Secularism in School

[Bob Kelso]

Good work by Tennessee atheists, here.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/29/te...-students/

Tennessee atheists win right to distribute literature after schools give Bibles to students

I don't think I've ever taken pleasure in being in Tennessee before this moment.

[sven]

Well, the results are overwhelming. Perhaps not so surprising, given the nature of this site.

I've been following this subject pretty closely on this side of the atlantic.
There have been several news stories about muslim schools that break the law by changing the curriculum and having separate classrooms for girls and boys, not teaching boys and girls the same things.
This is a major problem, because its been discovered that pupils from some muslim schools do much worse in the national tests than those from public schools, on average. Apparently, this is simply because they are not taught sufficiently in certain subjects, and in some cases not taught at all.
In one school it was discovered that thirty percent of of the lesson time was spent on studying the Koran.
Some parts of certain subjects were not taught to girls at all. Girls were strongly discouraged by teachers to seek a higher education. The reasoning behind all this was apparently that women do not need that knowledge and education in their adult lives.
Interestingly, several of these schools reported false curriculums to the school authorities. They all receive sponsorship from the state, as well as the 'school money' that is given to all pupils that go to private schools. The tax payers, no matter their beliefs, are funding schools that give inadequate education and treat pupils in an illegal manner.

In one christian school, it was discovered that the textbooks on history, biology and social sciences contained false information. The history books were shown to contain anti-semitic and racist passages. There was no education about reproduction, and no sexual education. Many of the math and physics classes had been replaced by bible studies. Nothing was taught about other religions except christianity.

[Bob Kelso]

Well, the results are overwhelming. Perhaps not so surprising, given the nature of this site.

I've been following this subject pretty closely on this side of the atlantic.
There have been several news stories about muslim schools that break the law by changing the curriculum and having separate classrooms for girls and boys, not teaching boys and girls the same things.
This is a major problem, because its been discovered that pupils from some muslim schools do much worse in the national tests than those from public schools, on average. Apparently, this is simply because they are not taught sufficiently in certain subjects, and in some cases not taught at all.
In one school it was discovered that thirty percent of of the lesson time was spent on studying the Koran.
Some parts of certain subjects were not taught to girls at all. Girls were strongly discouraged by teachers to seek a higher education. The reasoning behind all this was apparently that women do not need that knowledge and education in their adult lives.
Interestingly, several of these schools reported false curriculums to the school authorities. They all receive sponsorship from the state, as well as the 'school money' that is given to all pupils that go to private schools. The tax payers, no matter their beliefs, are funding schools that give inadequate education and treat pupils in an illegal manner.

In one christian school, it was discovered that the textbooks on history, biology and social sciences contained false information. The history books were shown to contain anti-semitic and racist passages. There was no education about reproduction, and no sexual education. Many of the math and physics classes had been replaced by bible studies. Nothing was taught about other religions except christianity.

I'd be very interested in having the links to these news stories if you wouldn't mind.

[Tartarus Sauce]

Of course, within the United States it is a mandatory outcome of the separation of church and state outlined by the First Amendment. Endorsing any specific religion within an institution that is funded by governmental bodies is prohibited. If your that desperate to inject religion into your child's education, either send them to private school, a parochial one, or homeschool them.

[sven]

Well, the results are overwhelming. Perhaps not so surprising, given the nature of this site.

I've been following this subject pretty closely on this side of the atlantic.
There have been several news stories about muslim schools that break the law by changing the curriculum and having separate classrooms for girls and boys, not teaching boys and girls the same things.
This is a major problem, because its been discovered that pupils from some muslim schools do much worse in the national tests than those from public schools, on average. Apparently, this is simply because they are not taught sufficiently in certain subjects, and in some cases not taught at all.
In one school it was discovered that thirty percent of of the lesson time was spent on studying the Koran.
Some parts of certain subjects were not taught to girls at all. Girls were strongly discouraged by teachers to seek a higher education. The reasoning behind all this was apparently that women do not need that knowledge and education in their adult lives.
Interestingly, several of these schools reported false curriculums to the school authorities. They all receive sponsorship from the state, as well as the 'school money' that is given to all pupils that go to private schools. The tax payers, no matter their beliefs, are funding schools that give inadequate education and treat pupils in an illegal manner.

In one christian school, it was discovered that the textbooks on history, biology and social sciences contained false information. The history books were shown to contain anti-semitic and racist passages. There was no education about reproduction, and no sexual education. Many of the math and physics classes had been replaced by bible studies. Nothing was taught about other religions except christianity.

I'd be very interested in having the links to these news stories if you wouldn't mind.

I was a little unclear perhaps. These were Swedish schools.

Hm. Now it seems I have to pay a subscription to browse older articles. Maybe there is a workaround. I'll have a look at it tomorrow.

[sven]

[/quote]

A video about 'Fredens Skola' where there were terrible conditions:
(It means 'The School of Peace' would you believe it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnhQsZ9rerU

http://annhelenarudberg1.blogspot.se/201...tangd.html
http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/cigare...963064.svd
http://www.nt.se/nyheter/artikel.aspx?articleid=8409456
https://www.gp.se/nyheter/1.745567

Unfortunately I was unable to link to the specific article I mentioned. This is all in Swedish, so you'll have to use google translate for the articles.

These are two similar cases.
It's basically about curriculums lacking several subjects, terrible school conditions, incompetent teachers, prayer on the schedule (despite them claiming the school to be non-religious) lessons being interrupted for prayer, pupils being goaded into prayer against their wills, and so on and so forth.
I like the part where the muslim grade school used large parts of their benefits to buy cigarettes (!?)
'Fredens Skola' was just close by where I live. Fortunately, the school inspection closed it after just 4 weeks.

[Bob Kelso]

Thanks Sven!

I'll delve into this shortly, I'm working on a paper for my core class and it's over secularism so this may actually help me with a short example or two of non-secular schooling outside the States. We have some Christian and Muslim private schools here, and other than some dips in test scores (not terribly different from public schools tbh) they're almost on par with public schools so I was curious to see what it was like in other areas as well.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

Of course, within the United States it is a mandatory outcome of the separation of church and state outlined by the First Amendment. Endorsing any specific religion within an institution that is funded by governmental bodies is prohibited. If your that desperate to inject religion into your child's education, either send them to private school, a parochial one, or homeschool them.

Which then opens up the debate about what constitutes child abuse.

[Polaris]

Not as it has become; I support individuality. Sadly, what could have been a blessing has turned into fascism and bigotry.

[Bob Kelso]

Not as it has become; I support individuality. Sadly, what could have been a blessing has turned into fascism and bigotry.

How so?