Teacher is shocked and amazed that parent might object to child being made to pray
Wow, just… wow. Times Educational Supplement has a column called “My worst parent”, this week ironically written by the worst teacher.
They may or may not have had an appointment – memory suggests that they hadn’t. The mother, controlled and pleasant, entered alongside her powerfully built husband, he of the leather jacket, cowboy boots and long, straight hair tracing down his upright back. A light beard completed the picture. I showed them into my office and, in customary opening stance, asked “And what can I do for you?”
In what seemed rather hushed tones, the father said: “You’ve been teaching my daughter how to pray.” I was sure I misheard him. “Pardon?” I said. He repeated the allegation. My crime, as such, had been to say in assembly: “Hands together and eyes closed.” There had been no request to withdraw the daughter from this part of the school day, I stated. “But we are atheists and don’t want none of this praying stuff brought home. Jody (their child) tried to get us all praying before dinner.”
Continues: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6048593
The former head teacher writing this “My worst parent” piece goes on to further belittle the parent, criticise unrelated aspects of his alleged lifestyle (seemingly based on rumours), and exhibits no comprehension, let alone empathy, with the argument the parent quite reasonably makes.
So far, comments over on the original article are all highly critical.
The British Humanist Association campaigns for inclusive assemblies, as against “collective worship” in schools.
Ok, I am an atheist working in a CofE school. These parents of course have a right to ask that their child not be made to pray, however prayer is ALWAYS said in assemblies whether it’s a church school or a state school. Sad, but in this country true. If the parent is really that worried about their child putting their hands together and closing their eyes (as this is all they would be doing if they don’t believe in god) then they really do need to withdraw the child from the assembly. I would if I had a child in school here. They might actually get to do something useful with that 2.5 hours a week instead of sitting on a cold floor being bored.
As far as unreasonable and demanding parents come, this pales in comparison with what most teachers and heads have experienced, which is what I imagine will be the response on the TES. For anyone who has had an insane mother or father screaming at them or threatening violence, this so called incident will seem laughable.
And finally, as is so often the case, this could have been better dealt with by the parents discussing the issue with their child rather than making demands of the school (as in all other children might be expected to put their hands together but the head/teachers must remember not to ask Jody). Prayer and religion are going to crop up again and again and the child needs to be given tools to cope. Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child.
While I agree in principle with this stance — we need to be pragmatic in certain areas, such as the welfare and education of children — I think there’s also merit in making a fuss. It’s only by drawing attention to the inequities of the status quo that change is likely to be brought about.
From the article:
‘My crime, as such, had been to say in assembly: “Hands together and eyes closed.” ‘
The really ridiculous thing is that the reverse is true – the rules actually require some sort of nonsense along those lines.
I hear our deputy prime minister will be asking the public to nominate laws and regulations they would like to see abolished. How about the legal requirement for “broadly Christian” worship in assemblies?
You need to make a fuss to the right people. An act of making a fuss that will actually get noticed and not create a headache for a busy head would be officially withdrawing your child from the act of worship assembly. That is the sort of fuss that gets noted by local authorities as they keep stats on that sort of thing. Asking that a head teacher not tell a specific child to put their hands together and close their eyes is an unrealistic expectation.