Should parents deny education that is not in accordance with their religious beliefs?

Question

Should parents be allowed to prevent their children from being taught certain parts of the curriculum because they do not correspond to their religious beliefs? Please note that I mean impartial, factual education like purely informative sex Ed or evolution (not politicised information that makes value judgements like gay marriage is good or the Catholic Church is bad-this kind of thing would constitute conditioning rather than an education).

Answer

No, I think sheltering your children is the worst thing. Of course it's important that they make their own mind up but if anything if religious folks don't believe in evolution at least they can be open minded and say to their kids to learn about it so that they can understand both sides of the argument. It's important for critical thinking skills.

Answer

They are allowed. It's called homeschooling. Then they'll have complete control over what their child is exposed to or taught. If you put your child in a public or private school, you are accepting their curriculum. You shouldn't be able to opt out or pick and choose what parts you want and don't want.

Answer

No, and I don't understand why some religious people feel that keeping kids away from knowledge is in their best interest. I'm the most atheist person there ever was, but I'm not going to keep my kids from knowing that some people believe in God. If they want to be religious and go to church when they're older, that's fine with me. So why are some religious people terrified their kids are going to find out about evolution?

Answer

Not at all. Sorry but preaching abstinence and not teaching about other methods isn't very effective in my experience. My boyfriend went to a religious school. There sexual education was just "sex is bad, you'll get an infection and get pregnant and then you'll die and god will condemn you to hell. And gays are bad people. God will condemn them to the last floor in hell. But here's how to treat them."

When over 50% of that school transferred over to the public high school and got actual sex Ed many asked questions like "you can really get pregnant the first time?" "Sperm can't go up. Gravity goes down" "but if you pray enough you'll be fine" "only provacative girls get raped"

They knew NOTHING. In fact one of the girls I was acquaintances with cane up to me talking about sex and how she'd been feeling off for a couple months... she thought she was the new Virgin Mary because they did it standing up and gravity pulls sperm down. I had to teach this 16 year old girl about sex. She ended up being pregnant as well.

However I knew ALL OF THIS. Mainly from my sex Ed starting in grade 5. You learned about periods until middle school. Then you learned about sex, safe sex, abstinence.

Sorry but no matter your religion teenagers WILL experiment. TEACH THEM with religious undertones if you want. But educate them on condoms and birth control pills. Educate them on safe sex, and then involve religion. I shouldn't be having to tell a 16 year old that she can get pregnant from having sex standing up.

Answer

No. we need to get this idea out of our head that our children are same person as us and that we always know best just cause we're the parent. I think the more exposed to a different way of thinking and seeing the world, the better. I want my children to experience and have knowledge about the entire world around them, not just my little teeny tiny piece of it. I'm not above all else and what I believe is no more significant or relevant than anyone else so why as a parent should I get to dictate another human beings way of thinking or access to getting more education to thinking differently. I feel it's cruel to deprive anyone from education and free thinking.

Answer

No,  I believe religous beliefs  shouldn't interfere with what's being taught at school.

Answer

I don't think they should be allowed to. I was an anatomy and physiology tutor and you would not believe what I've had to explain to college age people. This should apply to homeschoolers too. I was secularly homeschooled. You would not believe how hard it is to find homeschool books that are not religious. And I tried to use religious books. They were full of so many lies I couldn't stand it. Then you tell people you're homeschooled and people assume you're a religion nut

Answer

This is partially the reason I will be homeschooling my children. I will not be sheltering them from anything, but I will be introducing everything from a religious perspective and providing more complex material as their understanding and maturity grows. I'll teach them about evolution, but I will also be teaching them that we don't believe that and here's why... people use many methods of birth control to prevent conception or STDs but we don't use them and here's why, etc.

If anyone has seen the movie Mr Fantastic with Viggo Mortensen, aside from the vehement opposition of Christianity, it is a good example of why I will be educating my kids at home and not leaving it up to public education. We won't be as extreme as the family in the movie, but the script has many excellent points about society and education.

Answer

That is insane. Someone who is religious should also learn about science, sex ed, and anything else. It's not just about learning facts but learning how to communicate and function among people who have different beliefs and ideas than you. Plus a teenager is only a teenager, they should be learning about everything they possibily can to make choices for themselves.

Answer

I honestly don't see the problem with it. 
My parents did it by putting me in a strict Christian school from k3-11 grade. They didn't have to pick and choose what I was learning because the Christian curriculum was inline with our family's views. We didn't have a Sex Ed class, the school taught abstinence. My mother gave me the sex talk when I was 14 or so. She told me how it works, but it was mostly about waiting until marriage. At school we were also told there is this crazy study called Evolution and why it's wrong. I never believed it anyway. Obviously, marriage between a man and a woman was the only type of marriage discussed there too. I knew about homosexuality, but hadn't met someone who was openly gay until I was 17. I recognize that in some ways I was sheltered, but my parents made sure we knew about other things, even if it was just to say it was sinful. 
I did ask to go to public school for my senior year. I hated everything about it. I met my husband there, but didn't know it at the time. I went to a public college and turned out to be a very normal adult.

Should parents deny education that is not in accordance with their religious beliefs?

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