Religion In The Schools
Too often it is assumed that people homeschool to instill a Christian viewpoint on their children without exposing them to other religions. But what about when that same viewpoint is being pressed at the public schools?
“My daughter Arie told me about a Jewish child who brought his Torah to school when other students brought Bibles in support of Freshwater … He thought he was supporting freedom of religious expression, and the other kids just ripped him apart. ‘What are you doing?’ they asked. ‘You can’t support Mr. Freshwater, you’re Jewish’ … I don’t think people realize the depth of what’s going on between the students. It’s a mob mentality right now. It’s peer pressure. To not wear a T-shirt and to not bring your Bible when they say bring your Bible and wear a T-shirt, you’re asking for trouble … one of Arie’s friends wore a T-shirt to school that read, ‘I don’t need to wear a special T-shirt to be a Christian.’ That individual was reportedly pushed into the lockers and called a ’stupid atheist b****.’”
I found this story via The Wild Hunt. While I know there are some who would pass this off as nonsense, I know from experience what it can mean to go to public school as a religion other than what the majority believe. In a small town where there are almost more churches than trees being an “other” comes into play too often. The supposed diversity gets shoved out the window quickly.
I thought this story made an interesting contrast. The case is often made that public schools are hot bed of diversity while those who keep their children at home are sheltering them from it. I know that in my case keeping my sons out of the public schools probably allows them more diversity, religiously speaking.
Of course we have to look at this as not just a religious issue, but an age issue. This is dealing with middle school aged children, one of the worst times in terms of peer pressure and a drive to fit in or else. Bullying, harassment, and worse for kids who do not fall neatly into their assigned roles and social class can be intense.
Just some thoughts from someone tired of being typecast and pigeonholed. As they say, things aren’t always greener on the other side of the fence. Or, in this case, things aren’t always so diverse on your own side of the fence.
diversity, education, religion, students, homeschooling
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:29 am
Your right about the mob mentality thing. When you are the minority in a school (whether your Jewish in a *Christian* public school, or your Christian in a *liberal* public school or if you are black in a *white* public school, etc. the minority will always come out on the short end.
It’s not that homeschooled children can’t be narrowminded. It’s just that they don’t have lockers to shove people into.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:43 am
Great food for thought. I went to small town public school as a religious minority. Wasn’t horrific, but wasn’t all about celebrating diversity either. Got worse as I got older.
My daughter has MORE religious diversity as a homeschooler than she would in public school, I believe. While we, as any parent(homeschool or public) does, bring her up with our religious values, we study and explore other religions. In addition, because we aren’t in the same building for 8 hours or more a day,
we have opportunities to approach those who don’t share our beliefs and to strike up a conversation so as to know and understand a wider more diverse group of people.
And not just about religion; we are always interested in people who have other viewpoints whether it’s a “different” job, religion, language, whatever…it’s what makes the world go around.
In a institution that is bent on everyone homogenizing with a group of peers and the adults bent on crowd control, state curriculum, and lawsuits….ya, that makes ANY kind of diversity hard to look at.
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:28 am
This is a good point. At my high school, most students were not religious. The ones that were belonged to the LDS church. A lot happened at Seminary, etc. that if you didn’t attend, you were out of the loop.
There were over 500 people in my graduating class, and I only knew two other people who were non-LDS “public” Christians.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Good points. Funny how this truth gets discounted.
Another thing to remember that even in “diverse” schools, kids self-segregate, especially as they get older. Kids tend to hang out with whoever fits their demographic, and don’t know what’s going on in the other groups except for rumor. There are some exceptions, of course. But most of these exceptions are after school programs and and clubs - things that homeschool kids are known to do on a regular basis.
So, even in diverse areas, being in diverse schools doesn’t have a causal relationship with a kids’ ability to accept others. Learning to accept and work with others who are from a different background comes from somewhere else. It is not inherent in school structure.