Religious Intolerance at School

Now this is a thorny issue, but one that has been in the news lately. It touches on constitutional issues, human rights, school rules, and religious freedom. These various facets are not always in harmony.

I bring this up, because a girl at a local school had a crucifix she was wearing confiscated, and was punished with detention, and had to pay a fine to get it back. The school said that it was against the legislated rules on school uniforms and that written permission was not obtained to wear it. The girl felt that this infringed on her right to freedom of expression and religious freedom. Both are correct from their points of view.

In my humble opinion, this matter shows just what comes from over-legislation – and the reliance on rules to govern, instead of the application of principals. It seems to me that in our efforts not to “upset” anyone, we actually have reached the point where we upset everyone. The application of law has become self-defeating.

Imagine this scenario:
A person of Jewish faith enrolls in a predominantly Catholic private school. What outcry would there be if the school FORCED that pupil to wear a crucifix in order to comply with everyone else? Now you start flaming the fires of intolerance. Therefore, stopping someone from wearing items of spiritual significance to them – whether crucifix, fez, beard, turban, yarmulke, etc., is doing the same thing. Some of the greatest crimes against humanity have been because of religious intolerance.

The principle should be tolerance. Instead of being scared of offending others, we should rather accept, and learn to live with the differences. Those that take offense at displays of spirituality not our own, are small-minded, weak-minded, and intolerant. Unfortunately, these are the people that are the most vocal. But there is an old saying: “Empty vessels make the most noise.”

In the real world, differences exist. People are of different races, cultures, customs, and religions. Some of these differences are in stark contrast to what we might consider “normal” or “right”. This doesn’t make the others “abnormal” or “wrong”. This is how life is – deal with it.

Our children should be taught to be tolerant of others, and perhaps more importantly, to learn the ability of being able to accept intolerance as well – the latter being the most difficult. “Protecting” them by over-legislation is not the answer.

 

Our Kids are FAT!

I was walking in the shopping center the other day, and I got to noticing how so many of our schoolchildren are so FAT! I got to wondering why, so I decided to speak to some friends about it – call it straw poll “informal” research.

It seems that the major cause of children being overweight is lack of exercise. When I was at school, PE, or Physical Education was somewhat compulsory. We ran, jumped, swam, and then did it some more. It was actually unusual to see fat children at school. The few that were, were teased mercilessly. Not that that was a good thing.

We also walked or rode bikes to school. After school we played or did chores.

It seems that walking or riding to school these days is not all that safe. So children are dropped off at school – even if they just live around the corner. And then they are picked up in the afternoon. I understand that this may be a necessity due to the levels of crime in this country, or the reckless drivers, or paranoid parents, or all of the foregoing.

When I was at school there wasn’t a MacDonalds on every second corner. Junk food also seems to be a contributing “fat” factor.

It’s a shame really, because physical exercise burns excess fat, increases muscle tone, relieves stress, takes your mind of sex, reduces depression, increases stamina, and is just generally good for you.

In view of all the benefits of exercise, I never understood why Physical Education was removed from the school curriculum in the first place. Now we have a whole generation of fat, depressed, sex-obsessed, stressed-out kids that prefer to play Playstation instead of ball. No wonder they have so many problems – they have no outlet.

Even though it may not be safe to let your kids out alone in the street, there are other avenues for physical exercise. My son and I walk, run, swim, and play ball inside our secure complex. I take him to parks. We work in the garden on weekends together. And it doesn’t cost a fortune. In fact it costs nothing but a bit of imagination.

Come on parents and teachers – get our kids playing again!

While you’re online, why not check out our service for school reporting at School Report Services. This service will keep you informed of your child’s progress at school, and it will save you a bundle in terms of time, money and stress.

 

Cyber-Bullying Increasing

It had to happen I suppose. With children becoming increasingly comfortable
in cyberspace, there always have to be those that come along and spoil all
the fun. I'm talking about cyber-bullies.

Just as a school ground bully physically hurts and throws insults at fellow
schoolmates, and generally practices anti-social behavior, so a cyber-bully
does the same - just online.

Cyber-bullying is on the increase, especially in "first-world" countries
like the US and UK where being online is almost ubiquitous. Cyberspace
social networking sites like MySpace, and other blog or instant messaging
sites seem to be the preferred place for online harassment.

Why? Because!

Cyber-bullying is "safe" - in the eyes of the bully at least, because it is
away from the eyes of teachers, parents, and other "witnesses" such as other
classmates. It can be highly anonymous. Bullying can be from "mild" throwing
of insults, to "severe" threats of physical or sexual violence. In a way,
this is worse than physical bullying on the school ground. On the school
ground, at least you know who your attacker is, can see who he or she is,
and can take precautions. This is not often possible with cyber-bullying.
The resulting psychological trauma can be severe. In some instances, it has
even lead to depression and suicide!

Some stats:

1. Girls are just as likely to engage in this activity as boys.

2. 38.3% of girls are likely to be cyber-bullied as opposed 34.4% of
boys.

3. Girls are more likely to retaliate or "answer back".

The internet being such an anonymous forum, will probably make the
cyber-bullying phenomenon very difficult to address. I think that parents
and teachers are going to have to get very inventive.

Please post your thoughts, and while you're online check out
<http://www.SchoolReportServices.com> www.SchoolReportServices.com