As an immigrant, my feeling that it is important to learn about my new country's history. It is also my feeling that American schools should first teach American history. This history will include the history of American interaction with other countries. Afterwards, the other country's histories can be studied.

with all the buggery going on in English schools, it's a safe bet to say no English kids have the time to learn about Samoa.

Originally Posted by garysher (For all you people who think Christians)
As most American children already know about US history why not leave that out and teach them about the history of Western Samoa?

Do you have kids?

Yes



Your inconsistency is quite remarkable.




You're welcome

Good point.

Why not apply the same approach to the teaching of religion?

Let's teach our children about Christianity and the other religions practised widely in the US.

Save wiccanism for an elective class. Or when everyone feels like they need a good laugh

Buggerers generally ARE afraid of math, I'm told.

After reading your posts for years now, I believe that your religious faith is very strong and is important to you. I think it would out of character for you to put unknown union teachers in charge of instructing YOUR children about YOUR faith, and YOUR values. I am not parent, but I seriously doubt that I would trust a public school teacher with that responsibility.

Either teach about all religions or none. I bet there are some very large and mean looking wiccans looking for a good laugh.

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It depends on the type of History Class, silly. If the focus is US History, then that should be the topic. if the class is World History, then the curriculum is typically a broad overview. Exactly how many people from medieval Vietnam do you expect would get pissed about not having their history taught? yes, that was a joke.

I advocate letting parents teach their kids about religion and not having the schools do it and I am labelled by you as having a jaundiced, narrow-minded view of the world, that I need to get out more and am terrified by the schools teaching religion. Your legs must be exhausted from jumping to conclusions.

Public schools exist for the purpose of educating our children. Compulsory attendance laws were established because of the governmental belief that education was necessary to teach our children to be good citizens. Thus today we have a public school system.

From elementary, through secondary and on into higher education, schools have developed mission statements such as follows: (taken from Stony Lane School Mission Statement)

or (taken from Iowa State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences)

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in the 1930's that the purpose of education was to raise good citizens. As such time and again we have heard how schools seek to have diversity, the political and social policy of encouraging tolerance for people of different backgrounds.

In order to dispel the myths of different cultures one must be able to understand the differences between cultures. Since religion plays an important role in developing ones culture it is only logical that schools teach about different religions.

Now understand, I am not interested in schools teaching the tenets of faiths. However, it is important that schools teach the differences between different religions. Children need to understand that these differences do exist. It is also important for children to understand the role that religion plays in history. Including the role of religion in the founding of this country, the Abolitionist movement, the Civil Rights Movement and at other times.

We live in a global world, as such our children will encounter people of different faiths regularly. It is imporant for them to understand the faith of others, for it will lead them to be more tolerant of differences. Parents should teach their children the faith that they believe, the school should not, however, do not confuse educating our children about religion with teaching them to be religious.

Should not our children understand the differences that lead the Muslim extremist to hate Jews? SHould they not be taught how Hitler interpretted Christianity to hate the Jew? And what of the role of Christianity in out country in the belief of converting the savages to God??

Without an understanding of religion we handicap our children.

dmk