Parental Advice

[selenau837]

From what I can tell, there are quiet a few parents on here, and I was wanting to ask a question and see what you say.

My 8 yr old came to me today because she was upset, due to the fact she was not allowed to sing Christmas Carols in school. She was honestly upset about it and didn't understand why.


I honestly didn't know what to say. I don't think she would understand about no religion in school policy etc. I just mornfully looked at her and said, 'Baby Mommie can't explain that right now. Let mommie think on it.

Have any of you parents on here ever had to have a conversation like this with their kids. If so, how did you handle it?

 

[statsman]

I wish I could offer you some splendid advice that an 8 year old could understand but I can't. In the U.S. the constitution states that church and state will be separate. The founding fathers put this in because of the many inhumanities committed in the name of religion. By and large it is a good idea, except when taken to extremes.
In Canada our constitution allows for religious freedom. Not exactly the same thing. However, there is currently a full scale assault on the institution of Christmas. We are being encouraged by the "Ministry of Political Correctness" ( an invented body made up of self appointed do-gooders) to stop using the word Christmas because its insensitive to people who don't celebrate Christmas. The problem is that the Ministry, made up primarily of people of Christian decent never checked with the people they were supposed to be protecting. All of the other religious groups (Hindu, Budhist, Islam etc.) don't have any problem with Christmas. Most of them put up trees, exchange gifts and take the day off.
I'm happy to state that everyone up here is singing Christmas Carols, exchanging gifts and all the other fun stuff.
By the way, it looks like we won't have a white Christmas in Toronto. We had a little bit of snow but it's raining hard now.

 

[Vassago]

Why not just explain it exactly as it is? Explain to her that there are other beliefs out there and that to be fair to all beliefs, the school could not favor one over the other. You'd be surprised how much an 8 year old can really understand when you take the time to talk to them.

 

[selenau837]

Why not just explain it exactly as it is? Explain to her that there are other beliefs out there and that to be fair to all beliefs, the school could not favor one over the other. You'd be surprised how much an 8 year old can really understand when you take the time to talk to them.

Yes, I did finally decide to have a chat with her on that. I explained that everyone doesn't believe in christmas. It isn't fair to make people sing and do something they don't believe in.


I think she understood, only time will tell.

 

[Rich]

I explained that everyone doesn't believe in christmas. It isn't fair to make people sing and do something they don't believe in.


I think she understood, only time will tell.

Utter twaddle and stupid PC. Why aren't those who don't believe given the option to just opt out, that's what happened when I went to school

 

[selenau837]

Utter twaddle and stupid PC. Why aren't those who don't believe given the option to just opt out, that's what happened when I went to school

I know, it really broke her heart, but I talked to her about it. She said she felt sorry for everyone, but she still loves them.