Posts by Susan James

Hehe, looks like they’re keeping tabs on us too! A religious studies teacher from St. Louis was actually writing about Catholics and those who oppose religious education in schools.

I don't want to just copy and paste the whole thing (though it's definitely worth a read), but they make a great point about how school religious ed classes are starting to branch out—targeting people who aren't even part of the local parish.

A lot of this stuff gets pushed onto society in such a passive way.

The sad part is that things like altruism and helping others should really be woven into every single subject, including building healthy teacher-student relationships and encouraging kindness among kids. Instead, some of these religious instructors act like their own little club, as if you can only learn those values by sitting in their specific classroom.

shadowcrane91 said:My kids walk to school by themselves.....
So basically—I'm just totally neglecting them..... poor things.....

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What exactly are you basing that conclusion on?

Not all kids are ready to walk to school alone in first grade.
Plus, we aren't talking about the commute to and from school here. We're talking about kids wandering around during a free period, being left alone in hallways, classrooms, or bathrooms.... leaving them to potentially run into an eighth grader who might decide to have a little fun with a random passerby, who happens to be a kid with a gap in their schedule.
And why do they even have a gap in their schedule?
Because someone issued a directive that religious studies must be held during a specific period, so if they don't participate, they just end up hanging around.

Personally, my daughter doesn't just hang around. She stays busy—reading comics, drawing, picking up a book from the library, or heading out to the playground.
But I also know that isn't how things are set up at every school.
She’s lucky enough that she isn't the only one in her class, so there's a small group of kids hanging out together during that hour. But I know for a fact that in many schools, that's not the case. You have kids sitting there completely alone, and not every school has a library readily available or a teacher with a free period who actually wants to supervise them.

Should kids, at the very start of their schooling, really be socializing with the janitors in the hallway? Getting to know the maintenance crew? Watching to see which parent shows up more often for updates (if they happen during religious studies)?
And for what purpose?
All because religious studies is mandated for a specific period.

Since your kids are already walking to school independently, why not suggest they walk to the local church for their religious classes? I assume you go to Mass together, unless they’re going to Mass solo too.

Would you consider having them come in during the afternoon session instead?
Or maybe suggesting they take a zero period in the morning?

This isn't about majorities versus minorities; it's about the fact that every child deserves a basic education and equal treatment.
We don't expect every child to have identical musical, athletic, or linguistic needs—so we offer those in different shifts or in the evenings, and parents drive them. Why then do we assume everyone has the exact same religious needs? Just because a majority expresses them that way...🤔

@shadowcrane91, you seem to have an issue with Catholics who actually show empathy and understanding toward kids left wandering the halls because they don't attend religious education classes. Is it really unacceptable to you that some people feel embarrassed by being Catholic when they see how others act "in the name of faith"? 😕

A few practical-minded Catholics here have pointed out that mandatory religious ed in schools is problematic specifically because it fails to account for individual differences among students, and we haven't found a solid solution for those who aren't participating.
In the spirit of our faith, I believe you know that this approach is all about looking out for your neighbor, just as Jesus taught us. I’m honestly not sure where we lost our way, if modern Catholics are ignoring that core part of Jesus's teachings or just using excuses like, "Let the school handle it; it's not my concern."
I was raised to care about others, not just focus on my own needs.
While your child is sitting in class learning things that you could easily teach them at home, there might be another kid feeling lonely in the library, someone sad out in the hallway, or someone else just hanging out on the playground... but they are still there, and you can't just look the other way.
It isn't humane, nor is it in the spirit of the faith you mention so often.

When you're happily chirping about how glad you are that religious ed is available at school, there’s another parent out there worrying about how their child is spending that hour.
You know, I thought about this deeply back when my child wasn't a student yet, even though I identify as Catholic.
It matters to me how children grow up, what we teach them, and how they feel in the school they're expected to attend for at least eight years.

Furthermore, there's a large group of people—regardless of nationality, faith, or any specific talent like sports or music—who believe that elective subjects, whether it's religion, computer science, PE, or a foreign language, should be scheduled during a different period or at least first/last thing in the day. That way, kids who don't choose that subject aren't left with a massive gap in their school day.

Maybe you're okay with your kids wandering the halls for 45 minutes, but I'm not comfortable with that for mine for the next ten years.
Teaching a child independence—like walking to school, staying home alone, or running to the corner store—is one thing, but leaving a child unsupervised in a hallway just because others need to practice their faith at 9:50 AM is something else entirely.

hiddenscout44 said:The thing is, they're both right: why on earth would anyone do work they aren't getting paid for?
But then again, you look at professors today and they're basically just ghosts—they don't even do what we're actually paying them to do. Like, instead of teaching kids how to read, they just dump homework on us parents and expect us to be the tutors. I get that practice makes perfect, but why am I the one grinding with my kid when I’m already paying the school and the teachers to handle that during class hours? I remember back in elementary school, we had to practice reading during school time, and if you didn't nail it, your grade took a hit. My parents never sat down to drill me on reading (and yeah, my grades suffered because of it), but nowadays, it's totally standard for parents to have to teach everything at home. So what's the point of school then? It's honestly depressing that I have to tell my kid not to burn herself out over schoolwork—to learn what she can, sure, but not to obsess over the grades... because a GPA isn't some indicator of her actual worth or what she truly knows.

And while we're on the subject of religion, it sucks that those of us raised Christian—even though we've woken up from that sheep mentality—have to fight this battle against religious extremists ourselves. We're trying not to subject our kids to that brainwashing, while people from other faiths are basically playing dead and sending their kids to those classes just out of fear (I've seen it happen at my little girl's school)

You know what I find really interesting about this whole discussion?
There were two moms chiming in here whose kids take religious education classes.

One mom was very clear that she’d be furious if her child needed extra help learning, yet the teacher is using that religious ed period to give supplemental lessons in English to the non-religious students.

It feels like there’s zero sense of priority. We enroll our kids in school specifically for core academics where the teachers are experts, right? So, honestly, you shouldn't even be worrying about electives until you can read and write. A teacher should find a different time slot that works for everyone, leaving the other kids free during that period.
Or, let the kids go to their religious studies while the parent stays home to work with them, maybe hiring a private tutor or speech pathologist... which is basically what the second mom said. She’s actually happy her kid gets to attend religious ed at school because it provides opportunities she can't offer at home (🙄), and she’d much rather pay for a private speech therapist in the afternoon than ask the school therapist to pull her kid out of religious ed when the child is struggling with basic reading and writing.
Honestly, that doesn't seem right to me. If I saw an opening in the schedule, I’d prioritize the fundamentals first.

I mean, if we’re going along with the logic that religious education was brought back to schools in the early 90s, then why not just move the schools into the church? Let the priests handle the academics since teachers are already underpaid anyway—at least then they might actually be doing something useful.

cosmiccyclist172 said:Honestly, I’d much rather they just have one hour of art and music combined. Why on earth should someone who can't carry a tune or draw a straight line be forced to waste their time on it?
I’d way prefer they squeeze in a foreign language instead of pushing all this nonsense that teaches kids absolutely nothing useful.

And as for the teachers—look, are they getting paid extra for this? No! Is this their own kid? Of course not! Did they even say anything against the fact that nobody is listening to the religious studies classes? Not a word!

Why isn't that woman coming to pick up her kid? I can see she's totally stressed out; she doesn't even want to hear a single thing about God through the wall. That's exactly why the mother won't show up—she's just keeping the kid home until this whole thing blows over.

Art and music aren't "useless" subjects; they help develop so many different skills in kids.
Even if someone struggles with singing or drawing, they'll struggle with those same creative aspects in religious studies or a foreign language class too, since those involve similar types of expression.
The only difference is that in art or music, you can practice and receive coaching, whereas in religious studies or a language class, there's more pressure to already know the material and show immediate results.

cosmiccyclist172 said:Honestly, I’d much rather they just have one hour of art and music combined. Why on earth should someone who can't carry a tune or draw a straight line be forced to waste their time on it?
I’d way prefer they squeeze in a foreign language instead of pushing all this nonsense that teaches kids absolutely nothing useful.

And as for the teachers—look, are they getting paid extra for this? No! Is this their own kid? Of course not! Did they even say anything against the fact that nobody is listening to the religious studies classes? Not a word!

Why isn't that woman coming to pick up her kid? I can see she's totally stressed out; she doesn't even want to hear a single thing about God through the wall. That's exactly why the mother won't show up—she's just keeping the kid home until this whole thing blows over.

Well, she probably can't because she's at work.
She's there earning money to support herself and her family, and it's from her paycheck that funds go toward teacher salaries, clergy pensions, and everything else.

We're heading toward a point where we'll suggest people who don't want their kids in religious studies should just get fired so they can stay home with their children. 😕 🤦
Though, honestly, that would be the only way to stop the tax money from going to the church. 🥳

Sarah Hall53 said:So, here’s the deal—it’s true that they’ve cut an hour from things like art, music, and... I think maybe English and math? Just so they could squeeze in religion and a foreign language without actually increasing the weekly workload. But nope, there isn't a single word in the guidelines saying that the teachers at RN have to babysit the kids who aren't even taking the religion class. It feels like such a total reach—just this arbitrary interpretation with absolutely zero basis in reality... nowhere to be found.

So it is after all.
This is awful. 🤮
What bothers me even more is the idea that doodling during religion class could somehow count as an art credit. 🤮 🤮

Honestly, we're talking about total nonsense here. They're stripping away essential subjects from kids' mandatory education just to cram in things that are much less important.
Now I have even more respect for those teachers who use that religion period to organize extra math sessions. 🙏 🙏

And then you've got parents at home trying to help their kids with reading and writing, paying for speech therapists just so the kids can keep up, while the school is busy teaching them "theology." 🤦 🙄🤦
Talk about misplaced priorities. 🐔

Sarah Hall53 said:Man, we can actually push back a little tomorrow. Even if it’s just about this whole thing where we end up babysitting kids during religious studies... in schools where students rely on buses, they basically have these kids sitting around for an hour or two waiting for their ride, and it's all billed under the school's budget. Take the first graders at one of my two schools—they’re stuck there every single day because their classes wrap up after four hours, but the bus doesn't show up until the sixth. The principals just call it "miscellaneous duties and supervision." But honestly, those "miscellaneous duties" feel more like a piece of bubblegum that gets stretched thinner and thinner every year as they cram more crap into it. I’m genuinely just waiting for the day they let half the custodial staff go and decide the rest of us should be the ones mopping the hallways and scrubbing toilets. (Anyway, I'm totally venting now, so I'll back off and head left 😬 )

Well, yeah, when it comes to extra work—especially if you're looking at the full hourly rate—they'll try to squeeze you for anything.

I actually heard someone say today that teachers are required to do this because their Art and Music periods were cut down to just one hour each, so the kids spend those two hours in religious studies instead, drawing or singing.
Aside from feeling sad that Art class is being compared to doodling during religion, what’s even worse is that we ever allowed ourselves to have only one hour of Music and one hour of Art while having two hours of religious studies.

Does anyone here have experience with this or know the real story?
I can't even remember how many Art periods we used to have.

The lady has every right to be upset.
They can keep kids in the library, in the principal's office, with the counselor, or send them to a different classroom for Art (that was my last experience), or just let them wander the halls, but they can't officially take them to religious studies. What's the point of enrolling them then?

Sarah Hall53 said:So, the original post actually popped up on my Facebook feed, and I should probably clear up one little detail: she didn't send him a DM or anything—it was an email. Then, she just took that whole exchange and posted it right on her public wall. (Honestly, I highly doubt she even bothered asking him if it was okay to share. Very classy, right?)
His response—aside from being pretty rude and dismissive—is mostly just technologically illiterate. If he’d just put his spaces and punctuation in the right spots, he wouldn't come across quite so uneducated. Personally, I think it's great that a 64-year-old guy is even using email to communicate; we really shouldn't be nitpicking him for that. (It would have been even better if the tone were polite, but hey, you can't always have everything 😁 )

It’s not just a matter of etiquette, either—it might actually be legally actionable, especially now that it’s being picked up by the local news.

Quincy:Pinky

Mad Hatter says: Aside from being pretty rude and dismissive, his response is mostly technically illiterate. If he had just used proper spacing and punctuation, he wouldn't come across as quite so uneducated. Personally, I think it's great that a 64-year-old man is using email to communicate at all; we really shouldn't nitpick him for that. (It would have been even better if the tone were more polite, but hey, you can't have it all 😁 )

The reply was unfortunately poorly written, and I honestly feel bad that it turned out this way. This could have been such a good opportunity for the teachers to advocate for themselves to get that hour paid.
They really shouldn't be expected to babysit kids for zero dollars.

shadowcrane91 said:Look, we’re Catholics too. We hit church regularly and my kids take religious studies at school, but if my kid ever started acting like what they're being taught by someone else... I'd personally smack them upside the head.

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🤦

That’s just Christian 🤔 logic for you. Given the whole vibe of SXSW, I can already see us heading back toward physical punishment 😢
.
Maybe instead of throwing stones, we should be offering bread? 😕

rowdypanther12 said:My little one absolutely loves religious studies. She goes to every single class, and 😁 when they aren't in there playing chess in the library, she’s being her usual studious self by practicing her letters. If the weather is nice, they just head outside to play... honestly, it feels like one big, lovely mid-day break 😁
I still have my doubts about whether this belongs in the school curriculum, but since she's already there, I'm just really glad to see schools making an effort to be inclusive of kids who don't participate in those classes. 🙂

Mine absolutely loves that hour too! 🙂
She actually told me it feels just like nap time back in preschool (she was such a restless sleeper for about three months straight).

They head outdoors pretty often, and they really only stay in the library if the weather is acting up or if a teacher needs to step out to chat with a parent. Honestly, I don't mind them being in the library by themselves—in fact, I actually prefer it when teachers don't discuss students' progress right in front of them. 🙏

She’s done some extra math worksheets a few times, though she refuses to sign up for the formal after-school tutoring because she knows the rest of the kids get to go outside during that time. So, she basically gets a double dose of fresh air combined with either extra math practice or just getting lost in a good comic book! 🙏

Brenda Doyle5 said:I'm with you on this—there's absolutely no need to cram more stuff into an already packed schedule.
Honestly, if we actually embraced some Christian values of mercy and solidarity, they’d move religion class to a different period instead of forcing it into the first or last slot of the day.

(The news ticker just cracked me up—apparently they're introducing gluten-free communion wafers 🤣 totally irrelevant, obviously) 😁

It’s not just about overloading the schedule; it’s also about bringing in too many different teachers.

I tend to look at it this way, and for good reason: you have that one primary teacher in first grade who handles the classroom.
Their job is to bring them into the school environment, lead the lessons, teach them manners and rules, and establish that initial sense of authority that kids can respect and follow.
Then you might have a second person for after-school care.

It gets really confusing for kids when they're being passed from their main teacher to an after-school instructor, then to a foreign language teacher, then to a religion teacher. On top of all that, you have to factor in extracurriculars, and if they're older, you add art and music teachers into the mix.

There are just way too many people involved, almost reaching the level of specialized subject teachers, which rivals the actual number of core subject instructors.
Especially when those teachers all have such different personalities and teaching styles. You end up with some teachers who are super sweet and easygoing, and others who are very strict. Plus, since subjects vary in difficulty, if you pair a tough subject with a strict teacher, and then a simple subject with a lenient one... well, you know how that goes.🤔
That’s a great recipe for making kids love school, right? 🙂

Brenda Doyle5 said:Hey, calm down! Why are you jumping down my throat over my post?
I think you totally misread what I was getting at.
Ethics don't have to be part of the core curriculum. There aren't any answers to your questions about where the teachers come from or who would foot the bill... I was just saying that if religious studies were handled better, parents wouldn't feel so "burdened" by it. They’d actually know their kids are being looked after instead of just sitting in a hallway unsupervised (which happens in some schools).
For the record, I've signed petitions to get religious education out of public schools entirely. My kid hasn't been baptized, and we aren't religious people... so whatever, one day my child will just be one of those kids out there living their life.
The whole point of the post was that Lilja Vokić didn't make it clear what the actual issue is.

Honestly, I was just quoting you, I didn't mean to drag anyone else into this.
What I was saying is that there shouldn't be any ethics classes in school.
She basically squeezed it in (Lilja Vokić pushed for it) just so they could keep religious ed in the system.
And it's not impossible that ethics teachers might end up being chosen from among those who graduated from seminary.
My point was 🙂, let's not push these alternative subjects just to give religious ed a fighting chance
(which my mom calls beating a dead horse 🙂)

It makes me sad that kids are forced into religious studies just because they aren't allowed to hang out in the halls. But then again, I don't want my child to have yet another subject added to their plate just because other parents feel the need to practice their faith at school.🤷
If people really want religious ed in schools, then fine—let them have it as a 7th or 8th period elective, just like how kids take a foreign language, computer science, or choir.

It would be much fairer if the parents who actually want religious ed were the ones to spearhead an initiative like that.
A little bit of Christian compassion and mercy wouldn't hurt.🧐

Brenda Doyle5 said:She just doesn't get it.
http://news.yahoo.com/culture/lilja-vokic-argument-against-religion-classes...

People wouldn't be so worked up if there was an actual solution offered instead of just making kids sit in the hallway during class. It’s not rocket science. Why can't we just introduce a subject like ethics in elementary school, similar to how it works in high school, so one group studies one thing and the other group studies something else? 🤔 Since when is it against the rules to offer an elective like a foreign language or computer science?

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Ethics in elementary school? No way. I mean, what would kids even learn for eight years and then another four? 😕 And who on earth is going to pay for all those extra professors?
What exactly should kids be learning in a class that would have more hours than social studies, science, chemistry, or physics? It would basically be on par with math or a foreign language. 😕
By the way, you could cover the religious education curriculum in a single semester rather than dragging it out for eight years (I can't even begin to explain the difference between a physics teacher and a religion teacher).

Not to mention, the content for religious ed (and ethics too), especially in lower grades, could easily be integrated into social studies, American history, foreign language, art, music, or even homeroom... basically everything! Aside from the divine stuff, which honestly doesn't belong in a secular American school anyway.

So, it’s an unnecessary subject, it's a sign of a broken and underfunded school system, and it's way too expensive. That goes for ethics and the whole "babysitting kids in hallways" situation too.

I'm younger than rowdypanther12, and I didn't have ethics classes. My mom is older than rowdypanther12 and she didn't have them either (religious ed wasn't even an option at her school back then).
That doesn't mean ethics wasn't taught in other schools before the mid-90s or that it wasn't offered at mine; I just wasn't aware of it.
Religious ed used to be a zero period for all four years. No sane person was showing up at 7:00 AM for class, even though that young, handsome theologian was supposedly great and everyone had their fifth period free. I come from a family of practical believers and we had all our sacraments back then.
Neither my parents nor the church ever complained about it.

Personally, I don't think any extra alternatives are acceptable (unless the teacher uses that hour for extra math or English), but they should at least schedule the class during a different block (like other electives) or make it the first or last period of the day.

It seems like Lilja Vokić is catering to the clergy this way; as soon as you force an "alternative" that is actually mandatory, religious ed stays in the school. When there's no forced alternative, and if it's held during the first or zero period, only the kids who truly want to go because of their family faith will show up.

Now that more kids are choosing ethics, some priests are even insisting that godparents must choose religious ed, and they double-check the elementary school curriculum—heaven forbid they hear something new or different. 🧐

Bumping this thread. Personally, I think just having the basic notes is plenty for a parent to track how their kid is doing. It tells you whether they get the concept or if they don't.
I’d love more detail than just a simple 5-4-3-2-1 scale (like, how many pieces of what specific item they actually finished)

I honestly don't see how adding extra grades would change anything—or what it would actually impact for the next semester.
From what I've gathered from my own child, the kids are mostly just racing each other to see who finishes first, rather than actually caring about getting a checkmark or a verbal nudge to fix a mistake.
There aren't any silly little smiley faces or other fluff; it's just "well done."

The kids notice the differences between themselves—like who got an extra line to practice or who missed out on filling in their worksheet during class—so they get the gist.

At the end of the day, despite everyone putting in different levels of effort, they all end up at the same finish line.
Why ruin that by turning everything into a competition over collecting grades?

Honestly, all elective courses are pretty much on the same level, though some feel a bit more balanced than others ☕
Schedule

Quincy:

- According to the Education Act, most schools here run on a five-day work week. The rules state that specialized students shouldn't be stuck with more than six consecutive hours of core classes, while younger kids should cap it at four. Given that a typical week for younger students hits about 24 to 26 hours, and older kids are looking at anywhere from 32 to 36 hours, there’s just no way to cram all the core subjects, electives, homeroom, tutoring, and extracurriculars into a single shift. It’s absolutely necessary to move some of those hours to different times to make sure kids actually have a chance to grab a snack and catch their breath, says Ruklja.

I mean, seriously—if a kid is motivated enough to take a foreign language and computer science instead of religious studies, they deserve at least two breaks. At least then they might come out of the day a little healthier and sharper.
As for the ones who only want religious studies, I’m honestly worried about them. They don't seem to get any downtime at all, and seeing how packed their schedules are, I'm genuinely concerned about their well-being.

Sarah Hall53 said:Just a quick correction on what I said earlier: I actually started high school in the 98/99 school year, and back then, they gave us a choice between ethics and religion. 😉
(Though, honestly, our school handled it pretty smoothly—the other class and our class would have religion or ethics at the exact same time, and then we’d all just swap places afterward so everyone’s schedule stayed full.)

It just occurred to me that back at my elementary school, alongside German—which some of us chose as an elective—there was also technical studies offered during the second rotation. It had always been a mandatory subject, but during that second rotation, we’d just spend one block hour a week doing woodshop or something similar.
So, basically, a required subject that everyone attended could be scheduled in a rotating block. 😕
That was about five years before those major Vatican agreements changed things. ☕
Now, with the new rules, an elective that effectively becomes mandatory can't be put into a rotating block, even if not everyone is selecting it, which makes some people feel like there's a hole in the schedule.
I'm almost certain it isn't actually a problem, but I'll double-check with my sister—she was still in elementary school back in '96—to see if those Vatican agreements caused technical studies to move into the regular daily schedule. ☕

To put it simply. 😍

Karen Richardson3 said:

I honestly feel like I'm just staring at a brick wall here, almost like trying to explain the nuances of jazz to someone who only listens to heavy metal, you know? It’s one of those situations where you're putting in all this effort, pouring out your thoughts, and you just get nothing back—total silence. It feels a bit like being stuck in a dead zone in the middle of nowhere, Nebraska, with zero bars on your phone and no way to reach anyone. Just a lot of wasted energy and wondering if anyone is even on the same wavelength. Asks:
That's actually pretty interesting.

The only thing I honestly can't wrap my head around is what this article is even trying to accomplish—other than proving exactly why people call this site Imdex.

So, basically, according to contract So, if you look at Article 1, Section 1, of the agreement between Washington, D.C. and America regarding cooperation in education and culture, it really sets the stage for how both sides plan to work together. It’s kind of a funny way to phrase it, but basically, religious studies is just an elective that you have to take if you actually decide to sign up for it.

Do I even need to spell this out for everyone, or is it pretty obvious?

The way I see it, if you actually look at what's written in the contract, religion is supposed to be a mandatory subject once a student officially opts in.
Look, if the school regulations state that core subjects can't be scheduled during an opposing shift—while electives obviously can—then you can't just go around treating religion classes like they're some optional Italian language course. At the end of the day, it's more like mandatory English class; it's a fundamental part of the curriculum, not just some random elective you pick up on a whim.

Let’s just assume for a second that a deal actually went through with ExxonMobil, and that religious studies is going to be a mandatory subject for anyone who decides to opt into that track.

Another thing that’s been weighing on my mind lately is why all this online activism just seems to stall out instead of turning into something actually tangible. Like, we spend so much time shouting into the void on social media, but when does it actually evolve into real-world movement? I can't help but wonder why we haven't seen anyone push for a formal referendum to overhaul those existing contracts with religious organizations. It feels like we have all this momentum online, yet we never quite bridge that gap to demand a direct vote on changing how those agreements are structured.

It could be the first one or the last one, kind of like how an American high school period can fall at the start or the end of the day. But there's no way it can be scheduled for the opposite shift.

You're right—once you pick a subject, it becomes mandatory. It’s not like debate, choir, puppetry, or art class.

Summer explained how it works at her school, but let me try to paint a clearer picture for everyone.
An elective could be computer science, a second foreign language (like German, French, or Spanish), or even classical languages (Latin starting in 5th grade, Greek in 7th).

It’s pretty obvious that all these subjects—even if every single kid in a class picks them—can't fit into the standard daily schedule. They end up being 7th period, or 8th period, or part of a second shift.

Also, keep in mind that not every kid chooses religion. Not everyone picks a second language either. Usually, when a whole 4th-grade class picks a second language, it's because they've already finished their primary ones; it's totally normal that there will be 5, 10, or 15 kids in the class who aren't taking a second language at all.
With all that moving around, it's impossible to please everyone, and someone always ends up with a gap in their schedule. But honestly, it seems like the kids who choose religion are never the ones left out. Even local clergy have to write to principals to make sure their students aren't sidelined.

Computer science has become so popular that some schools (mainly due to teacher shortages) have even set "requirements" for enrollment. Basically, not every student can take it, so you can't have an entire class doing computer science at once.
(Whether it's technically an elective is a whole other topic, so let's not get sidetracked here).

So, even if religion is scheduled for 6th period, kids often have German or computer science right after, creating another gap unless they decide to skip it.
But very often, religion is 3rd period, while the second foreign language is neatly tucked into 6th, 7th, or 8th.
Latin and Greek usually fall in the 7th or 8th periods, meaning kids stay at school until 3:00 PM.
It’s funny—despite that, those "dead" languages are still highly sought after (they haven't completely died out yet 🤣), whereas if religion were moved to 8th period, there's a risk people might stop believing! 😕
I personally believe that if something is truly important to people, they'll deal with the inconvenience. They'll wait around during a 7th-period gap just to attend religion at 2:00 PM, even if classes officially ended at 1:00 PM. 🤷
Just like they do for foreign languages, computer science, guitar lessons, soccer practice, ballet, or puppetry class...

rowdypanther12 said:I honestly don't get how they can't see why going to church is worth the effort🤷

Regarding this letter... it feels genuinely malicious. Truly. There’s absolutely no reason for them to be upset just because it’s the first or last service meant to make things easier for the kids. It's just mean-spirited

I feel the exact same way.
To be honest, I was being pretty sarcastic earlier when I said that if you're someone who attends Mass every single Sunday, it's perfectly normal to have your child attend religious studies at school. But then people started trying to convince me that school classes aren't the same thing as parish services.☕

There are even non-religious kids attending those classes🤣. I mean, what's the harm? They might hear something new, something they don't get to hear at home, and who knows where they'll be during those hours anyway. Personally, I think hearing something different is fine, but the subject isn't regional studies—it's Catholic religious education. (Though, if it were an option, I’d probably sign up for religion myself once I hit high school and start developing more abstract thinking skills.)