The holidays are often the most looked-forward-to events of the year. Everyone wants to get festive, have parties, and make fantastic dinners at any occassion they can. But when is it not ok to hold these religiious specific celebrations in public? Schools are under constant watch as to what is being exposed to the kids.
With so many diverse religious practices in our country, it is hard to do anything religious in the general public without stepping on somebody's toes. This is especially true when it is dealing with people's children. Schools are meant to be a sanctuary for learning everything that we can teach about our world, and the customs of various cultures should not be left out. I do not believe that just the Christian aspect or any other single custom should be taught, but the children should learn of all the different and unique ways cultures celebrate and come together. This would not only educate the children about the world, but help to spread tolerance for all.
Encouraging this in all public schools would help to alleviate a lot of questions kids may have when they learn about various holidays in cultures that are equivalent to ours and could also provide them with a variety of options in forming their own beliefs as they grow.
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I agree for the most part. With many religious and cultural holidays occuring at this time of year, I believe is very important to teach children about the practices of others in a non-threatening manner.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in 7th grade we did something like that, where we each studied a different celebration. It was fun and we learned about diversity.
I agree with you. I think children should expand their minds and learn about other traditions that they may have not known about before. It also would help students ne a little more accepting of they knew more about other cultures and traditions.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be great to incorporate more cultures, etc. into our education system especially dealing with holidays. But if you teach one culture/religion and want to be equal, you have to be sure that you incorporate every culture/religion represented in your classroom. If you have a very diverse classroom, it could be very difficult to do this. Also, what about the atheists who don't celebrate anything? Once again, I like the idea of having cultural exploration of holidays in the classroom, but I think you have to be very careful about how it is approached.
ReplyDeleteI think there should be a recognition for all parties. The question here is why isn't there a party for Ramadan? Or Chinese New Year (although it isn't a religious holiday)? I firmly believe that instead of having a Christmas Party, there should be a holiday party. Since the school is a state institution, there really shouldn't be any form of religion in it. If someone wants to celebrate their religion, they could do it somewhere everyone feels comfortable, such as church, or a school specifically for your religion. America doesn't have a set religion, so it really means that we have to cater to everyone's freedom of religion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that children should learn about all the different cultures and melt them altogether. In the fifth grade we did something like this where we decorated Christmas trees with ornaments from around the world. Each classroom had a different country and we learned about it and then went to different classrooms. There is one way to celebrate and learn about holidays!
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