Religion classes in school - Megathread

He’s a straight shooter. Honestly, I think most people see him that way too.

rowdypanther12 said:Luckily, we don't deal with that kind of nonsense here. The teacher just tells anyone who's interested to make something with the kids, then everyone just dumps their glue sticks on the table and spends the whole day making a mess. 😁
Why don't they just eat the glue sticks and take them home?

Gluttony—one of the seven deadly sins, right?
It’s probably a good idea to have a priest bless things whenever there's an opportunity. 🧐

You aren't going to find a better display of hypocrisy than that. 🎉 🎉 🎉

Kids learn best by watching and following examples. It’s basically life school—learning through hands-on experience. 🧐
The only shame is that only a small number of people actually realize what's really going on at those events.

We don't really have that religious connection here 😁 where autumn and the harvest are tied together 😁

It’s hard to believe eight months have slipped by since the last update. I’m bumping this thread.
I wanted to reach out and see what your experiences have been like—specifically regarding your children—after opting them out of religious education classes. I'm curious about what reasons you gave for the withdrawal, and more importantly, how the kids actually handled the social dynamic when most, if not all, of their classmates are staying in the program while they aren't.

Haha, exactly.
We officially withdrew.
I actually titled that paperwork as a formal request rather than a plea—because I have zero interest in begging for favors or acting like someone is going to sit there and decide whether or not they feel like being reasonable with us.
It’s a demand for withdrawal. Period.

And as for the reasoning? I didn't even bother getting into the weeds with them; I just wrote something along the lines of "we decided not to attend."

Well, when you gotta find joy in the little things... 😁

The kid basically has one day of downtime now—time to play, fewer books to deal with... the whole thing just doesn't add up for them. They either go to the local library or they just repeat the material. There's no big drama involved, and we aren't "making do" with anything.

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Look, I’m a stickler for the rules—and the rule here is pretty straightforward: once you sign up for an elective, you're locked in for the rest of the school year.
So, honestly, I don't even know what to say about people trying to drop out mid-stream.

Every single year, we get a fresh start to pick our electives for the next term.

As for kids feeling isolated, we’ve always had these deep talks about how it’s perfectly fine to be different and follow your own interests, regardless of whether it fits in with our family dynamics or whatever.
In the end, they just filled those gaps in the schedule where religion class used to be with all these awesome new kids, and some of them actually turned into real-deal best friends.

The thing is, according to the rules, you aren't supposed to be picking out elective courses every single year.
If the school keeps sending out surveys to vote on electives annually, they’re actually breaking the law.
Once an elective is chosen, it carries over to the next school year automatically—unless, of course, you submit a formal written request or an opt-out form within the specific timeframe set by the district.

So, I finally realized that > is actually asking about the upcoming school year. You can't just go pulling kids out mid-term—that’s just not allowed under the rules.

Regarding this survey question about whether you're sticking with last year's electives... I've heard whispers that some schools are doing this and others aren't—you know, things like religious studies or German class..
I mean, was there some specific law I missed that prohibits that?

Regardless, you're always free to withdraw a student... whether you fill out the survey or not.
The reasons behind it shouldn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

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Joe, according to the education laws here in the States, once a student picks an elective course, it basically becomes a mandatory part of their curriculum—it sticks with them all the way through the end of middle school, unless they happen to officially drop it within those specific legal windows allowed by the district.

Look, just because the school sent out an official survey doesn't mean they forced him to withdraw—it certainly doesn't mean he needs to be re-enrolled from scratch.
The average parent might not realize there’s a deadline to submit withdrawal papers by, say, August 15th, or before the final board meeting. Most parents don't even track when those meetings happen. For us, once school wraps up in June, we basically check out—there's nothing happening until September when everyone starts stressing about next year's grade level or buying textbooks. We're mentally "out" by June. So, honestly, it isn't a bad idea for them to reach out and confirm if a student actually intends to show up next term.
They probably just want to avoid those nightmare scenarios where they realize in September that they should have acted months ago.

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Tyler Ruiz502 said:Look, just because the school sent out an official survey doesn't mean they forced him to withdraw—it certainly doesn't mean he needs to be re-enrolled from scratch.
The average parent might not realize there’s a deadline to submit withdrawal papers by, say, August 15th, or before the final board meeting. Most parents don't even track when those meetings happen. For us, once school wraps up in June, we basically check out—there's nothing happening until September when everyone starts stressing about next year's grade level or buying textbooks. We're mentally "out" by June. So, honestly, it isn't a bad idea for them to reach out and confirm if a student actually intends to show up next term.
They probably just want to avoid those nightmare scenarios where they realize in September that they should have acted months ago.

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Exactly. A survey isn't an official withdrawal notice. It's more of a way for the school to gauge parental interest regarding elective courses for the upcoming year, while simultaneously serving as a helpful reminder that parents have the option to withdraw their child if they choose. Honestly, it would be much more efficient if the survey actually included the deadline for withdrawal requests and a link to download the necessary paperwork; that would make it a truly comprehensive communication from the district.

For instance, something like this:
http://www.district-website.edu/forms-for-2024-2025

swiftstag14 said:It’s hard to believe eight months have slipped by since the last update. I’m bumping this thread.
I wanted to reach out and see what your experiences have been like—specifically regarding your children—after opting them out of religious education classes. I'm curious about what reasons you gave for the withdrawal, and more importantly, how the kids actually handled the social dynamic when most, if not all, of their classmates are staying in the program while they aren't.

For us, we basically told the school it was "the child's decision." We enrolled him in first grade, but once he got settled, we decided to leave the choice entirely up to him—how many years he wanted to participate and when he felt ready to opt out.

He eventually told us he felt like he’d already learned everything there was to learn about faith. Plus, he wants some breathing room to actually think about what kind of beliefs he wants to embrace when he’s older.🤣

Honestly, I don't think the specific reason even matters; under American law, you have every right to opt out of elective subjects like this.

Sarah Hall53 said:Joe, according to the education laws here in the States, once a student picks an elective course, it basically becomes a mandatory part of their curriculum—it sticks with them all the way through the end of middle school, unless they happen to officially drop it within those specific legal windows allowed by the district.

Look, since our district handbook has been claiming for six years now that an elective is mandatory for the specific school year it was chosen for—and honestly, I haven't really bothered to dive deep into the actual legal fine print—that's just what I went by. We have to make our selections by June 30th, and both parents have to sign off on whatever elective the kid chooses for the upcoming school year.

Personally, I actually like how they handle things this way (aside from the headache of needing both parents to sign everything), so I definitely won't be the one running to the school board complaining that their rules are against regulation.😬

But you're totally right, I double-checked.

We got an email from the teacher the other day... letting us know that if anyone wants to opt their kid out of religion class, they can do it now.
It’s not like a huge group of six or seven kids are pulling out. There isn't any big drama surrounding it either; they just head over to the library to hang out, and since they follow an A/B block schedule, it only happens once every two weeks. On the other days, it's either their first or last period

swiftstag14 said:It’s hard to believe eight months have slipped by since the last update. I’m bumping this thread.
I wanted to reach out and see what your experiences have been like—specifically regarding your children—after opting them out of religious education classes. I'm curious about what reasons you gave for the withdrawal, and more importantly, how the kids actually handled the social dynamic when most, if not all, of their classmates are staying in the program while they aren't.

My child was never enrolled to begin with, but since most kids attend, she handled being the exception perfectly fine. Honestly, she actually enjoyed having less on her plate.
Especially with remote learning becoming more common, those in the religious studies track often ended up with more homework (which was frequently quite heavy).

You can provide whatever reason you feel comfortable giving, as long as it's submitted before the deadline.
You can literally just write that they no longer wish to participate.
There is always a chance the school might try to push back or question you—asking why or what didn't work for you. Personally, I think that's a legitimate request for feedback. I feel like they should ask German teachers the same thing when kids opt out of electives, or any other elective subject. It shouldn't be about pressuring parents; it's just a way to get feedback and wrap things up for a student who has been part of a program for a year or two. Unfortunately, I've heard from people that instead of getting a simple, polite conversation, it turns into an attempt to guilt-trip you.

Hey there. I’ve got a question that just popped into my head late at night. So, I’m a practicing Catholic, and I have young kids whom I definitely want to raise within the faith. However—and this is a big however—I’m strictly against the way the Church and the government handle things, which includes religious education in public schools. I’m wondering if it’s actually possible for a kid to receive Communion if they only attend the church-run religious classes instead of the school version? I did some digging on Google, and from what I can gather, it seems like it varies wildly from parish to parish, which feels totally nonsensical. It’s either allowed or it isn't, right? Obviously, I’ll be checking with my priest the next chance I get, but I was just curious right now.

Buddy Bear, you’re really putting us through it tonight

From what I can gather, they don't really do religious education through the church anymore—it’s mostly just handled through the public school system now... though I suppose there might be some local parishes out there still offering it, but it’s definitely not the norm these days...

Let me know if you dig up anything more concrete once you find out 😁

Honestly, you should just check in with your local priest or a nun. Where I grew up, things were pretty seamless—the nuns from the parish handled the religious education at church, and they’d also be the teachers in the local school. It felt like one cohesive program, even if the church sessions were mostly focused on prepping kids for their sacraments a year ahead of time. Plus, the children's choir was open to anyone who actually wanted to be there, and we’d do these big joint holiday productions between the church and the school. For Confirmation, everything stayed within the church's curriculum, though most kids took the classes at school too, even if they weren't officially tied together.
There aren't any hard-and-fast rules because it all depends on the neighborhood, the specific parish, or how the local school district operates. You’re going to hear dozens of different stories depending on which area you're in. Your best bet is to just catch someone after Mass and ask what their stance is—find out who handles the religious instruction at your future school and whether the two institutions actually talk to each other or just operate in separate bubbles.

According to the recent mandate issued by the American bishops, participation in both school-based religious education classes and parish catechism programs is now strictly required before one can receive the sacraments.

You can find the official decree here:

It is my understanding that any local priest who chooses to permit children to receive these sacraments without having attended their required religious instruction is essentially violating canon law and acting in direct defiance of his bishop’s authority, which necessitates a formal report and subsequent disciplinary action to correct such improper conduct...

Nancy Kelly31 said:According to the recent mandate issued by the American bishops, participation in both school-based religious education classes and parish catechism programs is now strictly required before one can receive the sacraments.

You can find the official decree here:

It is my understanding that any local priest who chooses to permit children to receive these sacraments without having attended their required religious instruction is essentially violating canon law and acting in direct defiance of his bishop’s authority, which necessitates a formal report and subsequent disciplinary action to correct such improper conduct...

Well, damn. Total debilizam, but hey, it is what it is. This whole school religion class thing is pretty much pointless. Most kids only show up because they’re forced to—half the parents don't even bother showing up to Mass themselves, not to mention plenty of them aren't even religious at all, yet they still ship their kids off to religion class at school. It’s basically just a mockery of faith.

Man, I swear by you, let's družiti Brba