To judge parents who do not even tell their children Easter is a religious festival

[Tuliptana]

I'm shocked that 12 out of 20 children in my childs class had no religious knowledge of the meaning of Good Friday or Easter Sunday for Christians.
All aged 9yrs old.

Thank you. I was about to say - my DS came home from school having learned about crucifixion and saying Jesus died for "our" sins as if it was factual, as children often do. It's like one of the original Grimms fairy tales.

DD is older but knows its the spring festival appropriated by Christianity to bring the pagans around to the idea of their new religion.

But she knows the Christians beliefs on the matter as well.

I find this so disrespectful. Fine if you do not believe but please do not call my beliefs an old wives tale.

If a practicing Christian family hasnt told their children about it then it might be odd. But it's actually irrelevant to anyone who isn't a practicing Christian.

The same goes for other religions and beliefs.

And as non Christians??

Why is it sad? Me and my kids are atheists 🤷‍♀️

We eat chocolate and have a lovely time, nothing to be sad about here.

What has being Irish got to do with it? You can be Irish and not be Christian!!

I have to say, I would expect this to be some kind of general knowledge that can be conveyed to kids without the gruesome detail. I’m not a Christian, but I always liked my kids to be aware of what was going on in the world around them.

In the most recent census in 2021, only 46% of the population describe themselves as Christian. That means in a class of 20, on average, only 9 of them will be Christian.
And if we’re talking about Christians who attend church at least once a month, then the percentage is 12% so only 2.4 children in a class of 20.
So 8 children being aware of the meaning of Easter seems entirely appropriate and not in the least bit shocking to me.

Agree - there are two festivals being celebrated here, the resurrection of Christ, which I don’t celebrate, and the coming of spring, which I celebrate by eating chocolate eggs.

The fact that those two festivals happen to fall on the same day now doesn’t mean I have to celebrate both. The pagan Eostre festival has nothing to do with Christianity.

We don't close all large shops on Easter Sunday because of the Easter Bunny do we?
You don't need to tell children to believe if you don't but surely it is fair enough to say 'Christians believe that Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and resurrected on Easter Sunday. For Christians this is the most holy time, and as church and state are heavily linked in this country Good Friday is a public holiday and shops close on Easter Sunday'
You can go on to say the background of why we have Easter eggs too, linking back to pagan festivals etc.

Was there a survey or something ? How do you find out that 12 out of 20 didn’t know ? That’s a very small class size?

Also Irish and you'll see from above... we don't discuss it in our house. I definitely know some adults who get very confused between advent / lent... don't know what Good Friday or Palm Sunday is etc.

Just as I know pretty much nothing about Hannakeuh or Eid etc. I only know about Christian celebrations because my parents are Christian... I am not and certainly my children's generation don't know much.

How do you know the exact number? Did you take a poll?

Also most schools teach it at least once by y4, but a vast majority do it every year at Easter for obvious reasons. Do all of them remember it Spring term of y6? Definitely not, they have been told/taught it though.

It’s disrespectful to tell children these stories. A poster above just said her child took this a fact.

Believe what you like but don’t pretend this stuff belongs in schools. It does not.

The word "Easter" is derived from "Eostre", the Germanic goddess of fertility and springtime. The holiday aligns with the Spring Equinox and celebrates fertility, regrowth, and the end of winter (hence all the egg and bunny references).

It's actually quite the mental leap to associate it with the death and resurrection of Jesus. And I say that as someone who was bought up in a strict Roman Catholic household.

My kids know the stories of Christian Easter, because it's considered general knowledge and they go to school. But I wouldn't be shocked or disappointed if they didn't know it. As non-Christians it just isn't relevant to them.

They understand the symbolism and importance of it as a pagan holiday. And we celebrate it because it is an event which brings different members of our extended family together, and a chance to be grateful to the beauty of Spring around us.

My daughter attended a school attached to a Catherdral so knew. That aside I do think it’s important to have some awareness of different religions and cultures in the hope it makes people more tolerant, religion is often the cause or interpretation of, of wars.

But you’ve reminded me it’s time to sing this lovely ditty whilst sitting in a bath of mini eggs!

🤣and the 'real' story is just as ridiculous.

I’ve seen posts on here where posters are shocked that their children learned about the crucifixion and details like nails through hands because they thought that was too graphic.

I would save your shock for The Troubles not being taught in English schools. That’s worse than children not knowing the Easter story imho.

Well presumably they aren't Christian families?

My children aren’t into made up fairy stories (neither am I) so I don’t tell them about Easter or Christmas

It’s taught in schools so if nine year olds don’t remember it there are probably many other things they are also not remembering.

I don’t think it’s a huge issue to be honest, not something I’d ever judge a parent for. Unless it is part of your religion and you are practicing it really isn’t relevant.

For most people its just a spring holiday about chocolate eggs and the Easter bunny, just like Christmas is about presents and Santa. That’s okay!

For what its worth I was raised Catholic but I would be really uncomfortable with my children being “taught” about Easter in school in the way I was taught as if it was all absolute fact because kids do believe what they are told. If they aren’t Christian/Catholic, Easter is just about chocolate and thats okay.