Separation

Dear local public school district:

One of the things I love most about this area is its diversity. My daughter's kindergarten class is made up of several different ethnic groups. I love that and think it's fantastic! Now, I have no clue what religious or spiritual beliefs the families of the class (and the school's 5 kindergarten classes as a whole) hold. I can say with certainty that they are not all Christian, nor do they all celebrate Christmas. That's why I found it so odd that the first field trip of these children's educational experience is to see a play titled "Santa's Picture Perfect Christmas." Don't get me wrong, I love Santa myself. We do celebrate Christmas as a family, although we are not Christian. It just seems somewhat inappropriate to me, I suppose. But Alex seemed beyond excited about going to see the performance, so I decided not to make an issue of it.

Then a few days later another permission slip was sent home. Alex's class was going to the county's central office to present the collection for the Christmas Mother...then they were going to sing some Christmas carols for the workers. Hmmm...that seemed even more odd. Christmas carols? Really? But again, Alex seemed excited so I signed the form. I'm not happy about it though.

This seems a lot like promotion of one religion above all others to me, which is something I am firmly against in the public school system. I hear the rumblings every year at this time...all this BS about a war against Christmas, blah blah. But in reality, at least around here, it's the same old story. Christianity is pushed on our children as if it were the only answer. No regard for church/state separation at all.

I wonder if the parents of the Jewish or Muslim children signed the permission slips as well. It's funny because when I attended a room parent meeting at the beginning of the school year they were very adamant about the "Winter Party" being about winter and not about any particular religious celebration or traditions. It was to be about snowmen and penguins and such. They stressed that the party should be inclusive for all of the children. I guess the same is not true for field trips.

~Mom on the Edge