Too much Christmas Education in my Public School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the point of doing Christmas activities in school is to “educate” the kids about different traditions then they need to teach kids that Santa is fictional, a story told by parents as part of a “cultural experience”. I would be totally ok with that.

(But, of course, that will never happen because the real purpose is to allow Christian kids a chance to celebrate their Christian holiday within the publically funded school.)

Such a sad and ignorant post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate OPs perspective as my majority privilege led me to consider the Santa/Reindeer/tree aspect of Christmas as completely secular. Given the Christian roots of the holiday, I can understand that it is better to focus on a winter theme in public schools. Making snowmen, snowflakes, snow globes, stories about sledding etc. and perhaps watching Frosty the Snowman—versus The Grinch— seem to be open and inclusive to all students.

I am guessing you have never actually watched Frosty. He comes to life because he was made from Christmas snow, then when he melts Santa saves the day by turning the puddle back into Frosty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

Correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

Correct.

Uh. It’s public school. If you want a catholic education for your kids you should have sent them to catholic school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

Correct.

Uh. It’s public school. If you want a catholic education for your kids you should have sent them to catholic school.

Personally, mine do go to Catholic school. But, to be fair, if we are exposing kids to every religion in public school, just for the purpose of education and exposure and historical awareness, Santa, Rusolph, and Frosty do not check the box for "this is what Christians believe." These are human-created, secular, distractions. So, others, please do not feel like, "These indicate that there is too much of a Christian focus in public schools." Far from it. We are all getting short shrift in the public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

Correct.

Uh. It’s public school. If you want a catholic education for your kids you should have sent them to catholic school.

Personally, mine do go to Catholic school. But, to be fair, if we are exposing kids to every religion in public school, just for the purpose of education and exposure and historical awareness, Santa, Rusolph, and Frosty do not check the box for "this is what Christians believe." These are human-created, secular, distractions. So, others, please do not feel like, "These indicate that there is too much of a Christian focus in public schools." Far from it. We are all getting short shrift in the public schools.

I don’t think world religions need to be seriously covered in K. Maybe in HS as an elective.

Cultural events & celebrations are fine though. Nothing deep just touch on a wide variety of cultures for exposure. They are there to learn to read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

Correct.

Uh. It’s public school. If you want a catholic education for your kids you should have sent them to catholic school.

Personally, mine do go to Catholic school. But, to be fair, if we are exposing kids to every religion in public school, just for the purpose of education and exposure and historical awareness, Santa, Rusolph, and Frosty do not check the box for "this is what Christians believe." These are human-created, secular, distractions. So, others, please do not feel like, "These indicate that there is too much of a Christian focus in public schools." Far from it. We are all getting short shrift in the public schools.

I don’t think world religions need to be seriously covered in K. Maybe in HS as an elective.

Cultural events & celebrations are fine though. Nothing deep just touch on a wide variety of cultures for exposure. They are there to learn to read.
You

Absolutely fine with me. Then, what is op complaining about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

Correct.

Uh. It’s public school. If you want a catholic education for your kids you should have sent them to catholic school.

Personally, mine do go to Catholic school. But, to be fair, if we are exposing kids to every religion in public school, just for the purpose of education and exposure and historical awareness, Santa, Rusolph, and Frosty do not check the box for "this is what Christians believe." These are human-created, secular, distractions. So, others, please do not feel like, "These indicate that there is too much of a Christian focus in public schools." Far from it. We are all getting short shrift in the public schools.

I don’t think world religions need to be seriously covered in K. Maybe in HS as an elective.

Cultural events & celebrations are fine though. Nothing deep just touch on a wide variety of cultures for exposure. They are there to learn to read.
You

Absolutely fine with me. Then, what is op complaining about?

Sounds like they only cover Christmas at her kid’s school. And they spend a lot of time on it. Enough to make some kids feel excluded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

Correct.

Uh. It’s public school. If you want a catholic education for your kids you should have sent them to catholic school.

Personally, mine do go to Catholic school. But, to be fair, if we are exposing kids to every religion in public school, just for the purpose of education and exposure and historical awareness, Santa, Rusolph, and Frosty do not check the box for "this is what Christians believe." These are human-created, secular, distractions. So, others, please do not feel like, "These indicate that there is too much of a Christian focus in public schools." Far from it. We are all getting short shrift in the public schools.

I don’t think world religions need to be seriously covered in K. Maybe in HS as an elective.

Cultural events & celebrations are fine though. Nothing deep just touch on a wide variety of cultures for exposure. They are there to learn to read.
You

Absolutely fine with me. Then, what is op complaining about?

Sounds like they only cover Christmas at her kid’s school. And they spend a lot of time on it. Enough to make some kids feel excluded.

But it does not sound like they cover Christmas. They do things like Frosty, Rudolph, and a Dhristmas tree. All of which are secularly conceived, often by Jewish-American entertainers (Irving Berlin, "White Christmas," etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

Correct.

Uh. It’s public school. If you want a catholic education for your kids you should have sent them to catholic school.

Personally, mine do go to Catholic school. But, to be fair, if we are exposing kids to every religion in public school, just for the purpose of education and exposure and historical awareness, Santa, Rusolph, and Frosty do not check the box for "this is what Christians believe." These are human-created, secular, distractions. So, others, please do not feel like, "These indicate that there is too much of a Christian focus in public schools." Far from it. We are all getting short shrift in the public schools.

I don’t think world religions need to be seriously covered in K. Maybe in HS as an elective.

Cultural events & celebrations are fine though. Nothing deep just touch on a wide variety of cultures for exposure. They are there to learn to read.
You

Absolutely fine with me. Then, what is op complaining about?

Sounds like they only cover Christmas at her kid’s school. And they spend a lot of time on it. Enough to make some kids feel excluded.

But it does not sound like they cover Christmas. They do things like Frosty, Rudolph, and a Dhristmas tree. All of which are secularly conceived, often by Jewish-American entertainers (Irving Berlin, "White Christmas," etc.)

They cover the cultural side of Christmas. Just like if they played dreidel they aren’t really covering the significance of Hanukkah, just a cultural highlight.

It’s early elementary in public school. Brief exposures to cultures is fine. If you want religious education look elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

Correct.

Uh. It’s public school. If you want a catholic education for your kids you should have sent them to catholic school.

Personally, mine do go to Catholic school. But, to be fair, if we are exposing kids to every religion in public school, just for the purpose of education and exposure and historical awareness, Santa, Rusolph, and Frosty do not check the box for "this is what Christians believe." These are human-created, secular, distractions. So, others, please do not feel like, "These indicate that there is too much of a Christian focus in public schools." Far from it. We are all getting short shrift in the public schools.

I don’t think world religions need to be seriously covered in K. Maybe in HS as an elective.

Cultural events & celebrations are fine though. Nothing deep just touch on a wide variety of cultures for exposure. They are there to learn to read.
You

Absolutely fine with me. Then, what is op complaining about?

Sounds like they only cover Christmas at her kid’s school. And they spend a lot of time on it. Enough to make some kids feel excluded.

But it does not sound like they cover Christmas. They do things like Frosty, Rudolph, and a Dhristmas tree. All of which are secularly conceived, often by Jewish-American entertainers (Irving Berlin, "White Christmas," etc.)

They cover the cultural side of Christmas. Just like if they played dreidel they aren’t really covering the significance of Hanukkah, just a cultural highlight.

It’s early elementary in public school. Brief exposures to cultures is fine. If you want religious education look elsewhere.

Personally, yes, I did. But, OP, why didn't!t you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

Correct.

Uh. It’s public school. If you want a catholic education for your kids you should have sent them to catholic school.

Personally, mine do go to Catholic school. But, to be fair, if we are exposing kids to every religion in public school, just for the purpose of education and exposure and historical awareness, Santa, Rusolph, and Frosty do not check the box for "this is what Christians believe." These are human-created, secular, distractions. So, others, please do not feel like, "These indicate that there is too much of a Christian focus in public schools." Far from it. We are all getting short shrift in the public schools.

I don’t think world religions need to be seriously covered in K. Maybe in HS as an elective.

Cultural events & celebrations are fine though. Nothing deep just touch on a wide variety of cultures for exposure. They are there to learn to read.
You

Absolutely fine with me. Then, what is op complaining about?

Sounds like they only cover Christmas at her kid’s school. And they spend a lot of time on it. Enough to make some kids feel excluded.

But it does not sound like they cover Christmas. They do things like Frosty, Rudolph, and a Dhristmas tree. All of which are secularly conceived, often by Jewish-American entertainers (Irving Berlin, "White Christmas," etc.)

They cover the cultural side of Christmas. Just like if they played dreidel they aren’t really covering the significance of Hanukkah, just a cultural highlight.

It’s early elementary in public school. Brief exposures to cultures is fine. If you want religious education look elsewhere.

Personally, yes, I did. But, OP, why didn't!t you?

I don’t think OP is looking for religious education in public school. She just thinks the coverage of cultural Christmas is over the top. That would annoy me as well. Fortunately my kids’ school is more sensitive to cultural differences and it hasn’t been a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel any better, OP, I too get ticked off with all the Santa, Rudolph, tree focus. But I am Catholic. I feel my faith gets short shrift in public schools' ham handed attempt in "portraying the Christian holiday to the kids". I feel all other faiths get at least a serious focus on what the faith is really about. But if you try to have one serious day about, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, etc." it is a huge no-no, and just shuffled into the whole Santa/North Pole/Tree sort of thing. That is NOT what my faith is about in the least.

You're mad that your faith isn't properly portrayed in a public school?

Correct.

Uh. It’s public school. If you want a catholic education for your kids you should have sent them to catholic school.

Personally, mine do go to Catholic school. But, to be fair, if we are exposing kids to every religion in public school, just for the purpose of education and exposure and historical awareness, Santa, Rusolph, and Frosty do not check the box for "this is what Christians believe." These are human-created, secular, distractions. So, others, please do not feel like, "These indicate that there is too much of a Christian focus in public schools." Far from it. We are all getting short shrift in the public schools.

Very true.