AIBU to ask NI parents to read this?

[IAmSoFuckingAngry]

Last month Parents for Inclusive Education released a report called ‘On a Mission’.

It demonstrated that Christianity is being foisted upon children in their primary schools, often by external visitors with unknown access ni status, and in 53% of cases, without the school making parents aware of the visits in advance.

This isn’t a select few schools, This is controlled and integrated schools.
It isn’t religious education, it is evangelism and indoctrination.

In many cases the opt out process is unclear (38% fail to meet the legal requirement to publish their opt out process in the syllabus). And where it is made possible, the alternative is often directly exclusionary to the withdrawn child.

Sorry just saw you are in the integrated sector. Maybe a different integrated might meet your expectations

@IAmSoFuckingAngry this is really interesting, so big thanks. My DP and I have been concerned in the past about religious visitors to the school that we are never informed about. We do talk to our DS about religion when it comes up but generally he doesn't really believe a lot of it anyway, so we're lucky in that respect. Still deeply worrying.

No I grew up here.

A historical connection to a church is not the same as an official role. Members of these churches are on the BOG because they continue to put themselves forward in order to maintain the privileged position their religion has.

It’s neither here nor there what the religious background of the teachers is. Are you proposing if enough of them are Jewish that they should be attempting to convert the attending children to Judaism?

Teachers should teach that which is based in fact. They should make children aware of how religions exist. They should not be using their role as an opportunity to proselytise.

You’ll note perhaps earlier where I have stated that my children are in an integrated school. And the opportunity external evangelical organisations are given is no different.

I’m choosing to get heated over it because I think it’s utterly disgraceful. Your have every right to disagree with that. The only reasons I can see you doing so are either that you’re content to see schools used as a way of attempting to recruit to Christianity while children are still unable to tell the difference between reality and imagination. Or you’re apathetic about the faith your children are raised in.

Either way I’d suggest you ask yourself how happy you would be to send your child to school and have a proselytising visitor from any other religion be given access to your child. If I asked to come in to tell all the kids God doesn’t exist would you be happy with that?
If not then why should it be accepted that the children of non-christian families be subject to evangelical christians?

Interesting. My (Catholic aetheist, iykwim) DC are in a controlled school that's pretty integrated in reality even if it doesn't have integrated status. They do learn about God as fact, but that is the case in all NI schools afaik unfortunately. I don't think any parents expect to be able to avoid that in reality - we just counter it at home. DD is fully aware we don't believe and that she can choose as an adult, for now she's insistent that she does believe but she also thinks Jack Frost is real, so I'm not overly worried.

According to the data, there are visits from one of the local churches in particular, but we knew that - it's things like harvest festival.

There would still be more religious influence in our local Catholic school due to the sacraments, so I'm happy with our choice given the options on the table.

It’s fantastic that some schools are like that. You’re right tho many aren’t. I’ve attached the key findings from the report.

“I don't think any parents expect to be able to avoid that in reality - we just counter it at home”
this I completely disagree with. We should absolutely aim to avoid someone else’s belief in something unprovable not be be taught as fact.

I mean, I would love to avoid it but whether you go controlled, Catholic or Integrated, they'll be teaching Christian faith as fact. It's not actually possible to avoid and I think most parents are aware of that.

I would love to see that change, and would support any legislation to do so, but I think most parents are fully aware of this aspect of schooling in NI.

This is such a big concern for me, as a non-religious parent with two primary school kids in NI. I hate the way it's shoved down their throat here, and I remember the damaging effect it had on me

@Itsagreatdaytosavelives it is a controlled integrated school.

https://parentsforinclusiveeducationni.org/

challenging it is exactly what this group are trying to do. They’re campaigning arm to encourage diversity, transparency and improving the opt out.

I joined them once I’d read the report. I really hadn’t realised how big an issue it was.

They gave school specific groups too and here’s a parent webinar at the end of the month.

This definitely happens in NI schools.
All the time.
I have experience of 3 different rural primary schools and the evangelists were at them all with their free sweets and their fervour.

Well I am a non practising Protestant. I support the right of the Catholic Church to provide a Catholic education and expect a Controlled school to provide a broadly Christian one.
If you think it a problem in integrated schools I think you should take it up with your own school.
Surely by trying to impose a non Religious system you are also inflicting believe or non belief in some who think otherwise.

I have the power of critical thinking and my children/grandchildren do too. It’s not hard to find the way to the bin for any unwelcome literature.

I’ve just seen this post.
how far should we be expected to travel, and how many schools do you think we should have to try to find somewhere that doesn’t try to indoctrinate my child into a religion we don’t belong to?

I think @CelesteCunningham is right. It is part and parcel of the education system.

Effect change if you will within your own school first. Most parents will just get on with it and have the right to take their own view. All of life is a balance, nothing in life or schools is perfect. If it were not this issue it would be something else.

What an odd response. Your suggestion is ignore a province wide issue and just make sure my own are sorted.

As for if it’s not this it’s something else. What a facile comment. I have an issue with this. I didn’t go looking for it.

Those parents who will just get on with it are welcome to do so. I’ll not be one of them.

All of life is balance therefore I should quietly accept the visiting of unregulated, unvetted religious evangelists?
Absolutely. Fucking. Not.

FWIW OP, I fully agree with you that schools shouldn't be teaching any religion as fact. I just think that parents in NI are aware of this and choose the school in their locality that is closest to their own preferences (hence my little Catholic atheists at their controlled school, as it's light touch there).

Possibly got a bit overly enthusiastic there sorry.

If true choice existed I wouldn’t have as big an issue. But it just doesn’t.

Maybe it was naive on my part to assume sending the kids to an integrated school would be an objective education.

It's objective in the Catholic vs Protestant sense only. DH went to an integrated primary school back in the day, his abiding memory is that they altered the version of the Our Father said at assembly.

But I do think being integrated in terms of culture etc is really really important for DC growing up in NI and yours will reap the benefits - we would have gone for an integrated school but the nearest would have meant sitting in traffic twice a day, vs strolling around the corner to a controlled school that is pretty integrated in ethos.