that unicorns or fairies were real.

Notlikelysaidthedragontothefly · 14/10/2023 19:41

🤦‍♀️

Pollyputhekettleon · 14/10/2023 19:49

VisionsOfSplendour · 14/10/2023 19:00

Have I missed a memo that we are all supposed to be pro Catholics?

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Why are you pretending to believe those are the only two options?

Pollyputhekettleon · 14/10/2023 19:50

givemeasunnyday · 14/10/2023 19:39

I'm not an atheist, but I do agree that you signed up for this school, so YABU if your beliefs are so at odd with their teachings.

Btw I don't recall ever believing that unicorns or fairies were real.

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You probably don't remember much about being 4. It's ok to believe wild things when you're 4, this shouldn't be controversial.

itsfarlim · 14/10/2023 19:53

Lazy parenting. The lesser faith school is crap so you choose the more radical faith school despite not being down with the teachings. Parenting is about what's best for the kids, not what's easiest for you. This school clearly isn't what's best for your non catholic kid

Pollyputhekettleon · 14/10/2023 19:58

toadasoda · 14/10/2023 18:24

Yes thats my thoughts too. Almost all Irish schools are Catholic and religion is approached casually, there is an option out of it. Cultural stuff like Halloween, Christmas, Easter is celebrated according to the local culture, not the religious version. In 1980s we were still not allowed celebrate Halloween in school and Christmas was more about Jesus than Santa, but that has completely transformed. The version I'm hearing about here in the UK sounds like what my mother experienced in the 1950s. I wonder is this a common thing, where a religion is the minority in a country, it tends not to evolve so much with the culture and retains a stricter form? I am Catholic but like most I only follow aspects of it, I have never in my life met a fundamentalist Catholic and would be very wary of any.

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Maybe that's it. But Catholicism everywhere in western countries is like Ireland now, as far as I know. It would have been the majority religion in France too, but I'm pretty sure they're not freaking out about 4 year olds believing in fairies and unicorns either! And some people here seem to genuinely believe they're taught they're going to burn in hell! It's actually pretty funny.

Luxell934 · 14/10/2023 20:05

The only unreasonable thing on this thread is you thinking you know the exact scenario that occurred in the classroom for the teacher to have said this. Not saying your daughter is lying but 4 year olds are not reliable to tell you the context of what was actually happening. It's really unlikely she's a horrible bitch who takes pleasure in telling 4 year olds fairies aren't real so stop talking about them.

MrsSucculent · 14/10/2023 20:06

But they’re not real. That’s just scientific fact.

CowboyJoanna · 14/10/2023 20:07

Taytocrisps · 14/10/2023 17:39

Religious schools in the UK must be very different from religious schools in Ireland. At my Catholic primary school we were taught all about Oíche Shamhna (Hallowe'en) and were encouraged to make Hallowe'en decorations at school. At DD's primary school they went a step further and they got all the kids to dress up in Hallowe'en costumes on the last day before the October mid-term break.

Sounds like a very mean teacher to me. If they were 9 or 10, you wouldn't expect them to still believe in unicorns fairies and dragons. But they're only 4 and 5.

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Halloween is a traditional Celtic holiday.

Not all Chrisitianity sectors are the same. In America, many Christians homeschool their children and dont even let them know about halloween existing.

Pollyputhekettleon · 14/10/2023 20:09

Luxell934 · 14/10/2023 20:05

The only unreasonable thing on this thread is you thinking you know the exact scenario that occurred in the classroom for the teacher to have said this. Not saying your daughter is lying but 4 year olds are not reliable to tell you the context of what was actually happening. It's really unlikely she's a horrible bitch who takes pleasure in telling 4 year olds fairies aren't real so stop talking about them.

Most people who do that kind of thing aren't horrible bitches, although those do exist. Most of them just think, like many posters on this thread, that 4 year olds shouldn't believe things that aren't true. It's not that they deliberately want to upset them, they just view it as a regrettable side effect of doing the right thing. And also of course they would see it as the parent's fault if a 4 year old arrives at school still believing in things that some people have decided they should no longer/never have believed in. Santa is ok for most, tooth fairy generally also acceptable, fairies less ok, unicorns most definitely beyond the pale. I couldn't tell you who writes these rules.

Pollyputhekettleon · 14/10/2023 20:12

MrsSucculent · 14/10/2023 20:06

But they’re not real. That’s just scientific fact.

Adults have traditionally allowed children to believe/sorta kinda believe/have hazy boundaries about things that are not real. A minority of adults are apparently now vehemently opposed to this.

Pollyputhekettleon · 14/10/2023 20:13

CowboyJoanna · 14/10/2023 20:07

Halloween is a traditional Celtic holiday.

Not all Chrisitianity sectors are the same. In America, many Christians homeschool their children and dont even let them know about halloween existing.

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Indeed. And most of those Christians are Protestants, for those who seem to have the differing attitudes of Catholicism vs Protestantism to magic and similar things slightly upside down...

LovePoppy · 14/10/2023 20:27

AutumnalPumpkin · 14/10/2023 11:24

@monicagellerbing okay I understand it's a very religious school and as I have said that is fine. But I don't understand why the teacher had to tell them completely unprovoked that unicorns and fairies are made up.

Because it’s a very religious school.

Im shocked you are surprised

SiousieSoo · 14/10/2023 20:30

GoonieGang · 14/10/2023 18:57

Are you a religious? why have you been so vile to a person who opens up about a lived experience?
You defend a god and religion but refuse to believe someone’s actual life events could actually have happened.
Why is this? Is it because you are catholic and you are offended that someone’s experience of your religion is not as positive as yours was?

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I know so many people who went through a Catholic education. I find it very very difficult to believe that this experience is representative as it bears no resemblence to the very very many people I know who had a Catholic education, so yes I am questioning it as being a very subjective and individual perception that may be due to a plethora of other unrelated factors. I am allowed to do this, as others have done on this thread....

junbean · 14/10/2023 20:33

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surreygirl1987 · 14/10/2023 20:34

But why shut down innocent children like that.

Eh? Schools are educational. She's educating them to let them know what's true and what's made up. That's fine.

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