Should I Lie to Children?
I'm a 6th grade Social Studies teacher. The topic of religion as a part of culture comes up all the time. Today during a discussion of Greek myths, a student (a 12 year-old girl with a sweet smile) asked me if I believed in god. I paused and said, "Well, sure."
I felt that I was having a discussion with a child about Santa or the Easter Bunny. I didn't want to be the one to tell the child that all the adults in her life have been lying to her.
This has been bothering me all day. When this comes up again - I'm sure it will - should I lie as I did today, or should I tell the truth?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Nelson on -
Seems like the most appropriate thing to do for a whole host of reasons is to respond to say that you'd rather not discuss your personal beliefs, that they're very much besides the point.
-
Permalink Reply by erik112358 on -
Exactly, but don't just avoid the question; explain why it's not appropriate for a school discussion. Although it may be a tangent to Greek mythology, take the opportunity to explain separation between church and state, 1st amendment, etc. Are 6th graders too young for that discussion?
-
Permalink Reply by Kevin Strong on -
Sixth grade isn't too young, and turning the question into a brief lecture on secularism seems like a perfect tactic.
The best teachers I've had make a concerted effort not to reveal their personal beliefs. I think that's as important in the sixth grade, maybe even more important, as it is in college.
-
Permalink Reply by Sebastian De la cruz on -
Well im in 8th grade and ever since I was in 6th grade I have always doubted the presence of a God, but I always understood that not everyone makes the same choices
-
Permalink Reply by erik112358 on
-
Cool. Out of curiosity, have you had lessons on Amendments to the Constitution and the idea of Separation between Church and State?
-
Permalink Reply by Kairan Nierde on -
I'm 25 and history has always been one of my favorite subjects...so please allow me to geek out: 4th grade was state history (zzzzz, but I survived), 5th grade was introduction to U.S. history (including reading the Bill of Rights and doing worksheets on the contents as part of a mini-unit), 6th grade was World Civilizations (ancient history, general sweetness), sorry, but all I remember from 7th grade is reading Harry Potter, learning about the Holocaust, and hating science for the first time (our biology teacher sat at his computer with his back to us all period), but 8th grade--8th grade was the shiznet....it was in-depth U.S. History (reading more of the constitution--most of us were then mature enough to realize how meaningful civil liberties are--, memorizing the preamble to the Declaration of Independence...we studied up until the Reconstruction Era and I actually was pissed that we ran out of time).
-
Permalink Reply by Danny Sanchez on -
Kairan Nierde I could describe my memory of history in school word for word with what you wrote.
-
Permalink Reply by Barry Eckert on -
sorry, but all I remember from 7th grade is reading Harry Potter...
Harry Potter? Oh my. In 7th grade I remember being all excited about the Bicentennial coming up the next year. Apparently, I am US history.
Speaking of US history, I had a teacher in high school for US history who had what I know recognize as a red flag in that he consistently referred to the Civil War as the "War between the States". That, and some apologetics for the Klan as people who were just trying to keep order after the War, indicates I had some proto-Tea Party idiot as a teacher.
-
Permalink Reply by Kairan Nierde on
-
That surprises me about the pro-KKK history teacher. I guess once you get tenured, you're free to spout whatever you like.
-
Permalink Reply by Alyson Mitchell on -
Wow. In comparison, my US History teacher was a souther white man with an NAACP membership. He was also present at the Kent State shooting, in the crowd.
He used to go on for ages about the importance of civil protesting, and how to fight off the effects of tear gas.
-
Permalink Reply by erik112358 on
-
Comprehension level was really all I meant there. I don't recall what age I started learning about stuff like that.
-
Permalink Reply by erik112358 on
-
No, I mean Legal/Gov't stuff like amendments, separation of church and state, stuff like that.
As an aside, what's funny to me is the distinction between Greek "mythology" and Christian "Religion". Apparently mythology is OK to teach in schools because it's simply a religion that no one believes in anymore. It's only natural for to kids to relate "their" god to Greek gods when they're taught about them, so I imagine these kind of questions surface regularly.
Hopefully one day Christianity will have its own little mythology course in schools and kids won't have to ask, "Do you believe in ___?"
What's new today
Forum
We cannot think like our ancestors
Started by Matt Giwer in Philosophy. Last reply by Holo Gram 6 minutes ago. 21 Replies 1 Like
Blog Posts
How Jesus' Views on Marriage Proves Yahweh's Laws are NOT Absolute OR Jesus is Mistaken
Posted by Cathy Cooper on May 17, 2013 at 10:00am 3 Comments 0 Likes
Events
Services we love
Check out our new mobile/tablet version of Think Atheist! www.ThinkAtheist.com/m
© 2013 Created by Morgan Matthew.
