To not want the school to educate my child that disabled people did something bad in a past life?

[Kimi]

DS1 age 12 came home a bit miffed that while learning about the Hindu faith the teacher said people who lived a bad life came back as something bad like a snake or where given a disability .

Fair enough if this is what those of the Hindu faith want to believe then so be it but I think it is something that needed a deeper discussion as to the whys and hows, not just put out there.

I really feel like having a chat with the school would that be unreasonable?

DS1 said that they are learning about the Hindu faith, and the teacher told them the Hindus believe in reincarnation, he then went on to say that if you lived a bad life you would come back as something bad or with a disability, I ask DS1 if he questioned this or if it was discussed more by the class he said no and it was not,

I have no problem with learning about other faiths, the Nazis, the world not being flat as first thought, Darwin or any other topic as long as it is taught well, I do how ever feel this is not something that can be said and left at that it needed more discussion.

I know they are celebrating passover next week, should say DS1 goes to a Cof E school so I would have thought RS would have been taught well not just random bits of a faith.

I should have said AIBU to ask that they explain better or at least discuss this more

2rebecca No my problem is not I do not have a wide understanding of world faiths, nor did my son buy in to it as I said before. DS1 is most likely smarter then the teacher

My problem is I think it should have been discussed more not just a teacher telling a whole class disabled people are that way because (according to a faith) they did bad.

I would complain
if only for the teachers sake, if ds had a teache rthat said crap like that he would have got a mouthfull.

Frankly I'm staggered that anyone would find it remarkable when they discover that this is the sort of utter nonsense that organised religion peddles to its adherents.

I think what I have a problem with the more I think about it is the way the teacher has dealt with it.
I know DS1 does not hold any store by it but some will, also if this is what some people believe then that is their choice (not saying it is right in any way), but I think to tell a class of 12 year olds this and not elaborate nor discuss it in any way was a poor show.

Also there are children of all ability at the school and I think to say that in a class where a child who has a disability is could be very unkind.

I think they are trying to cover too many faiths in not enough time so you get bit of this and pieces of that and I do not feel that is helpful at all in creating an understanding of other faiths.

I should have said AIBU to ask that they explain better or at least discuss this more

In that case YANBU

reincarnation is part of the Hindu religion - so good to learn about it.

no more weird than other religions ideas. Christians have odd ideas about evil and punishment in after life etc..

I agree with the above comment about covering too many faiths and none in sufficient detail for it to make any sense. Is the NC now a 'Bluff your way in....' course? Breaking stuff down often makes it meaningless rather than easier to understand. If they went further into things all subjects would much more interesting and learning might actually become something children enjoy for its own sake .

I'd never complain to the school though, just plug away at home.

dd learns about different faiths at her school
funny they have managed to do this wioth out mentiong crap like that.

it was a lesson in what other religions believe in (however strange...) not a true fact

Hinduism does believe in reincarnation, but it isn't black or white like your ds' teacher says. Being disabled isn't necessarily a "punishment" for past sins, and very few modern Hindus believe this. This is complete distortion of the Hindu faith. If my children's teacher said stuff like this I'd be spitting nails

I'm not going to enter a theological discussion here, but it is really very sad that people like this teacher who don't know the entire belief system make such blase comments (which aren't even true!) and distort the image of a religion for everyone else.

This is shocking. I would bring it to the schools attention.

How old are the children? (not that it really matters much, it is wrong whatever age)

Wouldn't other people here want to hear the teacher's viewpoint? I would never go marching off to the school in a strop because of a comment my kids make about a lesson. Children often misinterpret things, or miss bits of sentences out, my kids do that to me all the time. I might discuss it with the school, but wouldn't get annoyed until I'd heard their side, although lots of religions believe lots of nonsense so I wouldn't take it too seiously. It seems as though alot of people are getting more upset at the Hindu doctrine of Karma than Christian doctrines like anyone who doesn't believe in jesus going to Hell. Surely a disabled person being punished for past misdeeds is no worse than a Muslim or Hindu going to Hell because they were born in the wrong country and didn't have any missionaries to "save" them.

This is why teaching RE is such a bloody nightmare. Especially with younger children they tend to forget the preface of "some people believe" or "some hindus/sikhs/jews believe" and take it as truth. It is very difficult as a teacher to teach these stories and beliefs to children when as a rule we do try and be honest with them. However many religious beliefs and stories do not stand up to any kind of questioning as they are matters of faith. I personally find it very difficult when a child asks me how it is possible that Jesus was resurrected, when to my mind it is clearly nonsense, similarly the parting of the red sea some people believe it literally happened, some y=think it;s figurative. I know when I taught the passover story to some young children recently they took it as established fact as they would most things a teacher tells them. As a teacher I can't say this is just a made up story like Cinderella but neither do I think they should believe it like it is fact.

Maybe the teacher was an atheist...do do do do do do do do

This kind of crap makes me want to homeschool my kids

I'd do more than have a chat with the school. I'd speak to the head, the Lea and the local papers, sorry but disablility isn't something they should be teaching children to think is wrong. I'm amazed they could ever get away with that really. I'd also have words with the teacher and tell him/her exactly what I thought of their little speach.

2rebecca - sorry to say and be rude, but, what a load of shit. You said, "Surely a disabled person being punished for past misdeeds is no worse than a Muslim or Hindu going to Hell because they were born in the wrong country and didn't have any missionaries to "save" them."

Are you joking? Seriously? I was raised a catholic (I don't go to church now and sit on the fench) and as far as I'm aware hell wasn't made for people, it was made for the fallen angels so the hell remark isn't applicable.

I home educated my DS during the last academic year. He has now decided to go back to school. During the H/E year we tackled many subjects, but R/E was not one of them. I am an atheist, and tbh, I didn't know how to address the subject. I was, frankly, embarrassed by and uncomfortable with the religion issue as I think it is all a complete crock. Eventually DH agreed to talk to DS about religion, but then he went back to school, so, to my shame, it is their issue. Yes, I expect to be pilloried.

Shytalk - how was homeschooling? I secretly quite want to, but don't think DH would go for it.
Personally I think if you take the 'I'm learning alongside you' route you can teach anything. Surely religion is something you would want to teach and make your child aware of your beliefs (even as an atheist) rather than letting someone else shape them?

I think YABU, children should be taught about the beliefs of others and there are many "unpalatable" things in many religions. Hinduism also has a caste system and the burning of widows is still practiced in some places. There are no doubt reasons for these beilefs and probably these should be explored.

Ds1 came home one day saying that Jesus was the Son of God and that he was crucified. As Muslims we don't believe this but I am glad that ds was exposed to these ideas and I explained that some people believed that but we don't.

If the lesson is about the Hindu doctrine of reincarnation, it would be extremely tedious for the teacher to have to preface every statement with "Some Hindus believe...". I think that a 12-year old should be able to grasp the notion that the whole lesson is about Hindu belief and not scientific truth.

As with any theological concept, they can be taught on many different levels. To a 12-year old, I would expect it to be very simplistic, and to a university scholar, something a lot more complicated and deeper. Whenever you teach something on a simplistic level, it is often not 100% true, and there can be many exceptions to the blanket statements.

I don't know anything about the RS curriculum, but I would suspect that the teaching on the doctrine of reincarnation extends into how it affects the daily lives of Hindus.

In our schools, we have "How we teach..." evenings, where each department will give a presentation of how they teach their subjects. They are immensely interesting and useful, and can prevent knee-jerk reactions by parents.

I don't think 12 is an appropriate age to be going into the ins and outs of such a complex concept as reincarnation and the disability issue needs to be treated with far greater sensitivity.