Daughter forced to believe in God

shruikan2553

lukesmom wrote: »

Yes I did read the thread. He's giving out because the daughter is being taught to believe in God. He should not have sent her to a catholic school if he is an athiest. Poor child it's her I feel sorry for. Being singled out because at home your saying believe what you want we are atheists and at school being taught to believe in God. Can you not see the situation you have put her in???

Most people dont have a choice about going to a Catholic school, we dont know the reasons for moving but considering she has mentioned a medical problem maybe she had to move closer to other family members? Maybe she lost her job and had to move or remain unemployed, maybe she is avoiding an abusive ex? There could be lots of reasons but it isnt important, she had to move to a different school and not everyone can be near a non Catholic school. When I was a child it was Catholic school or leave the county.

bajer101

lukesmom wrote: »

Yes I did read the thread.

You can't possible have read the thread. I suspect you arrived at the thread with a pre-conceived notion and cherry-picked what you wanted to see.

He's giving out because the daughter is being taught to believe in God.

I am not giving out because my daughter is being taught to believe in God and I did not say that anywhere. I was upset with how my daughter was treated when she declared that she did not believe in God. These are two completely different issues

He should not have sent her to a catholic school if he is an athiest.

I'll send my child to whatever school I wish, thank you very much. I may plenty of income tax to the State and these schools are State funded. I am perfectly entitled to send my daughter to any of these schools. As has been mentioned plenty of times already (in the thread which you claimed to have read), over 90% of State funded schools are Catholic, so our choices are limited.

Poor child it's her I feel sorry for. Being singled out because at home your saying believe what you want we are atheists and at school being taught to believe in God. Can you not see the situation you have put her in???

No need to feel sorry for my child at all. She is perfectly well adjusted and confident enough to speak her mind and to stand up for what she believes in. She certainly is being taught at home to be an independent thinker, and when the situation arose in school where she was told that she had to believe in God she practised what she was taught. She has my full support and I have taken action, (with the help of very useful advise on this thread) to ensure that she knows that I have her back.

If you want to have sympathy for anyone, I suggest you reserve if for the countless kids who are not encouraged to think for themselves and who blindly go along with the clap-trap that they are taught as fact.

Cabaal

lukesmom wrote: »

He took her out of an educate together school because of logistical reasons. Now if he feels that strongly about the damage that singling her out in school for not believing in God could do then he should let her go bank to the school she was in. You cannot always get exactly what you want.

I am curious,
So if a parent lives say 50 miles away from the nearest non catholic ethos school and they are not catholic what exactly do you propose they do?

- Convert their child to a faith neither they nor their child believes in in order to obtain education from a tax payer funded catholic ethos school?
- Travel the 100mile round trip?
- Quit their job and educate at home or move house to avail of none catholic ethos education.

So which is it? Whats your solution that respects the rights and wishes of the parents that are perfectly legal under our constitution...

Its not a big ask for the parent to avail of education for their kid from a tax payer funded school that doesn't include religious indoctrination in the catholic faith for their child. you appear to think its an unreasonable request
:rolleyes:.

You seem quick to blame the parent and not so quick to blame the schools, yet even the UN has told Ireland that the catholic ethos state paid for schools need to change in Ireland.

lazygal

brianon wrote: »

Had some experience with this lately. My daughter is 7. 2nd Class. Met the new teacher last week on about the 4th day of the new school year.

I told her I didn't want my daughter participating in religion. I told her she was not to be brought to the local church during the year (with first communion they'll be making a fair few trips there). I told her I did not want her to get the handouts that the local parish priest likes to give the kids when he drops by.

She was very nice about it. Put up a little struggle by trying to convince me that the religious education this year hadn't really got any 'god' stuff in it. I've read the Alive 'O' book so said no, I want her to skip religion.

Anyway, she will not be participating in religion and instead will do school work during the 2.5 hours per week of religious education and also during the trips to the church she will stay behind with the other 3 kids who's parents wanted the same. Also, she can remain seated during each of the 4 school prayers they do each day. This was my experience and I hope it works out well.

An email to the school is great but I think to work out the finer points (what happens during religion or on class visits to the church. especially around communion time.) you'll need to talk face to face once you get a chance.

I'm all for face to face conversations and they work well for sorting out issues, but when it comes to how schools handle arrangements around religious instruction I would prefer to have a written copy to hand so if any issues arise I would have a written record to fall back on rather than have to recall what I said and what a teacher and/or principal said. Its far easier to deal with written correspondence than try to remember what a teacher meant when he or she said this or that.

Cabaal

StopYa wrote: »

your childs happiness should be more important than money cabal, send her back to educate together school

what are you even on about? You appear to be clueless to who the op even is.

Maybe read the thread before posting again, that way you won't show yourself up once again.

lukesmom

bajer101 wrote: »

You can't possible have read the thread. I suspect you arrived at the thread with a pre-conceived notion and cherry-picked what you wanted to see.



I am not giving out because my daughter is being taught to believe in God and I did not say that anywhere. I was upset with how my daughter was treated when she declared that she did not believe in God. These are two completely different issues




I'll send my child to whatever school I wish, thank you very much. I may plenty of income tax to the State and these schools are State funded. I am perfectly entitled to send my daughter to any of these schools. As has been mentioned plenty of times already (in the thread which you claimed to have read), over 90% of State funded schools are Catholic, so our choices are limited.



No need to feel sorry for my child at all. She is perfectly well adjusted and confident enough to speak her mind and to stand up for what she believes in. She certainly is being taught at home to be an independent thinker, and when the situation arose in school where she was told that she had to believe in God she practised what she was taught. She has my full support and I have taken action, (with the help of very useful advise on this thread) to ensure that she knows that I have her back.

If you want to have sympathy for anyone, I suggest you reserve if for the countless kids who are not encouraged to think for themselves and who blindly go along with the clap-trap that they are taught as fact.

Sorry but I certainly do feel sorry for your daughter. My son goes to a catholic school he was baptised, communion and confirmed and yes I bring and have brought him to mass weekly. I would never put my child into a catholic school if I was a total athiest. I would not baptise my child if I was an athiest. Did you baptise your child ? If so you are a hypocrite. And no I don't agree with the way your child was treated , not at all. But I don't think you should lie and pretend you are catholic to get her into a school. It is wrong.

StopYa

I agree with lukesmom , I couldnt have said it better

Gumbi

lukesmom wrote: »

Sorry but I certainly do feel sorry for your daughter. My son goes to a catholic school he was baptised, communion and confirmed and yes I bring and have brought him to mass weekly. I would never put my child into a catholic school if I was a total athiest. I would not baptise my child if I was an athiest. Did you baptise your child ? If so you are a hypocrite. And no I don't agree with the way your child was treated , not at all. But I don't think you should lie and pretend you are catholic to get her into a school. It is wrong.

Where else would you suggest the child be educated? You realise over 90% of the primary schools in this country are Catholic?

IITYWYBMAD

lukesmom wrote: »

Sorry but I certainly do feel sorry for your daughter. My son goes to a catholic school he was baptised, communion and confirmed and yes I bring and have brought him to mass weekly. I would never put my child into a catholic school if I was a total athiest. I would not baptise my child if I was an athiest. Did you baptise your child ? If so you are a hypocrite. And no I don't agree with the way your child was treated , not at all. But I don't think you should lie and pretend you are catholic to get her into a school. It is wrong.

You haven't read the thread. The OP already outlined why his Child was baptised, and also what he was asked by the school with regards to religion. Stop telling lies.

bajer101

lukesmom wrote: »

He took her out of an educate together school because of logistical reasons. Now if he feels that strongly about the damage that singling her out in school for not believing in God could do then he should let her go bank to the school she was in. You cannot always get exactly what you want.

If it was possible, I probably would seriously consider sending her back to her previous Educate Together school, but there are no places there now as her old place was snapped up as there is a huge waiting list. If you'd care to provide me with a list of all the other multi or non-denomination schools in the Dublin 13 area, I be most grateful. In my OP I listed as one of my possible options to move her out of the school, (most likely it would have to be to another Catholic school as they are the only ones available), but after reading the advice given I decided that the best option was to have my daughter stay in that school and have her opt out of RE.

StopYa wrote: »

your childs happiness should be more important than money cabal, send her back to educate together school

As above, there are no places available in the ET school. But a lot of people seem to be of the opinion that this is the solution, so I look forward to seeing them campaign for a reduction in the amount of State funded Catholic schools and an increase in the amount of non or multi-denominational schools. Will you campaign for that? Will you fúck!

bajer101

StopYa wrote: »

I agree with lukesmom , I couldnt have said it better

At last we agree on something.

lukesmom

Gumbi wrote: »

Where else would you suggest the child be educated? You realise over 90% of the primary schools in this country are Catholic?

In the school she was taken out of!

shruikan2553

lukesmom wrote: »

Sorry but I certainly do feel sorry for your daughter. My son goes to a catholic school he was baptised, communion and confirmed and yes I bring and have brought him to mass weekly. I would never put my child into a catholic school if I was a total athiest. I would not baptise my child if I was an athiest. Did you baptise your child ? If so you are a hypocrite. And no I don't agree with the way your child was treated , not at all. But I don't think you should lie and pretend you are catholic to get her into a school. It is wrong.

How would you magic up these non Catholic schools?

shruikan2553

lukesmom wrote: »

In the school she was taken out of!

Do you really think the OP sat there one day and thought "you know what, I prefer the school we are currently using but lets move to a Catholic school for the fun of it"?

brianon

lazygal wrote: »

I'm all for face to face conversations and they work well for sorting out issues, but when it comes to how schools handle arrangements around religious instruction I would prefer to have a written copy to hand so if any issues arise I would have a written record to fall back on rather than have to recall what I said and what a teacher and/or principal said. Its far easier to deal with written correspondence than try to remember what a teacher meant when he or she said this or that.

I agree but there are actually quite allot of things to arrange here.

What subjects will they study during religion ? I'd like to keep an eye on this to make sure she is a) enjoying it and b) working on areas of weakness (be it maths or spelling or whatever).

Will they stay in class when the rest of the class goes to church ? Will they go to the library ? Who will supervise them ?

Just allot of little details that could take up the year to organise over emails/letters

Totally agree in a paper trail (going to post them a letter this week) for the core wishes of the parent. But the finer details require face to face imo to get the maximum from it for the child.

Cabaal

lukesmom wrote: »

Sorry but I certainly do feel sorry for your daughter. My son goes to a catholic school he was baptised, communion and confirmed and yes I bring and have brought him to mass weekly.

You're very much the exception to the rule,
Most "Catholics" don't do this...20-30% compared to 90% odd in the 1970's only go to mass regularly now.

I would never put my child into a catholic school if I was a total athiest.

So if your a atheist and the nearest non catholic ethos school is say 50 miles away your solution is to do what exactly?

So you're more then happy not avail of the tax payer funded schools that you pay for and to ignore your rights under the constitution, Irish Law & EU Law?

Doesn't say alot about how willing you are to stand up for your rights,

But I don't think you should lie and pretend you are catholic to get her into a school. It is wrong.

The op didn't lie at all, please point out where they lied?

If anything the school wants the OP's child to lie by saying she does believe in a god, how is that a good life lesson?

You seem pretty proud of the whole catholic ethos thing, I don't see why or how.

This ethos in its current form allows schools to discriminate against teachers who are gay, pregnant outside of marriage, who get divorced...all perfectly legally. It can also be used to discriminate against students, for example refusing to allow a pregnant teenager to attend the school.

Its not exactly a good model to have for our schools.

Gazzmonkey

Option 4 all the way I say.

I seen a primary school test 3 years ago that asked the pupil to state the forces of nature. The correct answer according to the teacher was fire, wind, water etc. They still teach lies to the kids in this day & age!!!

eyescreamcone

I'll have this in a few years when my unbaptised kids head to the local state funded school which has a catholic ethos.
In my head I imagine I'll sit down with the teachers and principal and come up with a plan that is workable and suits the children and parents.

If god stuff is pushed on us then there will be sparks.

Gerry T

Will those constantly telling the OP he was wrong to send his daughter to a Catholic school if he didn't want her to do RE, stop please. A Catholic school means your child can have a catholic lesson. It does not mean you HAVE to have a catholic lesson. This point seems to be lost on some here.

I'm sure with time anything other than a general RE class will be banned from all state funded schools, its the direction we are heading and in the my circle of friends, colleagues & acquaintances that is the majority view. The only one's that seem to resist this change in a majority are over 60yr old's.

As mentioned earlier my kids went to a protestant school, but a high percentage were Catholic, why you might ask... well the school has a good reputation so people don't really consider Religion when it comes to formal education.

In fairness to the school they gave the parents of catholic kids the option to keep their kids back on a week day for an extra Hr to do catholic religion class, this was organised by the parents association but supported by the school (gave free classrooms, heating, opening longer each day, accommodating communion and confirmation etc...etc...). The School also accommodated the kids to leave the class during the proddy RE class. Why can't catholic schools do likewise ? It doesn't seem very Christian ?

Cabaal

eyescreamcone wrote: »

I'll have this in a few years when my unbaptised kids head to the local state funded school which has a catholic ethos.
In my head I imagine I'll sit down with the teachers and principal and come up with a plan that is workable and suits the children and parents.

If god stuff is pushed on us then there will be sparks.

Depending on the school you may not even get the chance to go that far, they could just use no baptism cert as a reason to tell you your child is not accepted.

Gerry T

eyescreamcone wrote: »

I'll have this in a few years when my unbaptised kids head to the local state funded school which has a catholic ethos.
In my head I imagine I'll sit down with the teachers and principal and come up with a plan that is workable and suits the children and parents.

If god stuff is pushed on us then there will be sparks.

You will first have to be offered a place in the school, that could be your problem, depending on the demand in your area.
If they have only say 60 places and there are 80 children, then 20 will not be going. If you don't have a baptismal cert will put you down that list I'm afraid.

vibe666

lukesmom wrote: »

He took her out of an educate together school because of logistical reasons. Now if he feels that strongly about the damage that singling her out in school for not believing in God could do then he should let her go bank to the school she was in. You cannot always get exactly what you want.

he took her out of an ET school because of logistical reasons and that he hadn't realised that apparently in catholic run, state funded schools (and according to some poster here) it's still the 19th century and there is no constitutional protections preventing religion from being forced on his child against her will.

I'm going to put this as plainly and simply as I can. there is no argument that this is the OP's fault for placing his daughter in a catholic ethos school.

if you had read the thread as you have claimed, you would know that the OP wasn't bothered one way or another about RE and was happy for his daughter to make up her own mind and in any case was under the impression that a state sponsored school in Ireland was bound by the constitution as well as Irish and EU law that prohibits any state funded educational body from forcing religious indoctrination of any kind onto a citizen of this country.

the OP's daughter made it known that she did not believe in god in class and that should have been the end of it, other than a note home for the parent to sign and confirm with them that it was correct that RE would not be taught to the child after that point.

regardless of what type or denomination of school it is or whether she has a baptismal cert or not, or for any other reasoning that is her constitutional right as an Irish citizen, full stop, end of discussion.

lazygal

Gerry T wrote: »

You will first have to be offered a place in the school, that could be your problem, depending on the demand in your area.
If they have only say 60 places and there are 80 children, then 20 will not be going. If you don't have a baptismal cert will put you down that list I'm afraid.

This is not true. Each school has its own enrollment policy. For example, our local school has something like this:
1. Siblings.
2. Children of teachers in the school.
3. Those living in the parish (regardless of religious affiliation).
4. Catholic children living outside the parish.
5. Other children.

So our children would be ahead of those who are baptized but not from the area, and anecdotally (and having had a chat with the school) no one who lives in the area has been refused a place since it opened over 40 years ago on the grounds of not being catholic. Not every school with a religious ethos prioritizes those of the ethos over everyone else.

Cabaal

lazygal wrote: »

Not every school with a religious ethos prioritizes those of the ethos over everyone else.

true, but they still include it on their enrollment policy

Local school to me lists:

(C) Excess Applications:

The criteria for deciding on acceptance or refusal of applications, where the number of applicants exceeds the number of places available, is set down below in an open, transparent and fair manner.

1. The applicant lives in the parish

2. The applicant has a brother/sister in the school

3. The applicant had a brother/sister in the school

4. The applicant is the son/daughter of a staff member

5. The applicant’s parent or guardian is a past pupil

6. The applicant is Catholic

Ok its last on the list but in all honesty it shouldn't be there at all,

RustyNut

bajer101 wrote: »

At last we agree on something.

Hey OP having read all the thread especially your posts Im sure your daughter with you in her corner will have no problems that she can't deal with, with your support and the independant thinking she would have picked up in her first few years in the ET school.

Dont let the bastards get you down, as they say..

vibe666

lukesmom wrote: »

Did you baptise your child ? If so you are a hypocrite. And no I don't agree with the way your child was treated , not at all. But I don't think you should lie and pretend you are catholic to get her into a school. It is wrong.

StopYa wrote: »

I agree with lukesmom , I couldnt have said it better

both of you keep saying you've read the thread, but both of you clearly haven't as this has been covered multiple times already, to death in fact at this point but you still keep shyting on about it like you've discovered some sort of revelation to beat the OP with.

Gerry T

lazygal wrote: »

This is not true. Each school has its own enrollment policy. For example, our local school has something like this:
1. Siblings.
2. Children of teachers in the school.
3. Those living in the parish (regardless of religious affiliation).
4. Catholic children living outside the parish.
5. Other children.

So our children would be ahead of those who are baptized but not from the area, and anecdotally (and having had a chat with the school) no one who lives in the area has been refused a place since it opened over 40 years ago on the grounds of not being catholic. Not every school with a religious ethos prioritizes those of the ethos over everyone else.

Fair enough. Can't argue that.

My dad always said that your parish school had to offer you a place no matter what. I would argue saying if there is no physical space then the school can't build a new class room for you. Hence the selection criteria.

But that brings up an interesting point. And it's more a question -- do state funded schools have to offer places to parish children, irrespective of their religious beliefs. If so then that explains item 3 on your list.
But why does 4 have to say catholic children outside of the parish, why not just children outside of the parish, it suggests item 3 is being forced on the schools and given a choice that would also say "catholic" children.

Cabaal

Gerry T wrote: »

do state funded schools have to offer places to parish children, irrespective of their religious beliefs. If so then that explains item 3 on your list.
But why does 4 have to say catholic children outside of the parish, why not just children outside of the parish, it suggests item 3 is being forced on the schools and given a choice that would also say "catholic" children.

Yes, they do offer places.

However, they if they are over subscribed they can use the fact they are non-catholic as a reason to narrow down the list as they'll give more preference to a catholic

Given you don't ever see the list they have or anything like that its a handy excuse for them to have if they don't want to take you.

StopYa

vibe666 , I couldnt care less at this stage , as this thread will go on forever and not go anywhere, why dont ye just round up all the people who have a problem, with cathloic funded schools and lobby in the dail for more educate together instead of spouting ****e here and upsetting the poor teacher and principal on the ground, as it is a small minority at the end of the day who have a problem with re, and the guy saying u cant get into school if your not a catholic where do u get this rubbish i went to school wit prodestants and muslims and they just read their own book, or did wat ever but didnt upset the whole class, while we did re

RustyNut

StopYa wrote: »

spouting ****e here

Its a discussion forum, people discuss things, some people find it educational to discuss things with people who hold different views.Maybe this isn't the place for you if you don't get that.

Red Nissan

vibe666 wrote: »

regardless of what type or denomination of school it is or whether she has a baptismal cert or not, or for any other reasoning that is her constitutional right as an Irish citizen, full stop, end of discussion.

What is her constitutional right?

Cabaal

StopYa wrote: »

and the guy saying u cant get into school if your not a catholic where do u get this rubbish i went to school wit prodestants and muslims and they just read their own book, or did wat ever but didnt upset the whole class, while we did re

Yeah I mean its not like catholic ethos schools rejecting non-catholics has ever made the news http://www.cinews.ie/article.php?artid=9089

Or this http://www.magicmum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=568741 (includes texts from Irish Times)

Its not like the Ombudsman for Children thinks that such policy's should be removed either, or that the Ombudsman has slammed a catholic ethos school for using its "ethos" to reject a pregnant teenager either http://www.thejournal.ie/wholly-unacceptable-ombudsman-slams-school-that-refused-pregnant-teen-434462-Apr2012/

Yeah your right, i guess its not a problem at all
:rolleyes:

Anymore uneducated stuff you want to post?

IITYWYBMAD

Red Nissan wrote: »

What is her constitutional right?

She has a constitutional right to an Education.

vibe666

Red Nissan wrote: »

What is her constitutional right?

Article 44.2.4 of the Irish constitution, where the State’s duty to provide for free primary education is being discharged through financial support for a denominationally controlled school, that school must respect the right of individual pupils not to receive religious instruction.

Gerry T

StopYa wrote: »

vibe666 , I couldnt care less at this stage , as this thread will go on forever and not go anywhere, why dont ye just round up all the people who have a problem, with cathloic funded schools and lobby in the dail for more educate together instead of spouting ****e here and upsetting the poor teacher and principal on the ground, as it is a small minority at the end of the day who have a problem with re, and the guy saying u cant get into school if your not a catholic where do u get this rubbish i went to school wit prodestants and muslims and they just read their own book, or did wat ever but didnt upset the whole class, while we did re

You seem like a really nice person, but your views are quite "moronic"
(see I'm not attacking the poster )
Getting the thread back on track, it all started with a 7yr old having a bad experience in school, one where the teacher and principal could have handled much better, like your own admission "i went to school wit prodestants and muslims and they just read their own book", I couldnt ave sad it batter meself.
The core of the issue is Catholic schools have an underlying ethos of "play by our rules". Which seems to be demonstrated by the OP's daughters experience. All people here are adding is that day is coming to a close and it will, in time, change.

vibe666

StopYa wrote: »

vibe666 , I couldnt care less at this stage , as this thread will go on forever and not go anywhere, why dont ye just round up all the people who have a problem, with cathloic funded schools and lobby in the dail for more educate together instead of spouting ****e here and upsetting the poor teacher and principal on the ground, as it is a small minority at the end of the day who have a problem with re, and the guy saying u cant get into school if your not a catholic where do u get this rubbish i went to school wit prodestants and muslims and they just read their own book, or did wat ever but didnt upset the whole class, while we did re

would you like to have a little break, you seem quite stressed out and you aren't being very christian at all about any of this.

StopYa

Ill say a few prays for ye God bless ye

FullblownRose

I think the O.P gave the school the benefit of the doubt and more credit than they deserved when he enrolled his daughter. O.P, you probably hadn't exerienced the kind of carry-on that goes on in some provincial catholic national schools.
Frankly, the behaviour of some teachers and studentss in religious schools is nauseating-on the one hand, the teacher might lead the students in happy-clappy religious sing-songs, or prayer rituals that look to an atheist onlooker like a cult ritual, but the teachers mask seems to slip when a student doesn't appear to be in tune with that heavily orchestrated daily religious routine, or when a student dares to ask a question.

Gumbi

StopYa wrote: »

Ill say a few prays for ye God bless ye

Say hi to Krishna for me.

eyescreamcone

Gerry T wrote: »

You will first have to be offered a place in the school, that could be your problem, depending on the demand in your area.
If they have only say 60 places and there are 80 children, then 20 will not be going. If you don't have a baptismal cert will put you down that list I'm afraid.

Thanks - Not a problem in our area.
More places than kids at the moment and births are down countrywide the past few years so I don't imagine an unusual peak in 2017 and 2019.

?Cee?view

First off; I've read the whole thread so don't either "side" accuse me of not having read it if you happen to disagree with me.

I think the OP's daughter is a very lucky girl to have a father who clearly cares so much for her and approaches matters in a considered manner. Kudos to you OP for bringing up your daughter on your own in what must be challenging circumstances.

This thread demonstrates something though. This religion issue is so vexatious that sides are taken, principles adopted and sometimes the needs of the children become secondary. People here on both sides are proposing "solutions" which are quite drastic and which would have an unsettling influence on any child. Moving the child again or tackling the school head on are not going to do the child any good.

OP, I think you're dead right to have emailed the Principal so that the matter is on record. However, I do think you have made a mistake by not following that up with by calling into the school in person; and I accept that that's been difficult for you, but get down now to them maybe explaining that you had wanted to "chat it through" in person but couldn't get down. For the sake of your daughter, you need to take the heat (if any) out of this situation. Try to have a calm discussion with the school. Let them know that while you accept that they may have their beliefs, you have confidence in them as professionals to be able to treat your daughter appropriately. Yes, they acted badly, but you need that to have been an isolated incident and building a relationship with the school will go to ensure that.

bajer101

?Cee?view wrote: »

First off; I've read the whole thread so don't either "side" accuse me of not having read it if you happen to disagree with me.

I think the OP's daughter is a very lucky girl to have a father who clearly cares so much for her and approaches matters in a considered manner. Kudos to you OP for bringing up your daughter on your own in what must be challenging circumstances.

This thread demonstrates something though. This religion issue is so vexatious that sides are taken, principles adopted and sometimes the needs of the children become secondary. People here on both sides are proposing "solutions" which are quite drastic and which would have an unsettling influence on any child. Moving the child again or tackling the school head on are not going to do the child any good.

OP, I think you're dead right to have emailed the Principal so that the matter is on record. However, I do think you have made a mistake by not following that up with by calling into the school in person; and I accept that that's been difficult for you, but get down now to them maybe explaining that you had wanted to "chat it through" in person but couldn't get down. For the sake of your daughter, you need to take the heat (if any) out of this situation. Try to have a calm discussion with the school. Let them know that while you accept that they may have their beliefs, you have confidence in them as professionals to be able to treat your daughter appropriately. Yes, they acted badly, but you need that to have been an isolated incident and building a relationship with the school will go to ensure that.

I have since spoken to the Principal. I went into quite some detail in my email explaining the situation and how it has taken a bit of time to resolve. I did mention before that when I previously met with the Principal that she seemed like a very nice person and that I was sure a resonable solution could be found. Having spoken to her briefly this afternoon, I am going to pop in for a few minutes in the morning on my way to work, and I am sure we can sort it out.

I Heart Internet

bajer101 wrote: »

I have since spoken to the Principal. I went into quite some detail in my email explaining the situation and how it has taken a bit of time to resolve. I did mention before that when I previously met with the Principal that she seemed like a very nice person and that I was sure a resonable solution could be found. Having spoken to her briefly this afternoon, I am going to pop in for a few minutes in the morning on my way to work, and I am sure we can sort it out.

Great. I don't see why you didn't raise this issue with her when you met her originally. I would have thought that would be the perfect time to clarify any particular wishes you had regarding your daughter's education. As someone said earlier on this thread, they're not mind readers.

Best of luck with it.

bajer101

I Heart Internet wrote: »

Great. I don't see why you didn't raise this issue with her when you met her originally. I would have thought that would be the perfect time to clarify any particular wishes you had regarding your daughter's education. As someone said earlier on this thread, they're not mind readers.

Best of luck with it.

It wasn't an issue when I first met with the Principal I wasn't originally objecting to my daughter being taught religion and making her Communion. It only became an issue when she took it upon herself to say that she didn't believe in God. Things escalated a bit from there and that is why I started this thread asking for advice.

Red Nissan

My view is that all children should be reared without any religion untill they are 12 years of age.

Belief, and Religion are not necessarily compatible, I know some fervent god believing people who don't follow any religion at all.

What I believe in does not matter, but what a religion believes in can be the law of the land. Crazy.

Thanks for the post OP.

Harry Angstrom

Option 5: Send her back to the Educate Together school.

I mean, you send her to a Catholic school and then you're offended that she is taught the Catholic religion? Who would've thunk it??

?Cee?view

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Option 5: Send her back to the Educate Together school.

I mean, you send her to a Catholic school and then you're offended that she is taught the Catholic religion. Who would've thunk it??

Option 6: Read where the OP explained that's not an option

Harry Angstrom

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Option 5: Send her back to the Educate Together school.

I mean, you send her to a Catholic school and then you're offended that she is taught the Catholic religion? Who would've thunk it??

option 6: READTHETHREAD

lukesmom

It's a pity your daughter had to blurt that out for all in the class to hear. Perhaps she might agree to not talk about her 'non beliefs' in front of a classroom of impressionable 7 year olds. That is if you insist on keeping her there. Amazed she said she doesn't believe in God at. 7 years of age, I wonder wnere she got that idea from

EunanMac

Gerry T wrote: »

In fairness to the school they gave the parents of catholic kids the option to keep their kids back on a week day for an extra Hr to do catholic religion class, this was organised by the parents association but supported by the school (gave free classrooms, heating, opening longer each day, accommodating communion and confirmation etc...etc...)

Presumably to avail of this in a Protestant school, Catholic parents, who want their Children taught Catholicism should inform the school of their beliefs and desire, rather than leave it up to the school to guess and then complain afterwards they were taught Protestant beliefs.

Gerry T wrote: »

The School also accommodated the kids to leave the class during the proddy RE class. Why can't catholic schools do likewise ?

Catholic schools do.