Religion and Engaging with the Teacher

That’s a fair point Andrew, a typical example being the original poster who, in spite of the fact that they knew what was involved in a religious education, and couldn’t possibly have thought otherwise, felt they had no choice for their child’s education other than to be economical with the truth so their child would get a place in the school.

If parents continue to do that, then it means the school will continue to be provided with funding and resources from the State for that child’s education, up to and including providing teachers who feel they have no choice but to be there either but they too have to be economical with the truth if they wish to maintain their employment.

I’m fully aware that I’ve been incredibly fortunate that I’ve never been in that position, and I don’t meet too many teachers in that position, and my child’s experience of formal education has been a positive experience for them as a result of being surrounded by a community of people who genuinely wanted to be there and genuinely cared about the children’s welfare. Other children’s experience of education shouldn’t be any less than my own child’s experience.

Sand gets everywhere though. It's awful hard to clean it out.

It's gets stuck between your toes, on your shoes, even in unmentionable places, depending on what you've gotten up to on the beach. And it takes weeks to wash it away, you keep finding little grains in those awkward places that you have already cleaned out twice.

Just like the indoctrinated Christianity that you've managed to shoehorn into your post.

PS the smoker behind the shed might have some valuable insights into life's great problems, more so than the celibate old man who spent his life in fairly cosseted circumstances. But either way, there are better, more structured options for education too.

“A swim in the sea” isn’t great advice for a couple who’ve been necking cans all night before mooching off to a quieter spot for some lovin. They’ll be coming home with sand on their knees, sand on their elbows, sand in the cracks of their ass and the folds of their groin, and their jocks and their shoes and their socks. They’ll be picking up grains of sand under the bed and in the sheets and off the couch for weeks. Just like religious indoctrination, it gets everywhere, like the rugby player who slipped in a “please god” in an interview on the radio this morning.

The smoker behind the shed in my class is now CEO of a large public body btw.

Arent the oul priests great with the oul charidee all the same, dropping a few crumbs from the table, crumbs funded largely with other people’s money. Just a shame that they didn’t educate their subjects in practical life skills, how to cook, how to manage money, how to use contraception, instead of beating the modh coinnealach and Latin declensions into them.

The CEO thing is evidence of ability to solve problems, despite Bass's tired old stereotype.

And the Please God thing, that's the sand.

Do you really think you get to CEO level without being able to solve problems?

Given that sand is harmless, you won't mind if I sprinkle it liberally all over your kids at school each day, on their clothes, their bags, their hair, their food. It's just my tradition, so everyone else should just put up with it. Sure, it's harmless, right?

What kinds of CEOs of medium or large organisations don't have problem solving ability? Can you give any examples please?

And if you've no choice but to send your kids to the school on the beach with the daily sand-throwing activities, sand-throwing at start and end of each day, sand-throwing at the start and end of term events for families, you won't, for example, think that maybe sand-throwing could be done at a different time or different place to schooling for your kids?

Must have been a good while ago so, not many nuns or brothers still teaching (which says a lot in itself). You can be damn sure she was drawing a principal's salary from the State.

Check the link I provided above- schools can't use time on waiting list as enrollment criteria.

Oh, I don't doubt it, but the reputation it had as a school led to the vast majority of children in the area being sent to Doon, Tipperary Town, Newport or Limerick. Perpetuating the nonsense that religious is best, despite the best secondary schools I know of within reasonable distance from where I live being a Community College and what was formerly known as "The Tech" in my local town too. That's a whole other issue - I'm not certain on the background there but I would hazard a guess it comes from the result of Donogh O'Malley's free secondary education and the snobbery between the families who would have sent their kids to boarding schools which went on to become the religious schools, and community schools for kids who would only have been able to attend the religious schools prior to that on a scholarship. Just an assumption, so I'm open to correction on that.

For me, a good school is one that doesn't indoctrinate children in a particular belief system. That's not an unreasonable position to hold, or an unusual one by any means.

Give me a child till he is seven years old,' said St Ignatius Loyola, ' and I will show you the man.

They know exactly what they are doing and it is literally indoctrination. 'Removing from religious instruction' usually means they sit through it at the back of the class anyway. And you don't get to remove children from the religious ethos that is deeply embedded into school activities and culture.

There is no choice for many parents in Ireland.

It's more like mandatory conscription to the army and the boots.

So you'll have no difficulty in supporting cutting the fables about the man in the sky then? They're not worth fretting about, right?

Give me a child till he is seven years old,' said St Ignatius Loyola, ' and I will show you the man.

He got that from Aristotle though.