Originally posted by owzitgarn
I see no problem

She's only been asked to make a poster, its just an educational activity that teaches them more about pro-life...not really influencing them to take a pro-life stance.

Would you still see no problem if they were forcing her to make a pro-abortion poster?

Yes I would still see no problem, that is just the other side of the coin, in fact I think it would be more educational to include both kinds of posters to further the education on the subject.

The reason I see no problem is that kids don't care about what goes on a poster as long as it involves colouring in and a break from normal schoolwork, they see it as fun.

The way I see it this is just a fun way of giving the children some information, which the school is probably required to give by law.

The OP feels it is literally forcing an oppinion into her child as if her child is gullible enough to be permanently influenced by drawing a few pictures and coluring in some letters.

Children are not like that, you were all children...were you like that?

Are your views based on posters?

Originally posted by psychedeliack
prolife to me seems like common sense, abortion is just a lazy avoidance of responsibility. what about adoption?

Wow! This is an interesting comment! You're assuming, of course, that the girl is pregnant by a boyfriend? She's been careless and now has to pay the price? Well try this on for size.

I knew a woman once who was being beaten by her husband, she ran away from him and went to another city. She had trouble finding a job there because she had never worked outside the home and had a mentally chanllanged daughter with her to take care of. After they went through all the money they had with them, they were forced to sleep in the car. A group of ppl presenting themselves as Christians took her and her daughter in, they gave them shelter, clothing, and food. She thought at first that they were her salvation until others like her started to disappear from the house they were all living in. This woman became curious and started to ask questions. The group showed her the answers to her questions and it was the begining of her nightmare.

Turns out that this group wasn't Christian at all, not sure who they really were, but when she started asking questions they started preaching a different tune. They started drugging her food, then isolated her away from everyone else, including her daughter. She was kept in a room by herself and heavily sedated while men took turns raping her. This went on for days or weeks, she really couldn't say how long it went on, but eventually they quit doing that and then brought her to a place where she was held tied to a table and a weird rituals were being performed. She was drugged at the time so her memory was sketchy. She can only remember bits and pieces of the experience.

Anyway, to make a long story short, she was found wondering aimlessly down the street, she didn't know who she was or where she had been. She was hospitalized and treated. When I met her she was eight months preganant. The Catholic church had taken her in and saw to her care needs. I was with her the night her baby was born and it died shortly after birth. There are reasons to have abortions and it's not always about being lazy or irrisponsible. Be careful with that!

If the town decided that everyone should be allowed to participate in the Christmas celebration and set aside space for all to display their gifts, then all of the displays should have been honored. Doesn't matter who removed the Wiccan Wreath, it was wrong, but trivial in the whole scheme of things. However the underlying message is, "You don't matter" and that's cruel.

I'm the OP

My child is not gullible

My child has her own opinions

My child is not easily influenced

Me being her parent is not afraid that someone else will influence other than myself.

My child was "forced" to take a side in an issue by her school.

What side if this issue that my daughter agrees with isn't the problem but it's the school using her GPA to "force" her to choose a standpoint that she may or may not agree with.

Originally posted by wrathchild
My child was "forced" to take a side in an issue by her school.

What side if this issue that my daughter agrees with isn't the problem but it's the school using her GPA to "force" her to choose a standpoint that she may or may not agree with.

I find it ironic that people keep saying 'but Catholic church is pro life' yet seem to have forgotten that christianity is meant to be about free will. Forcing little girls to make pro-life propoganda disregards THE founding principle of the religion.

[edit on 24-3-2008 by riley]

making a poster that illustrates the side of the argument that the catholic church takes....whilst studying at a catholic school......is hardly being forced to take a stance.

The poster isn't going to be used for anything except decorating the classroom of a catholic school, I think there would be more parents complaining if such a class room was decorated in pro-abortion posters...

I have no sympathy for you whatsoever, you are blowing a simple classroom activity out of all proportion.

And in addition to that, you knew the catholics view on the matter before sending your child to a catholic school so you can hardly complain when they don't allow their pupils to make posters that contradict the catholic beliefs.

[edit on 25-3-2008 by owzitgarn]

What ever happened to teaching kids how to make posters of their interests, their families, the sports they play, the friends they have, or whatever else they see from day to day? Hell it's a Catholic School, why not have them do a poster on God, Jesus, or the Virgin Mary? How many fifth graders are interested in abortion issues? Seems to me like the teacher is getting way ahead of their emotional level. In the fifth grade my daughter was concerned about dealing with bullies at school and fitting into the social clicks. Abortion was so far out there for her that she would have been really confused by a project like that, and as a parent I would have been pissed off for putting that pressure on her! I think one of the things we fail at as a society is how we handle these issues. I think from the day a child is born they should be educated on sexual issues, but in time, as their developemental stage calls for it, and I think controversial issues like this have no place in the school system. Kid's are in school to learn how to read, write, and do arithmatic. Social issues should be reserved for the family to teach, at least until Jr. High School where they have the aptitude to understand it all.

However, the OP's girl is in the EIGTH grade, not the fifth

Exactly, she is an 8TH grader in a Catholic school. Get with the program OP. I do agree that moral issues such as abortion (yes moral issue, not social issue) should be tought at home and left out of PUBLIC schools though. But you sent your child to a PRIVATE Christian school. They teach to love Jesus and no other God as well. Is that an issue? If you have issues with what a PRIVATE CHRISTIAN school teaches then put your child in public schools or home school her.

catholic school should be illegal, when i used to go there all they taught me was nonsense and on occassions the nuns would beat the # out of me.

Really?
I never had that experience. I am not Catholic I am prodestant, but my folks sent me to Catholic school for one year and I learned alot. The children that were bad and heathans got into trouble alot. The nuns don't play.

I went to Catholic School, so did my parents, and my husband. When you send your child to a private school or a religious school you are going to have to abide by the morals that religion or school promotes. If you wanted your child to be brought up with the ability to think for herself then Catholic School wasn't the place to send her. It doesn't mean she can't think for herself, it just means that when she is going to "their" school she is going to have to abide by their rules. You certainly have a choice, if you are not in agreement with their rules, yank her out and put her in an educational instutition that fits your morals. Or, refuse to do the project. This would be a no brainer for me!

It's a CATHOLIC school. The Catholic school isn't going to water down it's teaching to accomodate those who don't believe the same. The whole purpose of a CATHOLIC school is so that Catholics can go to school and practice their faith there.

If you don't like the fact that the school teaches children that it's wrong to murder children in the womb ... then go to a different school.

Originally posted by Howard Hughes
catholic school should be illegal, when i used to go there all they taught me was nonsense and on occassions the nuns would beat the # out of me.

Sounds more like the public schools here. The junk that is being taught ... the children being subject to bullies .... and the very high incidence of sexual and physical abuse NATIONWIDE that public school children have to deal with.

Our Catholic schools here are a dream compared to the public schools.
At least in this part of the country.



[edit on 3/26/2008 by FlyersFan]

I don't know why I misunderstood the fact that the OP's daughter was in the 8th grade and not the 5th, but my appologies anyway. That said, I think no matter where your child goes to school this day in time you'll have moral and social issues to deal with that don't fit your expectations. I think the most important thing we can do as parents is teach our children how to pick and choose their battles and support them fully when they take a stand.

Sometimes as parents I think we forget that these little ppl are not extentions of us, but rather individuals with their own perceptions of how the world at large works.

My youngest daughter took a stand in her child developement class as a Junior in High School. For whatever reason they were discussing security in the schools today and the conversation turned to our present Presidential administration. My daughter made a comment that she didn't think President Bush was a good President and that he didn't care anything about the American ppl. The teacher disagreed and they argued a bit about it, then the teacher told her to go to the Principles office and that she would be put on Saturday detention for disrupting the class. My daughter stood up and said, "No I wont go to the Principles office and I wont be put on detention because I have a constitutional right to my opinion and I have the freedom to voice that opinion!" The teacher threatened her with suspension but my daughter didn't back down, she told the teacher that if she continued to threaten her, she would file a complaint with the school board and submit an article to the local paper exposing her for attempting to violate her constitutional rights. The teacher backed down a bit, but later that day I received a call from the Principle asking me to disepline her for her actions.

I listened to the teacher, the principle, and my daugter and when all was said and done, I felt really proud of my daughter for taking this stand. I didn't see it as an issue I would have faught over, but she did, and therefore needed to be heard. I told the principle that I supported her decision to state her opinion and I would not decipline her for speaking her views. However, if the teacher could show that she violated anyone else's right to free speach then I would take action for that. She couldn't and he shut up. They left us alone after that. lol

Originally posted by Sovereign797

Being morally against abortion is a personal choice and doesn't have to affect anyone else(it amounts to being pro choice). Being pro-choice also affects no one because you just leave the decision up to free-willed human beings.

Try telling that the the aborted that it affects no one.

That being said, and being a Catholic. The teacher, even though in a Public funded Catholic school (sounds weird to say that), was being a little too fixed in their demands for the poster in question.

You had the right idea when coming up with other alternative ideas for the poster in question. That the teacher couldn't adapt her lesson is rather sad to me.

This is probably why public dollars shouldn't be spent to promote private religous school participation directly and/or solely. It sounds like if you were a Hindu or Muslim in that area of Alberta, you'd be screwed.

That being said, and being a Catholic. The teacher, even though in a Public funded Catholic school (sounds weird to say that), was being a little too fixed in their demands for the poster in question.

I've never seen a public funded Catholic school.
Where I live it runs the parents roughly $4000.00 per child per year, plus uniforms and books. Catholic school is not public school.