education dillemma

[Aunt]

So my niece goes to a somewhat conservative Catholic school. I can not deny the quality of education that she is receiving is very good. Her mother who I loved dearly but who was politically and socially my opposite picked it. But I find (see my views on the censorship debate etc) that I disagree with a lot of the ideology she is being taught.
I would not want to uproot her as she is happy enough here but how do i get around the fact that I disagree so much with what she is being taught? Is this an issue for any other parent? when picking your battles over school how heavily do you take into account the values your kids are taught and whether they align with your own

[Dadu2004]

I assume that you're referring to the fact that she is being sheltered from a lot of things that you think she should be exposed to. If that's the case, you're likely not going to be able to change the school singularly, so you'll have to expose her to those things yourself outside of school.

[Aunt]

LOL it is less the sheltering (I have not encouraged her to start an illegal library & in fairness they do not overly censor what the students can and cant read. Although Im sure there are some books that deliberately do not feature in their library catalogue.
it is more some of the views they promote on issues like sexuality etc. I don't feel i can criticize the school as they do advertise quite openly what they beleive & in fairness just as I think public schools should be open to all views, private schools should have the right to teach any hare brained idea they like. But if I had my choice this would not be the school i picked for my kid or any that I am raising. So do I strongly contridict the schools teachings outside of hours with my own, pick another school or just mellow out and go with the flow?

[Dadu2004]

Originally Posted by Aunt

LOL it is less the sheltering (I have not encouraged her to start an illegal library & in fairness they do not overly censor what the students can and cant read. Although Im sure there are some books that deliberately do not feature in their library catalogue.
it is more some of the views they promote on issues like sexuality etc. I don't feel i can criticize the school as they do advertise quite openly what they beleive & in fairness just as I think public schools should be open to all views, private schools should have the right to teach any hare brained idea they like. But if I had my choice this would not be the school i picked for my kid or any that I am raising. So do I strongly contridict the schools teachings outside of hours with my own, pick another school or just mellow out and go with the flow?

Are you saying that Catholics are outspoken about their sexual beliefs? Nawwww.... can't be!

Personally, I would let the school do their thing, because that's the way the Catholic school and Catholic faith operate. Then, I would tell the child what you feel and let her decide on her own what she'll believe and adhere to.

[16th ave.]

well, talk to your neice. see how she feels about the things she gets taught. ask her about how she'd feel in trying a different school for a while and all that. get her to put out there what she thinks of the shcool her mom chose for her.

i don't think you're being to strung up. your worry does point out how much you care as was pointed out in another post.
since you are the one who's raising your neice now, it's your views on things that she will pick up on i don't see what harm it would do in changing schools. but. since your neice did loose her mom this kind of change might not be a good idea yet since she is already settled in there and probably has made friends and all--people she needs right now to help keep things as normal as possible. but find out how she feels about trying out a new school in the next semester. get her opinion first before you decide something definite.

[mom2many]

Leave her in the school she enjoy's.

I live in a community that is predominatly Morman, and although the school tries to sway from any one side, you do see where views cross over into the class room, not always by teachers but by the kids. There is also times where my kids will come home and say "so and so said???" which goes against everything I believe, I will usually come back with something like "Interesting, but I don't know that I agree, I think ???" I try very hard to not push my views on them, but give them a different perspective and let them decide from there what they believe, if after I have given them "food for thought" and they still believe the other way, I respect that, I don't always like it or agree and I let them know I don't, but I move on after that.

I think school plays a huge role in what beliefs our children have, BUT I believe we play the biggest role, and that it is ok for us to not always agree.

[Jeremy+3]

There are some things our children have been taught that I don't agree with, but I wouldn't consider moving any of them to another school because of it. I don't think it is healthy to bring a kid up with one set of views, how can you make your own decisions on issues if you only know one side of the story.

[IADad]

I'll be facing the same situation. We're sending kids to Catholic School. We've already broached some of those subjects although there are manymore to come. We plan to have very frank conversationa about why people believe what they do, what the alternatives are and there can be a difference between a religious belief and personal practices.(i.e., just because we chose to do something a little different, doesn't mean you have to go back to school and preach against their doctrine.)

So, that brings up the question of why bother with religious education at all if your just going to circumvent it?

We believe that there is value of teaching kids inan environment where they can talk about god, share in the warmth of god's love and build a values system and support system that doesn't exist in public schools. I think assocaiation with a religion is much less about doctrine and more about community. That's over-simplified, but that's the driving principle for how we approach religion questions.

I can be more explicit if anybody wants, but I think you get the general idea.

[Jeremy+3]

See here in the UK, religious schools, aren't actually religious, all state schools in the UK are Christian, but you it doesn't effect your education at all, you aren't taught in a Christian way, you just have assemblies to discuss what is going on within school. I went to a muslim school, the only thing that made it muslim were that some teachers wore a hijab and girls and boys didn't do P.E together. No, avoidance of science or sex education or anything, every state school in the UK has to teach the same thing.

[TabascoNatalie]

what are the examples of Catholic ideology you particularly don't like in school?
I'm Catholic myself (was raised this way), and I don't really disagree with ideology, just I don't like how the church operates.
i personally think that sexuality is something to be discussed at home, in family. what is taught at school is no way enough.