Religion classes in school - Megathread

casualowl33 said:Around here, our ethics instructor is actually juggling roles at another high school too, which means she handles several different grade levels all at once, and things get a bit complicated because those other classes follow a rotating schedule where they alternate between classroom instruction and field practicums one week...
So, he ends up having ethics class only every other week, but since that second period religious studies block is the very last thing on his schedule, he just heads straight home right after...
It’s also worth mentioning that whenever an ethics session is actually happening, there's often a scheduling conflict where another class is occupying the room, like with my student who specifically has English Literature scheduled at that exact time, and there was simply no way to work around it...

What does that even mean?🤔
It means there's a gap in the schedule, let's just say... well, it's frustrating. It just wasn't possible to fix it.
But having a mandatory class overlap with an elective is just bad management.
I really don't think that should be allowed to happen.
How can a school even justify that?

Susan James said:What does that even mean?🤔
It means there's a gap in the schedule, let's just say... well, it's frustrating. It just wasn't possible to fix it.
But having a mandatory class overlap with an elective is just bad management.
I really don't think that should be allowed to happen.
How can a school even justify that?

Saying there was no other way...

Personally, I find it pretty annoying, and I know the students do too, but since we're such a specialized high school, I imagine putting the master schedule together is a total nightmare...

casualowl33 said:Saying there was no other way...

Personally, I find it pretty annoying, and I know the students do too, but since we're such a specialized high school, I imagine putting the master schedule together is a total nightmare...

Think about it—a vocational high school with a massive amount of different tracks and split programs, located in a smaller town where kids already have these long commutes... you can't exactly force an extra zero period on them first thing in the morning or late at night, right?
And if you happen to be dealing with limited classroom space on top of everything else, trying to organize a master schedule feels like a nearly impossible mission.😁

urbantinker8 said:Think about it—a vocational high school with a massive amount of different tracks and split programs, located in a smaller town where kids already have these long commutes... you can't exactly force an extra zero period on them first thing in the morning or late at night, right?
And if you happen to be dealing with limited classroom space on top of everything else, trying to organize a master schedule feels like a nearly impossible mission.😁

That’s pretty much the gist of it!

casualowl33 said:That’s pretty much the gist of it!

So, we're looking at two subjects that feel pretty useless for any future career path. It feels like a total waste of time, especially when students aren't even given the option to opt out.🙏
For anyone looking for an alternative to religious studies in middle school🙄
there just isn't one. They should just scrap both! Get rid of these requirements in both middle and high school—especially high school, since you've already spent eight years sitting through it.

Henry Hernandez68 said:Honestly, I went through absolute hell in elementary school because of religious studies classes. Just thinking about 👎 I think I was the only kid in all four grades who didn't attend, plus there was this one Muslim boy in our class who skipped it too. But man, I felt targeted. For eight whole years, everyone was constantly on my case, asking, "Why don't you go to religion class?" On top of that, I was such a shy, withdrawn kid back then. It really left a mark on me. My mom actually had to go talk to the principal when I started school because there wasn't any official option for me other than sitting in the hallway, so they agreed I could stay in the classroom and just do something else, like my homework. But even then, during prayer time, everyone would turn around and stare at me while they prayed—whispering, glancing, just total playground terror. Later on, they started asking if I was Muslim, and when I told them no, they’d just say, "Yeah, right, we don't believe you." Kids aren't to blame, obviously—they just repeat what they hear at home—but I lived in an environment, specifically in New York City, where almost everyone was deeply religious, and that makes such a huge difference. We even had those days where they'd bless bread in the hallway; all the students would gather around the priest for the blessing, and I’d just sit there feeling so incredibly awkward because everyone was looking at me. When you grow up feeling like you never quite fit into the crowd, it becomes such a heavy burden to carry... I couldn't wait to leave, and I finally felt like I could breathe again once I hit high school. I didn't say anything to my mom when I was little; she didn't even realize how much I was struggling, and honestly, I didn't fully understand it myself either. I just knew I felt uncomfortable whenever religion class rolled around. On the days we didn't have it, we all felt like "one of them," but the moment that class showed up... ugh, it was awful.
I definitely don't want my future child to go through something like that, but at the same time, I don't see myself enrolling them in those classes.

Anyone who buckles under the pressure and forces their kids into stuff—or joins the crowd just because "everyone else is doing it"—is nothing more than a sheep. You aren't that. Respect.

My kid just got a B in religion class for his first grade report card. What exactly are they expecting from a six-year-old? Honestly, I might just pull him from the program after his First Communion and let them hand out Bs to whoever they want. Or maybe he just misunderstood the assignment...

Is his mom really expected to wrap her head around the fact that if a grade is on a scale of 1 to 5, the kid can literally land anywhere in that range?

Look, the recent exam results are living proof that parents are only enrolling their kids in religion classes just to chase an A, rather than out of any actual faith.
I’m seriously starting to worry that every kid out there is just coasting through theology class solely to pad their GPA.

If they drop out of religious ed, how are they supposed to receive their other sacraments? Is just attending Mass enough before they reach those milestones, or is formal Sunday school actually required?

Jacob Lopez2 said:Look, the recent exam results are living proof that parents are only enrolling their kids in religion classes just to chase an A, rather than out of any actual faith.
I’m seriously starting to worry that every kid out there is just coasting through theology class solely to pad their GPA.

Generally, I’d turn all electives—and even a good chunk of the core curriculum in first grade—into play-based learning, similar to how they do it in Sweden. My little one actually likes religion class, though I think the students would get more out of it if there were more songs in the curriculum. Like this one: Kids would love having the chance to sing or even dance during class.
As for the grades, maybe I misheard something. I won't know for sure until I go to parent-teacher conferences.

I'm not sure how they handle religion classes, but in my district, you lose points in art class—not for forgetting your supplies since everything stays at school, but for intentionally being lazy and totally missing the point of an assignment.

rowdypanther12 said:I'm not sure how they handle religion classes, but in my district, you lose points in art class—not for forgetting your supplies since everything stays at school, but for intentionally being lazy and totally missing the point of an assignment.

What part of the country are you in? Personally, I think kids are being crushed under too much pressure. We should probably look at the Finnish model and adjust our curriculum accordingly. Math is math, regardless of where you are. Most subjects follow the same logic.
Look, at this one elementary school near me, they spend the first period writing and the second painting, and half the time they don't even finish the project in a single hour. My niece goes there, and she says art and music are basically her worst subjects. Honestly, I have no idea what they're trying to achieve with these "creative" classes.

In the US, I think it’s perfectly fine if a child gets a passing grade for just making a single crayon mark on a paper instead of completing the full assignment.
Of course, that’s assuming the student isn't following an individualized education program.

I know a kid who got a C in religion class back in first grade about ten years ago. If I remember right, it was just because he hadn't memorized his prayers or something like that.

rowdypanther12 said:In the US, I think it’s perfectly fine if a child gets a passing grade for just making a single crayon mark on a paper instead of completing the full assignment.
Of course, that’s assuming the student isn't following an individualized education program.

Maybe we're looking at a future modern artist. 😁

Robert Rodriguez9 said:I know a kid who got a C in religion class back in first grade about ten years ago. If I remember right, it was just because he hadn't memorized his prayers or something like that.

My husband refused to take religion classes when he was little because they told him he’d be forced to learn things there. His mother said she felt terrible about it, but there wasn't much she could do.

Soks, what’s the deal with first communion? Why is that even the goal?

James Alvarez2 said:Soks, what’s the deal with first communion? Why is that even the goal?

So they can go to confession and take communion.

Do you guys actually go to church?
Does she attend Mass?

First Communion matters way more than just confession itself.
Actually, I'm wondering... do you react to all those Fs the same way you did to this one from Sunday school?