General Chat

Whilst it is accepted that the child was genuinely upset by what had taken place nothing is improved by over reacting to what may have been a misunderstanding. Have the children en masse all got upset?Hearing one side of the story without reading the account of 'guilty' is not a balanced view.
To object to a child being given an adult bible, for whatever reason, is not something to complain about when a child attends a faith school, in fact I would say it is a sad state when a child doesn't own a bible.
Many parents want to run with the hare and the hounds, they want what a faith school offers but object if it doesn't fit in with their idea of education. By all means exclude the child from the extra religious lesson and lets hope all can learn from this . -j

This child was obviously confused and upset by what happened but I wonder if some of his subsequent disturbed behaviour is down to his mother's reaction rather than saying sorry for his sins and eating them via rice paper.



Vera

Spot on Vera- j

Right for a start, choosing to send your child to a C of E school is NOT the same as acceptance of this particular Baptist group which is not part of the school .

It's totally irrelevant whether the mother 'over reacted' or not...the Headmistress has a duty of care, she has a duty to inform parents when outside agencies are invited into the school, she has a duty to ensure the children are treated in a way that they understand.

7 year olds do not need to be told they are guilty of sin in this manner ( or any other) ...it's total clap trap...!

God is love.... but he'll have to dispense it to the idiots, because I can't bring myself to !!!

I take it that the children were not informed in detail how Jesus died.

I seem to remember not being very happy about the crucifixion when a schoolfriend explained it to me in graphic detail at a similar age.- as I was at school when the conversation took place should I have got my mother make a complaint .

My children went to a CE school and some things I didn't agree with but if I felt strong enough about something I wrote a letter outlining my concerns. I didn't shout it from the rooftop wanting everyone to join the bandwagon or take my feelings to the school yard. I am no-one's side but just think that a bit of comman sense would have resolved the problem much quicker instead of making such a mountain out of a molehill. -jl

Trouble with things like that is they can if not checked in time become "Indoctrination" which as we all know can lead to many other things. :-S

Unfortunately Janet, you can't put sense where there is none...the head teacher & the so called ' educator' ( who as far as has been reported was a volunteer with no actual teacher training) evidently thought this way of teaching was a 'good idea'.

Totally different situation to another child telling you something.

The point of shouting it from the roof tops is that if one doesn't it stays 'in house' and is likely to continue unchallenged....one parent complaining might not change the practise and other parent's children might not have found it disturbing, but their parents might, and they deserve to know!

I suppose though if my child had come home so distressed, genuinely believing that they had done something wrong and didn't understand I would have used the situation to sit and discuss the whole issue with them .

That wouldn't mean that I would ignore what had happened, like the swan I would have given my child the impression that all was well on the surface whilst at the same time preparing my case, and if necessary with two barrels.

In the past I have received a patronising letter from the vicar suggesting that a complaint I had made had been the only one received,only to find their proposals at a later stage remained status quo. I hardly think my one letter had the desired effect but more likely the vicar/school wanted to move in a direction and other parents must have agreed with my complaint otherwise the school would have got its way.
I am not the sort of person to let mistakes go unnoticed. However if things can sorted without aggro I think it is better for all concerned. -j

This sort of thing is one reason to get rid of faith schools altogether. They are socially divisive and I'm not keen on the indoctrination that goes on.

I'd rather have stuck pins in my eyes than sent my son to a faith school (of any kind).

Gwynne

Maybe it was different in the 40s/50s but I went to a Cof E school (As have said I was brought up as a Baptist). Although I had to learn the creed and various other C of E rituals I was not indoctrinated. I learnt it, knew it was 'their' religion' and put it to the back of my mind. I think it gave me a good all round religious education.

If anyone thinks a child of this age could understand the concept of a) sin as opposed to naughtiness b) absolution by a lay person on behalf of 'God' they don't appreciate how a child's mind functions.

Nowhere does it state that the family didn't own a bible - may be the same as us - a family bible but the children had children's bibles which they could understand (and more importantly read themselves without the use of archaic words).

FGS they'll be having sin eaters attending the deceased next!! and expecting the kids to grasp that load of poo!

If my young child had had this stupid act put on them then I'd certainly be shouting from the roof tops,,,,,,what were the school thinking of letting this sect of religous zelots loose in their school to make children do this which wasnt a good idea,,,,,,a sensitive child with an over reactive mind could now belive something they may do wrong must be guilt freed by eating paper !! fgs,,,,,,dont say it wont or couldnt happen these are very minor children and are easily influenced,,,,,

That head needs strong words enforced on her.!