Kids Talking About Relgion

[HoustonHorn]

This happened almost a year ago, but a post over on the Rants board reminded me of it.

 

I have an extra off period during the school day and some days I cover other teachers classes during that period when there aren't enough subs to go around. One of these days I was watching an English class. Their assignment was to read a chapter and be ready for a quiz the next day. Of course a class full of high school freshmen cannot silently read for 55 minutes straight so they started chatting amongst themselves.

 

One of the conversations I overheard was a Christian talking about something he heard about a Mormon that I knew was incorrect. So I told him what I knew about what he was saying. A Mormon kid who had been silent spoke up and backed me up. It snowballed and the last 20 minutes of class became a session of kids asking kids from other religions about their religion. And it totally curiosity based and there was no "you're wrong" type talk. It was great.

[Deva]

One of the conversations I overheard was a Christian talking about something he heard about a Mormon that I knew was incorrect. So I told him what I knew about what he was saying. A Mormon kid who had been silent spoke up and backed me up. It snowballed and the last 20 minutes of class became a session of kids asking kids from other religions about their religion. And it totally curiosity based and there was no "you're wrong" type talk. It was great.

 

 

That does sound like a great experience. It seems to be unusual for people to just discuss religion without condemning someone else. Most of the time they have too much personally invested in it and things go downhill too quickly.

[Rhia]

That's the great thing about kids - by the time they're in high school they're so unsure about themselves that only the really fanatical ones will actually go crazy and say that someone is wrong by default. It's a great time to learn and question.