nimblelynx7 said:Responsibilities are fine and all, they build character, but everything in its own time. I don't think pushing back major obligations by a year is such a disaster, especially if someone isn't mentally ready or is right on the edge of being prepared.
Or are you suggesting we send kids straight to a coal mine if their schooling gets delayed just so they have "some kind of responsibility"?
Not at all. My point is that parents who try to delay school just to shield their kids from life's little responsibilities aren't actually doing them any favors. It feels like these parents have this habit of hovering, trying to protect their kids from every single bump in the road. If you do that, life is eventually going to hit that kid like a freight train.
Now, I'm obviously not talking about the kids where specialists and school boards decide a delay is necessary because of actual, legitimate struggles.
Douglas Booth22 said:True, once you start, there's no turning back; it's a five-day-a-week grind. It lacks the flexibility of daycare. With daycare, we can often bridge Monday or Friday with the weekend if the kid isn't feeling it, making our own schedule without having to justify ourselves to anyone. School is a major commitment, and I honestly don't get parents who are itching to get their kids into the classroom, as if the school is going anywhere.
But why is having responsibilities such a bad thing?
Look, life isn't just one big to-do list, but those responsibilities are actually vital and useful. You really think kids from those super-wealthy families who never have to lift a finger grow up to be well-rounded, capable adults?
You don't quite get why some parents are itching to get their kids into the classroom, and I don't get parents who try to delay school because they want to "save" their kids from having any duties at all.
To be honest, I don't think anyone ever actually asked me if my kid was ready for school. 🤔He started kindergarten at six and a half.
He’s doing absolutely fantastic in class, even though he never touches a textbook once he walks through our front door. Personally, I stay completely out of it—I don't meddle with his homework or school stuff at all.
If I look back at myself, I started school when I was six and three months old, and I was consistently one of the top two students in my entire class throughout elementary school.
So, in my book, those few extra months really don't seem to dictate how successful a kid will be academically.
School is a whole different ballgame compared to preschool. It’s more like a miniature version of real life—you've got responsibility, hard work, wins, and losses. But of course, there's plenty of playtime and fun mixed in too.
I honestly think this growing trend of holding kids back a year is just a symptom of modern parenting. We have this intense urge to overprotect our kids—to shield them from the friction of the real world. Whether that's actually good for them in the long run, or how else we might be "protecting" them from growing up, is definitely a conversation for another day.
@nosorog, your post really hit home for me. It made me realize why my kid—who’s basically raised on science and logic—never asks to pray or shows any interest in heading to church.🤔 So, I decided to just ask him straight up: "Does your religion teacher ever tell you that you *have* to pray or that you absolutely must go to church?" "No, she doesn't say we have to do anything. She just kind of suggests on Fridays that we might want to go on Sunday, because that's when they celebrate something special." "Like, on Sunday?" "Yeah." "Well, if you ever feel like going one Sunday, just let us know and we'll drive you." "Nah, I'm good."
(He’s been to a few services for different ceremonies, but to him, church is just one big, incredibly boring place.)
His teacher is this sort of scattered older lady who has zero authority. The classroom is always filled with this constant, low-level buzzing and chatter. From what my son describes, it doesn't even sound like she prepares for her lessons; she just wanders in and improvises, mostly just lecturing at them. The kids barely take any notes and they almost never get any actual assignments.
My boy isn't a huge fan of religious studies because he’s the kind of kid who thrives on structure, hard work, and discipline. 😁 Still, he hasn't asked to drop the class yet, mostly because he said, "I'm not sure if sitting in the library would actually be more fun."
@rowdypanther12, I totally get where you're coming from, and honestly, your points make a lot of sense.
@nosorog, listening to you, it feels like you’ve got some pretty heavy biases against religion—especially Catholicism (which might just come from a fear of the unknown). Do you seriously believe that people of faith don't feel actual pride in their achievements? Or that they only follow social norms because they're terrified of hell? That they spend their whole lives living in pure dread? I honestly don't even know how to respond to that.
I really don't have the energy to keep this debate going or dive into deep theological rabbit holes. All I'll say is that nothing makes my skin crawl more than a fanatic. As much as the sight of those ultra-conservative religious types reminds me of some of the most stuffy folks you'll find in the Midwest, I can't stand militant atheists either. You know the type—the ones who act like they hold the monopoly on TRUTH and treat every believer like some clueless idiot playing with magic tricks.😁
A seven or eight-year-old isn't some mindless little robot that just swallows whatever you feed them. They’re actually starting to grasp that people can see the world differently, that everyone has their own rights, and that being tolerant of different views matters. Sure, the choices they make right now might be totally naive, and they'll probably change their minds ten times before they hit adulthood, but I truly believe they deserve the right to make those choices themselves.
@Michelle Nelson4, honestly, it feels like this militant attitude and total dismissal of anything "different" is just a way to force your own worldview onto a kid. In my experience, trying to brainwash someone from one specific angle during childhood usually backfires spectacularly once they grow up.
My husband grew up in an incredibly religious household, and by the time he was twelve, he had already become an atheist.
I had a completely different experience—religion was basically just something I saw through my grandmother when I was little, and today, I'm a theist.😁
So, one of my close friends—who’s a staunch atheist (she’s actually the same friend who stayed with her ex and then moved right on to her current partner during New Year's)—has this kid who is absolutely obsessed with religious studies. He's a third grader and totally lives for it. We were recently hanging out downtown near a local landmark when he actually asked us to wait a second because he wanted to stop and say a quick prayer. He’s a believer through and through😁.
The thing is, his mom just rolls her eyes at him. Every single time he does something like that, she hits him with these sarcastic, mocking little comments. I actually spoke up and told her straight: don't do that. You’ve got to show some respect for his choice, even if he is only eight years old. Who knows? In ten years, he might decide he’s a hardcore atheist. Or maybe he’ll join the Hare Krishnas. Or become a Mormon. At the end of the day, that’s his call to make, and he shouldn't be judged or ridiculed by his own parent for it.
Religion is one of those things where parents instinctively feel the need to force their views onto their kids. Whatever they happen to believe, they want their children on the same page.
In my opinion, a parent who truly wants to support their child's growth as an individual should hold back. You have to give them the breathing room to think for themselves and make their own decisions. You have to respect their path—whatever that ends up being.
The absolute worst thing our kid’s teacher told the class was that Santa Claus isn't real, which honestly just rubbed me the wrong way. Then she went ahead and told them Saint Nicholas doesn't exist either—claiming he was just some incredibly good man who lived a long time ago, but since he passed away, well, he's gone.
Anyway, my friend's daughter actually raised her hand during the first hour of religion class, stood up, and said, "My mom says you're going to tell us a bunch of different stories, but they're all just fairy tales, like Little Red Riding Hood." 😂
Now, her mom wasn't saying that to be anti-religious or anything; she just meant that Christians don't necessarily take all those Bible stories literally, viewing them more as metaphors (you know, like Adam and Eve or the creation story).
Long story short, the teacher just brushed it off and told the girl that her mother had it all wrong. 🙄
shadowcrane91 said:I don't get it...? Are you telling me your kid knew exactly what religious ed was the second they started first grade and just decided on their own???
Look, if I live my faith, that means I raise my kids in that faith, and yeah, that means they're going to religious ed.
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Of course he didn't know what religion class actually entailed. 🙂 I basically just asked him if he wanted to learn about God at school.
Since he’d been asking questions about it lately—like whether God actually exists—and we couldn't give him a "yes" or "no" answer (we just told him nobody really knows for sure and that people believe different things), he probably saw this as a chance to actually learn more about it. 😁
Robert Rodriguez9 said:It’s pretty much expected that kids in religious education classes who actually live out their faith are taught from a young age that Santa Claus isn't real. 🤷 Then again, you hear so much nonsense in those classes anyway, so I don't see why parents should even bother stressing over this. For crying out loud, someone finally tells the truth in a Sunday school class and suddenly everyone loses their minds. 🙄
I disagree. Choosing whether or not a kid takes religious studies isn't always some deep 😬 religious or political statement made by parents acting on behalf of the child.
We try to be the kind of parents who don't force our views on our kids or make every single choice for them—that includes the decision about attending religious education classes.
Our kid makes his own call on whether he wants to participate or not, and he talks it through with us every year to re-evaluate.
Robert Rodriguez9 said:I don't get it. 🤔 It’s a religion class, for crying out loud. There isn't really any room for Santa Claus in there. Then again, I guess she wasn't exactly lying to them. 🤷
I honestly wish this could be taken literally—like, maybe Santa Claus shouldn't even be mentioned during a religion class in the first place.
Sarah Hall53 said:Kakadu, you totally forgot to mention we're talking about first graders! ☕ (A close friend's little one is actually in that grade—unless there happen to be two different sets of equally adorable kids running around...)
My kid is in second grade. But hey, he still believes in Santa Claus. And man, this whole post really threw him for a loop.
What do you guys think about a teacher who just bluntly tells her students during religion class that Santa Claus is a made-up character who isn't real?😠
Karen Richardson3 said:Can someone drop a link? I feel like we're talking past each other here. I was thinking of that one article on CNN, and it doesn't actually say what you're claiming.
So, for example, at my school until this year, computer science (for the older kids, obviously) was always held during the same block, though sometimes religious studies would follow it, which left a gap for the kids who skipped computer science but signed up for religion. Starting this year (and now we see why 😍), computer science is in a different shift entirely, while religious studies is tucked right in the middle of the daily schedule.😁
Well, yeah, because according to the Contract, that's how it has to be set up. If I'm reading this right, computer science couldn't even be scheduled before English class, and the Contract basically gave religious studies the same standing as English, even if not every single student attends.
I just want to clear one thing up—personally, I've identified as an atheist since I was 15, and my kid doesn't take religious studies. But look, if there are legal obligations in place, people can love them or hate them all they want, but until those laws are overturned, they have to be followed.
So, it’s totally fair for the religious folks to demand the Contract be honored, and it’s just as fair for everyone else to think the Contract is flawed and work toward changing it.
I'm really trying to emphasize that working to amend a Contract isn't some destructive, mindless way of spreading hate toward believers or religious education.
Using phrases like "tyranny of the majority over the minority" sounds really edgy and activist-ish, but honestly, it's just a hollow buzzword.
Let me explain why: if we were actually talking about tyranny, the majority would be voting to make religious studies mandatory, declaring non-religious marriages invalid, and forcing everyone to go to Mass three times a week.
In this specific case, there really aren't any elements of religious believers actually tyrannizing non-believers.
Besides, I don't know what kind of situations you consider "tyranny"—where 7 people outvote 3, and those 3 are forced to go along with whatever the 7 decided?
Mad Hatter The thing is, once you pick an elective, it basically becomes a mandatory requirement for you the second you hit that button. 🙂
From what I can gather, they’ve actually negotiated a special legal status for these classes through their contracts. So, while it isn't technically required for every single student in the district, it functions as a compulsory course when it comes to how the school schedules everyone's day.
The only way to really shake things up would be to renegotiate those formal contracts with the religious organizations—though, honestly, I'm not even sure if the Catholic programs are the only ones with this specific setup, or if other denominations are integrated into the daily schedule the same way.
If only a tiny handful of people actually push for changing those agreements, then they're just going to stay exactly as they are.
Personally, I don't really mind either way. It feels like the massive drama surrounding religious education has died down quite a bit, especially since I realized this is pretty much how schools operate all over the world, so my kid is perfectly fine during those periods.
To be totally honest, what’s actually bothering me right now is this sudden wave of secondary hate being thrown at the Church. It feels like so many people have jumped on the bandwagon lately that it’s stopped being interesting and just feels exhausting. 😁
I actually know the deal. In our public schools, only Catholic religious education gets that official spot on the schedule. If you're looking for Islamic or Orthodox instruction, it doesn't even happen during school hours—it happens at local churches or mosques. Basically, an instructor from those faiths just drops by the school every once in a while to log grades into the digital portal.
It would honestly be pretty interesting to see Muslim or Orthodox religious ed integrated into the regular daily schedule. Imagine twenty-five kids hanging out in the hallway waiting for their turn while that one student is inside having their class.
Because let's be real, this is textbook religious discrimination. Only the Catholic curriculum is baked into the actual school day, right? 😉
shadowcrane91 said:I don't know what school looks like these days... but when we were kids, we covered stories from the Old and New Testaments, learned prayers, the Ten Commandments, and stuff like that.
We didn't sit around debating homosexuality or anything.
Does any of that even apply here?
Eventually, a kid is going to run into the fact that certain faiths don't support gay people... And at that point, whether they still love religious studies or not—well, that’s on them.
Look, if you've already let him make his own choices (even if you don't totally agree with everything the Catholic Church teaches), then I think it would be fair to let him decide for himself what to do with religion once he realizes Catholicism doesn't support gay people.🤔
Huh?😕
Of course a kid is going to learn that some religions don't support gay people, just like they'll learn that Hitler didn't support Jewish people. You could easily teach that in a hypothetical World Religions class.
But if someone tries to force the idea onto him as absolute doctrine during Catholic religious education, then absolutely not—I won't allow that. There's no dilemma there at all.
silentraven6 said:Mine went for one hour and then the school told us they won't continue.
For the rest of the year, his teacher is giving them extra math help instead. And honestly, I'm grateful for that.
👍
I really wanted that choice to be his. If I don't sign him up in first grade, it feels like I'm making the call for him—like I'm the one shielding him from something he might actually need.
And with our kids, the teacher handles all the math stuff.
As for the religious studies teacher, she seems like this totally disorganized woman who can't command a room to save her life. The kids end up loving that class because they basically turn it into a total circus.
Look, this debate has been chewed over a million times already, so I don’t have much to add—but my take is pretty simple: religious studies just doesn't belong in the public school system.
That said, my kid is actually enrolled in it.
Back in first grade, we signed him up mainly to sidestep all the political drama surrounding the topic for a while.
Beyond the fact that we weren't sure what the school's logistics were—like where he’d even go if he didn't attend—we just wanted him to experience it for one year. We didn't want it to feel like some mysterious, forbidden subject he wasn't allowed to touch; we wanted him to get a feel for it so he could make his own choice later on.
He was a little torn this summer, but he ultimately decided he wants to stick with it this year too.
At the end of the day, the call is his. As long as he wants to go, we're behind him. If he decides to quit, we're behind him there, too (unless someone starts preaching that being gay is a sin or something along those lines—then the decision shifts back to me. 😉)
By the way, since I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately scrolling through political forums, I noticed that one specific party is the only smart one to openly state that religious education shouldn't be part of the school curriculum. It seems like nobody else has the guts to say it out loud—so just be careful who you're voting for this Sunday.😉
From what I understand, there’s still an option to finalize grades at the midterm mark—it’s just not mandatory anymore. Honestly, if people actually thought locking in those mid-semester grades was a good move, they’d be doing it more often.
To me, obsessing over a midterm final grade is just another case of parent hysteria and unnecessary anxiety over a number that doesn't mean a thing. Even back when it was required, I wouldn't even bother looking at the midterm grade when the school year wrapped up. I just look at all the individual marks in the gradebook throughout the entire year, and that's plenty for me.
Hey guys, does anyone know where I can find some decent, affordable T-shirt printing around the Midwest? I'm dying to make something like this for myself and my younger brother:
(Whoops, that photo was way too zoomed in. Edit: )
I actually tried to get into a deep dive about policy with him once, but I quickly realized he doesn't have the slightest clue about how school reforms or the education system actually work.
