Should Public Schools Have A Spirituality Class?

reply to post by Wehali


I went to church camps when I was kid also. Pentacostal ones. I looked forward to them. It was the only time your parents thought you wouldn't be able to go out and be around worldly people. Only problem was I learned more about swearing, playing cards and how to be sneaky than when around the worldly kids



Yes I do know there are church camps like the utube. But to group all church camps as bad is like saying all parents are child abusers since some parents are. For all we know the parents knew what it was going to be like because they probably practice a lot of the same techniques in the church. Or they may even do the same things at home.

I live in the bible belt where kids go to these camps. Where Sunday mornings your suppose to be in some church. I can't tell the church kids anymore from the non church kids. I would say these places on the utube are exteremist. You have them in everything.

reply to post by jd140


My mistake, I now understand what you are saying.

Even then, the closest thing that could get by to that type of class would be a philosophy class, and even at such young ages, it would be debated heavily.

While the pros of it could be tremendous, the anger from the parents would also be on par with that.

reply to post by FritosBBQTwist


For that reason my wife and I plan to send our child to Catholic School or some other form of private school

The school wouldn't be under the restraints of public schools. He/she will have the freedom to discuss topics in classes that public schools prohibit.

If that causes me to work 2 jobs then so be it.

I think you might have something there. My school has a yoga class but no meditation or relaxation class. Plus the yoga class isn't even mandatory. I think That Public schools should have a mandatory "spiritual" class.

I think that if the students in the public school's were taught how to meditate properly and how to calm themselves there might be less violence in school and less bullying. There also might be less drop outs.

I personally enjoy meditation it helps to make things clearer, so there could even be an improvement in the grades. Thus forth making it more likely that the students will go to collage and be successful.

Though this is just my thoughts.

You can't really teach Spirituality, especially to kids. It's something you attain from looking within, not something a kid can do.

Mabye yoga, but that's a little diff.

High Schools do have many Religion and Christain courses though. They are just optional.

[edit on 7-5-2009 by CrygSol]

Public schools are by default functions of the government, so the answer for "public" schools is no. Philosophy probably wouldn't be allowed, it would just end up being a philosophy history class.

Kind of the problem with public schools, as they are functions of the government those kinds of things will never be allowed. Because you would be forcing tax payers to pay for things they didn't agree with. Would you want to pay for the westboro church to teach a class in school? I wouldn't. But, as they are public you have to respect those things and not allow any - atleast that the schools/government pay for, or are done by them. Like prayer in school, kid should be able to pray if they want too.

Have to respect peoples personal beliefs etc, and the only way to do that is to keep them where they belong - personal.

I think that psychology and sociology courses would probably be more useful. Ethics courses seem to only work in the short term, and in academia immediate punishments, such as being punished for cheating, are the main motivation to behave. In the real world, of course, punishment is not nearly as immediate, if ever carried out. Religion of course shouldn't be in school.

Psychology and sociology provide a happy medium between understanding the self and society as a whole. If an individual can understand their own cognitive functioning, they may be more inclined to understand their insecurities/mal adaptive behaviors and thus understand their need for security devices, whether they be drugs, religion, power, etc. Only through understanding the self, can we ever expect to comprehend humanity as a whole. While we may never walk in each others' shoes, we may be able to grasp the dispositions and situational factors that mold other people's personalities. Further, psychology and sociology provide an understanding of people as completely insignificant and priceless at the same time. We are all the center of our own universe, yet in the end we are all dust.

Lastly, psychology and sociology are not based on a specific dogma, as there are multiple theories to borrow from, creating a more adaptive understanding of humanity and the individual, which I feel that religion tends to lack as well as spirituality, as there is still a subjective tradition, not based on empirical evidence, while psychology tries to apply the scientific model to its theories.

Well children can be taught "spiritual" things. You don't have to start young. They could start teaching it when they are in their early teens. Besides, the people around where i live would gladly agree to that. I cant speak for the other people, but being taught how to handle things without violence would go over well with the people around here.

But it could be left to the states to pick what is taught in the schools, considering that in some states the Theory of Evolution cant be taught in the schools. And there is a lot of classes that people don't agree with. Some people are Angry with Art being mandatory and others don't like Science being taught.

though its up to the people to decide.

Originally posted by illyria Deltori
I cant speak for the other people, but being taught how to handle things without violence would go over well with the people around here.

Sometimes emotional pain is far worse than physical, but it goes both ways.

I disagree with you though. If my (future) kid is ever being teased physically, such as the good paper wad launched at his head, I am going to advise him to give the other kid a nice whooping.

Worked for me as a kid through middle school. I was NEVER one to start a fight, but always ended it. After a few encounters, no one ever messed with me again and I was allowed to learn at the normal rate, without outside problems slowing me down.

That is where the debate will be held over such a class though. I would have to agree with other members on this, and say that one becomes attuned with life through their own means.

Originally posted by FritosBBQTwist
I disagree with you though. If my (future) kid is ever being teased physically, such as the good paper wad launched at his head, I am going to advise him to give the other kid a nice whooping.

I know what you mean Fritos. My kids will be peaceful until you mess with them, Well then, your getting your head ripped off. ^^ They will be like me and my beloved. No I personally don't think that spirituality should be taught in school. I've had this same discussion in a few other threads. I'm Neo-Pagan. I have people trying to cram religion down my throat. I don't want that for my kids. Whatever way they want to choose is fine, but the decision is theirs, not some d-bag sitting in the education office.

Should Public Schools Have A Spirituality Class?

Survey of Philosophy? Yes. No problem.
Teaching actual spirituality and/or religious beliefs? NO.