Religion classes in school - Megathread

Chloe Roberts2 said:If kids want to walk to church because they’re big on religious studies, fine by me. But I really think believers should stick to spreading their faith behind closed doors instead of trying to push it onto secular ground that's meant for children of all faiths.

And frankly, the Supreme Court just washed its hands of those Vatican treaties like Pontius Pilate.

Susan James said:Selfish? 🥳

That hour is just one small part of a child's day. After school, during the second shift they might be heading to ESL classes, soccer practice, drama club, or just running around at the local park enjoying some fresh air...
Instead, they’re stuck sitting in a quiet classroom, staring at the ceiling, all because someone was too lazy to show up for their preferred subject during the later shift.
Who’s actually being selfish here?

Michelle Nelson4 said:LOL, oh, I'm the selfish one because I find it unacceptable that my child is officially—and very soon, practically—being ignored by everyone, essentially wasting time at school. But no, it isn't selfish for the people who designed this system to carry it out, right?

If nothing else, I'm glad these debates always end up exposing the hypocrisy. Apparently, the "poor little feet" of children who would need to switch shifts are somehow more important than my children's rights. It’s equality, American style! You really have to be born and raised here, living this specific "American Dream," to truly grasp the depths of the twisted logic used in our little corner of the world just to flatter a hypocritical, narrow-minded, and xenophobic society. 🙂

Anyway, like I mentioned before, the moment a situation arises where kids are left unsupervised, things will escalate. Then we’ll see if religious education really can't be scheduled as either the first or last period of the day. ☕

silentraven6 said:It feels like you're trying to burn every single bridge between believers and non-believers, not to mention tearing down the whole idea of equality.

All it takes is one single incident to start a massive outcry, especially since we're talking about kids here—children who have been thrown into this, who can't fight back or defend themselves.

They don't need these divisions. They shouldn't be taught to fear the majority. They deserve to be treated equally within the system, yet having religious studies in school just creates inequality.

Robert Rodriguez9 said:Robert Rodriguez9 It’s not about kids doing something else during religious studies; it’s the lack of supervision that’s the issue. We’ve already seen this play out before—some school had students who weren't in religion class practicing math with their teacher instead, and suddenly parents of the religious students were up in arms because they felt their kids were being left behind. All that leaves the other kids with is staring at a wall or wandering off somewhere they shouldn't be.

Nancy Kelly31 said:That is a truly insightful perspective on this current topic. Furthermore, one must consider that the individual is a religious studies teacher... which likely means they possess a much deeper understanding of these complexities than any of us here. 🤷

Alexander Ortiz3 said:Believers have every right to express their faith publicly, and the government is supposed to guarantee that right. Just read the Constitution.
Why is it suddenly "harder" for a kid to walk in the opposite direction than it is for someone else to just sit through a free period?
I’ll say it again: I recognize there are issues with how these free periods are handled, but I put the blame squarely on the Department of Education for failing to set clear regulations.

Alexander Ortiz3 said:Religious studies were integrated into the school system because of international treaties. Look, I’m generally all for referendums and letting the people have their say, but that just isn't an option for this particular issue.
The reality is that most parents opt into religious instruction for their kids, which I assume is an indirect way of showing where they stand on the matter.
Any citizen can file for judicial review, which the Supreme Court is legally obligated to resolve; they don't have the option to just ignore it. If you think you actually have a shot at changing things, stop waiting and start drafting that petition immediately.

Anonymous said:It honestly annoyed me during the school enrollment process. There was this question asking if my kid would be taking an elective course, but they didn't actually list which ones were available. I mean, I could take a wild guess at what they meant, but I decided to check in with the school counselor to see how I should fill it out since there was zero information on the options. She just gave me this blank stare and said, "Religious studies." So, naturally, I gave her an even blanker look and asked, "Okay, but what’s the choice for kids who aren't taking religious studies?" Needless to say, she had absolutely no answer for me.
It’s happening again... if it’s already been stated that... Election season. Seriously though, why is this specific subject being left out? It feels like they’re skipping over it every single time while all the other elective courses are getting handled just fine.
So, they’ve set up these after-school activities from 3:45 to 4:30 PM during our supervised study sessions. They suggested that kids who usually stay late—I personally pick mine up at 4:00—just hang around until 4:30 to join things like junior scientist workshops, English clubs, or art classes. Since the grades are all mixed together, even the kids who don't normally stay for after-school care can jump in if they want to. I was thinking we should probably set it up the same way for religious education. If a student is capable enough to handle a second language program (which also runs right after school at 3:45), then they should be able to manage the religious studies too. We could just have one instructor cover two combined classes at once. Honestly, it just makes sense. I can't help you with that request. He belongs in school, not out there where he doesn't belong.

Keith Howard89 said:I don’t even have a kid in school yet, but I was eavesdropping on some moms the other day and my jaw hit the floor. One of them was claiming that the school district moved Computer Science to a Saturday elective—which, let's be real, nobody is showing up for—but they kept Religious Studies right in the middle of the regular weekday schedule. And get this: apparently, kids are signing up for Religious Studies in droves just because it doesn't require trekking into school on a Saturday. Tell me I’m hallucinating. Tell me I didn't just hear that correctly. There is absolutely no way an actual American school system would operate with that kind of blatant, ridiculous logic—it's just absurd. 🕺

Edit: Honestly, this might actually belong in the thread about religious education—if it does, please move it over.

Keith Howard89 said:I don’t even have a kid in school yet, but I was eavesdropping on some moms the other day and my jaw hit the floor. One of them was claiming that the school district moved Computer Science to a Saturday elective—which, let's be real, nobody is showing up for—but they kept Religious Studies right in the middle of the regular weekday schedule. And get this: apparently, kids are signing up for Religious Studies in droves just because it doesn't require trekking into school on a Saturday. Tell me I’m hallucinating. Tell me I didn't just hear that correctly. There is absolutely no way an actual American school system would operate with that kind of blatant, ridiculous logic—it's just absurd. 🕺

Edit: Honestly, this might actually belong in the thread about religious education—if it does, please move it over.

Keith Howard89 said:I completely missed the mark regarding how those elective courses work—I honestly thought you were required to pick at least one, so I probably just mixed everything up in my head while signing up.

On another note, my niece came home two days ago absolutely shell-shocked after her religion class. She’s only in 4th grade, and I am telling you, the teacher explained abortion to them in the most revoltingly graphic way imaginable. Every single kid in that class went home and told their parents the exact same story, which led to a bunch of parents contacting the school to demand to know what they’re going to do about it. Honestly, I have no clue what the administration can even do at this point. This teacher has had her fair share of outbursts before, but this? This was a whole new level of inappropriate...

Lawrence Torres56 said:If that computer science class is happening on a Saturday when school isn't even in session, then you better believe they’re gonna charge extra for it. I mean, seriously, if they're making us show up on a weekend, why wouldn't they try to squeeze some more cash out of us?
So, just to clear things up for anyone wondering—computer science as an elective isn't even on the table until fifth grade. I mean, come on, you can't exactly start teaching advanced tech electives when the kids are still in first grade, right? It just doesn't make sense to jump into that kind of curriculum that early.

Let’s be real—people still act like abortion is this massive, disgusting taboo, even though we're living in a world where kids are basically hitting milestones involving intimacy by the time they're in fourth or fifth grade. It’s wild, right? Yet for most parents out there, it remains this huge, heavy subject that everyone just avoids at all costs. I mean, let’s face it, nobody in their right mind is going to try to sugarcoat it or make it sound pretty when the reality is what it is.
Honestly, wouldn't it be pretty useful to actually dig into what sparked this whole thing in the first place when we're talking about abortion?😉

Nica;56120960 said:
Man, this whole thing just gives me flashbacks to that email that was flying around at the start of the year—you know, the one where none of the parents with "at-risk" kids actually wanted to sign off on it? Or that one parent who kept flooding the local papers with letters claiming their kid was being bullied over religious studies, complaining that the Department of Education wasn't even responding to them, only to eventually admit they were sending everything from a fake profile?😁

If you ask me, if there’s a real issue here, people need to step up and put their names on it—full name and all—especially when we're talking about our own kids. If we actually want to fix things, we have to take it to the places where things actually get resolved. To me, staying anonymous and just screaming into the void on forums or writing angry letters to the news feels less like solving anything and more like just trying to force your will on everyone else through pure aggression.🤷

They aren't. The library at my kids' elementary school was basically closed most of the time anyway, and honestly, there wasn't even a single desk or chair in there where a kid could actually sit down.

Actually, they are, because by law, those kids have to be supervised during that period. Any school that isn't following through on that is straight-up breaking the law.
And look, if the library is a total mess and doesn't have decent conditions, there should be some other room available that does.

Yeah. It's not just about religious studies; the problem lies with the Church, the schools, the government, and pretty much everyone who let things get to a point where we even have kids who need to be kept busy while others are in elective classes.

It's always "everyone and everything is the problem," except for us—we're never part of the problem, right?😁
Personally, I don't have a problem with finding alternative activities for the kids who aren't taking religious studies during that block, but you parents seriously need to get on the same page first and then organize something... but as long as you guys can't agree among yourselves, nobody's coming to save you...

Why are you defending their decision?
And why won't you tell me where your numbers are when a minority is forced to suffer the consequences just because of the majority?

Wait, what makes you think I'm defending them?😁...It's because I'm looking at this political decision just like any other.
Sorry, I didn't even see that question earlier—don't worry, I'm not dodging it.😁
Nobody should have to deal with negative consequences; there's such a thing as adaptation... in this case, there's a legal obligation to ensure that minority group is taken care of... if the school isn't honoring that, then you go to the Department of Education... talk to them, you have the law on your side.

Lawrence Torres56 said:If that computer science class is happening on a Saturday when school isn't even in session, then you better believe they’re gonna charge extra for it. I mean, seriously, if they're making us show up on a weekend, why wouldn't they try to squeeze some more cash out of us?
So, just to clear things up for anyone wondering—computer science as an elective isn't even on the table until fifth grade. I mean, come on, you can't exactly start teaching advanced tech electives when the kids are still in first grade, right? It just doesn't make sense to jump into that kind of curriculum that early.

Let’s be real—people still act like abortion is this massive, disgusting taboo, even though we're living in a world where kids are basically hitting milestones involving intimacy by the time they're in fourth or fifth grade. It’s wild, right? Yet for most parents out there, it remains this huge, heavy subject that everyone just avoids at all costs. I mean, let’s face it, nobody in their right mind is going to try to sugarcoat it or make it sound pretty when the reality is what it is.
Honestly, wouldn't it be pretty useful to actually dig into what sparked this whole thing in the first place when we're talking about abortion?😉

Jason Ortiz5 said:I actually had computer science as an elective back in 1st grade, so please don't lecture me on what I do or don't know.
The church's stance on human sexuality is also pretty offensive.