Jesus held on the cross with nails in his hands

[TaFox]

DD5 is in year 1 and has been learning about Jesus at school. Great stuff in the spirit of Easter.

The RE teacher told the class how Jesus was NAILED to the cross.

This is quite graphic for a little girl who believes that the Easter bunny will leave eggs in our garden.

Should I tell school that this is too much info for little ears?

Whilst not conclusive, most scholars.agree that Jesus existed as a man. I think it’s disingenuous to say the ecvidence is sketchy.

It's fine. I mean if it bothers you ask if she can be removed from RE lessons but it's not really a big thing.
I'm Catholic and heard about it when I was 4 and so did my DDs. Can't say it's affected any of us.
Easter is supposed to be about Jesus.

Thank goodness they've made Mary Poppins PG.

I agree. I don’t think a teacher needs to say any more than “Jesus died on a cross” for Year 1 children; and only go into the specifics if asked, and then only sensitively, and moving the lesson on if any children’s questions get too lurid for the sake of the others.

There’s no reason this can’t go at the kids pace, especially given they are 5 or 6. They don’t need to know the specifics of death by crucifixion at that age, the nailing to the cross being only the start of it!

I told my 4 yr old how the ancient egyptians removed brains prior to embalming by sticking a hook up your nose and wiggling it around. I had to because we were in a museum. I found it all really fascinating when I was a kid morbid curiosity and all that. She’ll be fine.

No. She'll be alright. I've always known about the crucifixion, even before school I'd heard the story. And I'm not from a religious family.

Talking about it like most small children would, with a bit of glee and fascination at the gore? Or talking and sobbing about never wanting to go to school again talking?

As many many posters have said (because it's the truth) young children mostly have an insatiable appetite for gore. I'd be concerned about the child in my class who was upset about this particularly story, not about the 99.9% who heard it wide-eyed and fascinated and were clearly going to go home and say "did you know THEY NAILED HIM TO THE CROSS WITH NAILS"

Problem is.. no more nails hadn't been invented you see, after the gruesome crucifixion I'm sure they all sat down with a buttons egg.
Easter really isn't about bunnies OP, just like Christmas isn't all about presents.
Religious celebrations.

I do remember as a child being really distressed at the Passover stories which seemed to overlap the Easter stories at my school. I was the oldest child so the death of the first borne and the daubing of the blood on the doors to warn away the angel of death was traumatising. Don't get me started on Herods slaughter of the innocents.

I would bet my life that your daughter isn't actually upset about it..she's just intrigued and talking about what she's learnt. It's you who isn't dealing with it very well. Bizarre 😂do you really tell your daughter the easter bunny leaves chocolate eggs and that's what Easter is about??!?!

I'm an atheist and I know that easter was originally about bunnies and eggs as they are symbols of spring equinox which the Pagans celebrated. We should leave gruesome fictional stories out of it.

Willing to bet it went like this:

Teacher: Jesus died on the cross
Children: how did they get him up there?
Teacher: well, actually, in those days, people were very cruel and used nails.
Children: Ewwwww.

And thus the lesson very probably endeth.

I’m another one who wasn’t harmed by learning the Easter story young.

i went to a catholic primary school. There was a regular little yellow magazine called Crusader. I remember us all eagerly looking in it when it arrived as it would describe various martyrs’ death, some of which were very inventively gruesome.

Unfortunately, Jesus being nailed to the cross and being speared in the side to are key points of the Easter story, as this was not done routinely during crucifixion. They were so worried about the power/following of this individual, that they were making absolutely sure he could not be switched with another, and that he was definitely dead.

And when he rises again, Thomas asks to put his fingers in the holes as proof of the resurrection.

Children learn about gruesome real and made-up things at school from an early age. Tudor beheading and Egyptian mummification have been mentioned upthread. I remember in year 1, there were a couple of reading scheme books about Greek myths. Classical myths are also sometimes pretty graphic.

I think it is rare at that age to fully appreciate exactly the suffering involved in these processes, and they tend to just accept the facts of the stories.

I think most people are aware of the pagan roots but in this instance the kid was being taught about the Christian festival of Easter. Which centres around Jesus' death.

I think children should be well informed about major world religions. I also believe in tempering the wind to the shorn lamb.

Also, I am immediately sceptical if anyone says "It never did me any harm"....

That's not true, the hands are tougher than you think. Either way would work. Also, making the death quick was not part of the plan for crucifixion, more often people were tied to the crosses, not nailed.

This ^^

@TaFox You need to be a bit breezy.
Yes dd. Glad we didn’t live in Roman times. What do you want for breakfast?

Nerd warning - Other way around, really! I was brought up Christian but know full well it was a pagan festival of spring and rebirth (Eostre being the goddess - hence 'Easter') which Christianity used as an anchor for celebrating the resurrection story!

I've read everything now. 🤦

I taught in a school that had a "graphic" picture of Jesus nailed to the cross, blood dripping from His hands, His feet, His head, the wound on His side.

Nursery upwards walked past it every day.

It always bothered me though that the nails were in His hands. Historians and scientists are clear they were in His wrists. The flesh in the hand isn't strong enough to hold body weight.

I taught year 1 about Florence nightingale. Should I have left out the parts about soldiers having limbs shot off, and infections in the hospitals? Blood covering the floor?

I’m Pagan and we celebrate Eostre, that’s where the Eggs and bunnies come from (representing new life, fertility and spring life ).

Just when you think you've heard it all. I honestly worry about the human race sometimes.

Wait until you hear the full story about Noah.

I was told the same at that age. I'm still mentally stable now at 35

Literally this. I taught it this week and that’s exactly how the conversation went!

I think an older child hearing the story for the first time is more likely to react strongly because empathy for suffering tends to grow with age.

In the UK, the story is so ubiquitous and encountered at such a young age that very few really feel the full horror of it. They are habituated to it early.

Some years ago the sculpture 'Pieta' was displayed in a French cathedral. It showed Jesus slumped in an electric chair. The sculptor wanted to reframe the crucifixion story so people felt real emotions looking at it.

I prefer the take on Jesus in Islam, though. A beloved prophet, not a sacrifice.