[hayleymumof3]

I will start his by saying I am against religion in school in any form.

Now down to the question.

DS bought home a note from school today saying he has been selected to do a "8 secrets of happiness" course through pastoral care.
The 8 secrets are
1. Count your blessings
2. Practise random acts of Kindness
3. Savour life's joy
4. Thank a mentor
5. Learn to forgive
6. Invest time and energy in family and friend
7. Take care of your body
8 Develop strategies to cope with stress and hardship.

These steps will be shown through drama, art and craft, poetry, journaling and games. I don't believe in God religion annoys the crap out of me(personal reasons).

The thing is that DS is a literal child and will take these things as the truth not as subjective things. He however wants to do it(which is his choice) but I would rather he not learn about God and religion through the school. I am also very annoyed that he was "selected" so he thinks this is a special privilege that he gets to do this. The class runs for 55 minutes once a week. Which means he will miss out on class time. I am also rather annoyed that they sent us this considering in the year and a half we have been at this school my children have NEVER attended RE classes.

Would you let him do this?

This post has been edited by hayleymumof3: 14/03/2012, 12:35 PM

[KT1978]

Why would you conclude that the course is religious?

Terminology? Blessing?

I think it may be non religious and I would confirm this first.

[JustBeige]

If you are deadset against RE classes then no I wouldnt.

For my kids, yes I would as they gain empathy and compassion and understanding of others through these steps.

If my children came home and started to talk about how god said blah blah blah we would have the 'stories' conversations that we do.

[hayleymumof3]

Why would you conclude that the course is religious?

Because it is run by the school chaplain.

[jayskette]

hey wait - people are getting confused with religion and ethics/morals. This course teaches common sense stuff that any non-religious person with proper values would have anyway. MY problem would be whether the chaplain will deliberately inject Christian examples.

[insertemotion]

Because it is run by the school chaplain.

Most chaplaincy programs in school aren't about jesus

[Flibbertigibbert...]

How old is your child? Is he old enough to make an informed decision about whether he would like to attend?

[~Supernova~]

I wouldn't be letting my daughter do it. But then I'm a mean mother who won't let her do RE at all. Ever since they "mistakenly" sent her to RE twice last year she has nagged me to be able to go, but it just isn't happening. When schools start teaching about religious diversity, then I'll reconsider my stance. Does your school have an ethics class? My DD does ethics and I find what they learn very worthwhile without the god crap.

[Ianthe]

I would want to know what exactly those units were comprised of. They sound like good things to focus on but what exactly are they going to be taught? What resources is the chaplain using?

[hayleymumof3]

How old is your child?

He will be 9 at the end of March.

Most chaplaincy programs in school aren't about jesus

And I am sure most Chaplain's aren't pastors at the local church however our one is.

MY problem would be whether the chaplain will deliberately inject Christian examples.

This is my issue as well. As I stated in the OP he is a Literal child he would believe them if they told him god does this or that. My fear is that if they tell him something rather nasty ie your parents and sisters are going to hell for not believing he would freak out he would seriously believe them if they told him that.