Nuckols P3-Religion in Schools Redeux

8/14/2019 Nuckols P3-Religion in Schools Redeux

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Chris Nuckols

English 112 SEC 19PR

Dr. Miles McCrimmon

April 7th, 2009

Religion in Schools: Why its Harmful to Society

As we all know, religion is a very touchy subject. It is also a very prominent

part of society. It has the power to change lives, destroy families, and even start

wars. While it has its benefits, it is also a very harmful power. This power, however,

has spread outside of churches, mosques, temples, and other religious institutions,

and has woven its way into schools, public areas, and even the government.

However, its at its most destructive in schools, where children can be molded and

influenced with relative ease. It is my opinion that no educational facility, public or

private, should promote any form of religion. I have even gone so far as to

interview two individuals that have at one point attended a parochial school to

further this opinion.

Lets start by looking at the problem at a glance. Parochial schools are

private schools that teach around a certain religion. Since these schools are

private, this is entirely legal. However, there are problems that are bound to arise.

Just because a student attends one of these schools doesnt mean they agree with

everything the school says, which can lead to confusion, frustration, and other

negative emotions. I observed this in a current student enrolled in a parochial

school in Illinois. My interviewee has requested that neither his name nor the

schools name be revealed. When I interviewed him, he told me some of his

feelings towards his school. Here is a snippet of the interview conducted on AIM:

My Interviewee (9:16:38 PM): well if it helps any, I've been feeling a lot moreconfused this sophmore year.


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Me (9:16:45 PM): Why?

My Interviewee (9:17:05 PM): thnigs I'm told in school.

Me (9:17:09 PM): Such as?

My Interviewee (9:18:06 PM): stuff that's kinda made me deel mad. I've noticed I'vebecome less tolerant of anything religous, be it christian or atheiest. x.x

My Interviewee (9:18:11 PM): *feel mad

Me (9:18:33 PM): Why do you think that is?

My Interviewee (9:20:28 PM): because I disagree with a lot of they teach, but I'mtold that it's the "only way to live". I've talekd to family about school and they dontagree with everything either. And they told me it's a catholic school. they're gonnabe biased and say it's the only way to live. it's one sided...that helps but it doesntstop it.

As my interviewee stated, his parochial school has left him confused and

frustrated (Anonymous). Now, you may be wondering: why would someone attend

a parochial school they dont agree with? That leads to my next issue with parochial

schools: theyre the only legitimate alternative to incompetent or high-risk public

schools. This is what both of my interviewees had in common. My mother, Patty

Southworth, was raised in Miami, Florida. Her parents sent her to a parochial school

as an alternative to Miamis violent downtown public school system, where

shootings were disturbingly common (Southworth). The same goes for my

interviewee in Illinois. His parents were able to send him to a parochial school to

prevent him from getting wrapped up in a violent public school system

(Anonymous).

Another problem is that religion is so well-rooted in society that parochial

schools are regarded as being the best thing parents can do for their children.

Having no parochial schools and not having religion in our public schools seems

absurd and blasphemous to them. Our legal system is doing a fine job, however, of

getting religion out of public schools. In fact, an Illinois judge recently ruled a law


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requiring students of impressionable ages to consider religion during the moment of

silence to be unconstitutional (Church and StateMoment of Silence). And slowly,

states and schools across the country are doing the same, if they havent already.

The only remaining problem lies in parochial schools that shove religion down their

students throats, whether the students want it or not, and serve as the only safe

school for the students.

There are only a handful of solutions to this problem. The best two are full-

out eradication of these parochial schools, or providing other alternatives. I

personally would be willing to see either of these plans be taken into effect, but the

most reasonable solution would be to provide other alternatives while keeping some

parochial schools for families that actually want the schools religious beliefs to be

shoved down their childrens throats.

There are several decent alternatives to parochial schools, some of which are

already being used. In New York City, four Catholic schools have been turned into

public charter schools. These public charter schools should in theory be a safe

alternative to the violence of NYCs public school system, and are non-

denominational, so religion will no longer be shoved down students throats (Church

and StateNYC Catholic Schools).

Another alternative is being used in Victoria, Australia. They are offering

ethics classes in their public schools in competition with religion classes (Doerr). Its

this alternative I base my ideal alternative on.

My ideal alternative would be to offer more ethics classes in public schools,

as well as replacing some of the parochial schools with non-denominational schools

that teach secular ethics. As New York and Victoria have demonstrated, there is

some expectation that such a plan wouldnt be too farfetched. Also, colleges


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around the United States teach ethics classes. It wouldnt be too difficult to start

teaching those classes sooner, such as middle school, or even elementary school.

As a teacher-in-training, I see no difficulty in a teacher taking a small chunk of time

in an elementary school class to teach some kind of standard ethics and explaining

why certain things are wrong from a secular perspective. Also, some high schools

offer psychology and sociology classes, so its not too outlandish to think that some

classes in ethics could be offered. Granted, in public schools, this could be

somewhat situational, and some people dont think its the schools place to teach

ethics. However, Id like to mention that such ethics as the ones Im proposing are

almost universal, and can be easily taught from a secular perspective. Also, if its

not the schools place to teach ethics, whose is it? If the parents themselves arent

teaching their children proper ethics, then why shouldnt the school take over? Id

like to think of schools as a secondary source of ethics, with the parents as the

primary source. If the parents cant teach their children ethics, it would be up to the

secondary source. Its like my mother said in our interview: children have to get

their ethics from SOMEWHERE (Southworth).

Ill openly admit that most of this is opinionated. However, I strongly feel that

the problem of religion in schools is pertinent and among the central concerns of

education. I also feel that the solutions I have outlined, while revolutionary and

bold, would be the best, most efficient ways to deal with this problem. I understand

that one person alone cant tackle this problem in one paper, but as someone that

wants to become a teacher myself, I would love to know that schools, both public

and private, can stop shoving religion down students throats and potentially turning

them into religious zealots that become closed-minded and destructive to society.


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Works Cited

Anonymous; personal interview conducted on 4/6/09 and 4/11/09

Doerr, Edd. "CHURCH-STATE UPDATE." Free Inquiry 29.3 (Apr. 2009): 56-56.

Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State

abbreviation]. 17 Apr. 2009

.

"'Moment of Silence' Advances Religion, Says Court." Church & State 62.3 (Mar.

2009): 3-3. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State

abbreviation]. 17 Apr. 2009

.

Southworth, Patty. Personal interview conducted on 4/11/09

Documents

Nuckols P3-Religion in Schools Redeux