2.17.2008
Are Pagan Holidays a Very Good Reason?
The Telegraph reports on what seems to be a rather minor matter, a Pagan parent removing her child from school to attend a religious celebration.
"A primary school allowed a mother to take her child out of lessons to attend a summer festival because the family say they are pagans. Newington Green Primary, in the north London borough of Islington, gave permission for the three-day absence last June after the mother of the six-year-old argued that the child should be allowed to attend the celebrations because of her faith ... The family visited the solstice festival that is held each year in Avebury, Wiltshire, near Stonehenge."
But now a school officials says they are "clamping down" on absences, and hinting that Pagan holidays may not make the grade any longer.
"'The three days were put down as authorised absence, but we have subsequently explained to all parents that they will not be given authorised holidays within term time unless there is a very good reason for it,' she said."
A spokesman from the Campaign for Real Education goes quite a bit farther than a hint.
"Nick Seaton, the chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: 'This is the kind of situation we get into by bending over backwards to try to please everybody. One of the main duties of parents is to ensure that children miss out on as little school as possible and, on balance, I don't think they should be missing school for this.'"
Which brings us to the question: are Pagan holidays a "very good reason" to miss school for a few days? If not, why not, and if schools are going to start denying excused absences to Pagan children will they start doing the same to Catholic, Muslim, or Jewish children? One can only imagine the uproar if a Jewish child was denied an excused absence for Yom Kippur because it wasn't a "very good reason".
With there being around 40,000 Pagans in the UK (making it the 8th-largest faith grouping, so long as you don't count the Jedi), it seems completely strange that schools would suddenly have a problem making religious exemptions for a Pagan holiday. Perhaps schools should adopt a "cultural flextime" policy as the British civil service has done. That way we can avoid arbitrary judgment on which holidays are worthy enough to merit a day off.
Labels: cultural flexitime, holidays, Paganism, schools, UK
Comments:
There seems to be a strong anti-Pagan bias just below the surface in such stories. Too many people fail to appreciate the beauty and gentleness of Pagan beliefs and observances. Clearly, this world badly needs the emphasis on connection to and harmony with nature and its cycles that Paganism emphasizes.
Andy
Unitarian Minister, London
http://www.new-unity.org
There seems to be a strong anti-Pagan bias just below the surface in such stories. Too many people fail to appreciate the beauty and gentleness of Pagan beliefs and observances. Clearly, this world badly needs the emphasis on connection to and harmony with nature and its cycles that Paganism emphasizes.
Andy
Unitarian Minister, London
New-Unity Unitarians
I don't think anyone should get any religious observances off, or at least with impunity.
There's my autocratic secularist peeking through.
I do realize that there's an anti-Pagan bias here.
But when I was in school, none of the Orthodox kids took off for Orthodox Easter or Christmas, or the Asians the Lunar New Year. And I think we all should follow their example.
What would be a "very good reason"? A family trip abroad? A death in the family? Was this child often absent or were these the only three days that she missed/
I am a teacher and I can be very certain when I say that at my school if the parent says its a good reason, then its a good reason as far as the administration are concerned. Unfortunately this leads to problems on the other end where children are missing 2 weeks of school for a cruise (I asked, there was no cultural content to be experienced by the child). It is so difficult to determine what is to be considered a good enough excuse for time missed and often it depends on the child, most of the kids that I see missing large amounts of time are not those whose grades can afford it. However, in matters of religion, I don't think it is the place of schools to decide which is legitimate and which is simply "not good enough".
I think that someone is over estimating their power over other people's kids. If my parents wanted me out of school for however many days for whatever reason, then I wasn't at school those days. End of conversation.
I was the same way when I was guardian of my younger brother. I ended up in a meeting with his school counsellor over it.
I told her that as long as he wasn't failing anything, I didn't want to hear about how many classes he wasn't in. Not everyone needs to go to school every day to learn the material.
It is the parent/guardian's decision whether a kid is in school at all. If I want my kid spending a Sabbat at home, then home is where she will be.
--Phae
If this was a story about any other religion, I can't imagine it reading, "the parents say they are pagans" - surely if they say they are Pagans, then they are? Also note rude use of lower-case.
Anyway, I think the kid probably got a good educational experience from attending the solstice.
One slight note of concern - I thought we didn't believe in indoctrinating kids in Paganism? Phae says "if I want my kid spending a sabbat at home..." - erm, surely it's your child's choice whether they want to celebrate it with you?
Melissa said:
>>But when I was in school, none of the Orthodox kids took off for Orthodox Easter or Christmas, or the Asians the Lunar New Year. And I think we all should follow their example.<<
I have to take issue with that. The majority faith, since it's the majority, already gets its holidays off. Does anyone go to school on Christmas? Granted, Easter is on a Sunday, but in the public schools in my state we always had Good Friday off. So there's a bias towards the majority religion built into things.
As a parent, if I take my child out of school, there should be no questions asked. I am her parent. I should not even have to tell the school where she is going, and what she is doing. She is my child and not under their authority to limit her actions or mine- religious or not.
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There seems to be a strong anti-Pagan bias just below the surface in such stories. Too many people fail to appreciate the beauty and gentleness of Pagan beliefs and observances. Clearly, this world badly needs the emphasis on connection to and harmony with nature and its cycles that Paganism emphasizes.
Andy
Unitarian Minister, London
http://www.new-unity.org
There seems to be a strong anti-Pagan bias just below the surface in such stories. Too many people fail to appreciate the beauty and gentleness of Pagan beliefs and observances. Clearly, this world badly needs the emphasis on connection to and harmony with nature and its cycles that Paganism emphasizes.
Andy
Unitarian Minister, London
New-Unity Unitarians
I don't think anyone should get any religious observances off, or at least with impunity.
There's my autocratic secularist peeking through.
I do realize that there's an anti-Pagan bias here.
But when I was in school, none of the Orthodox kids took off for Orthodox Easter or Christmas, or the Asians the Lunar New Year. And I think we all should follow their example.
What would be a "very good reason"? A family trip abroad? A death in the family? Was this child often absent or were these the only three days that she missed/
I am a teacher and I can be very certain when I say that at my school if the parent says its a good reason, then its a good reason as far as the administration are concerned. Unfortunately this leads to problems on the other end where children are missing 2 weeks of school for a cruise (I asked, there was no cultural content to be experienced by the child). It is so difficult to determine what is to be considered a good enough excuse for time missed and often it depends on the child, most of the kids that I see missing large amounts of time are not those whose grades can afford it. However, in matters of religion, I don't think it is the place of schools to decide which is legitimate and which is simply "not good enough".
I think that someone is over estimating their power over other people's kids. If my parents wanted me out of school for however many days for whatever reason, then I wasn't at school those days. End of conversation.
I was the same way when I was guardian of my younger brother. I ended up in a meeting with his school counsellor over it.
I told her that as long as he wasn't failing anything, I didn't want to hear about how many classes he wasn't in. Not everyone needs to go to school every day to learn the material.
It is the parent/guardian's decision whether a kid is in school at all. If I want my kid spending a Sabbat at home, then home is where she will be.
--Phae
If this was a story about any other religion, I can't imagine it reading, "the parents say they are pagans" - surely if they say they are Pagans, then they are? Also note rude use of lower-case.
Anyway, I think the kid probably got a good educational experience from attending the solstice.
One slight note of concern - I thought we didn't believe in indoctrinating kids in Paganism? Phae says "if I want my kid spending a sabbat at home..." - erm, surely it's your child's choice whether they want to celebrate it with you?
Melissa said:
>>But when I was in school, none of the Orthodox kids took off for Orthodox Easter or Christmas, or the Asians the Lunar New Year. And I think we all should follow their example.<<
I have to take issue with that. The majority faith, since it's the majority, already gets its holidays off. Does anyone go to school on Christmas? Granted, Easter is on a Sunday, but in the public schools in my state we always had Good Friday off. So there's a bias towards the majority religion built into things.
As a parent, if I take my child out of school, there should be no questions asked. I am her parent. I should not even have to tell the school where she is going, and what she is doing. She is my child and not under their authority to limit her actions or mine- religious or not.
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