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Religion program 'replacing teachers'

03 Nov, 2009 07:36 AM
Parents have warned the secular public school system is under threat from the school chaplain program.

Parents & Citizens Council president Elizabeth Singer has received numerous complaints from parents that ''the lines are being blurred between religious and secular concerns''.

Ms Singer said schools were being forced to turn to school chaplains because of inadequate funding and teacher training for crucial development programs.

''Funding has not been available in another form that they [schools] could use so they have had to turn to chaplains. But the curriculum programs need to be designed to be delivered by appropriately trained teachers,'' she said.

''We have received complaints from families that schools are having to rely on chaplains to meet the social and emotional needs of the students. In government schools there is a feeling that this should be delivered by secularly trained people.''

But Ms Singer said there had been no complaints about controversial group Focus on the Family.

Education Minister Andrew Barr launched an investigation into Focus on the Family last week after allegations students in four schools Canberra High, Melrose High, Campbell High and Stromlo High may have attended drug and sex education seminars without parental permission.

A student at Canberra High School also alleged homosexuals had been denigrated during the sessions and inappropriate remarks about sex had been made.

Focus on the Family chief executive Brett McLeod has hit back at the ACT Government's investigation, saying he was disappointed the Government had not talked to his organisation before launching an investigation.

''How do the seminars run for two years without complaint? Surely something should have happened before now and on that basis an approach could have been made to us first I would have expected that,'' he said.

''We seek to fully cooperate with every aspect of that investigation and we actually welcome it ... if the allegations are true that would surprise me.''

Mr McLeod also defended Focus on the Family's views on homosexuality.

''Personally, and for the organisation, I do not see myself as having the right or the authority to make a judgment call on how someone conducts their life according to their belief system and I will never do that provided they are conducting their life within the law,'' he said.

The investigation into the religious group is expected to be completed in the next month.

The education department confirmed it had requested copies of the notes used in the ''No Apologies Impact seminar'' presented to Year 9 and 10 students in the ACT, but the department has not met either Mr McLeod or seminar presenter Marc Erbsleben. Mr Erbsleben refused to comment for this story.

Mr Barr defended the investigation.

''I take any allegation of inappropriate matters being taught in ACT public schools very seriously,'' he said. Some of the subject mattermight not have been appropriate for high school-aged students.

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Religion has no place in Government schools. It belongs in churches, mosques synagogues etc.
Posted by jayell, 3/11/2009 8:36:36 AM
a letter to the editor (by a student who attended the seminar in question) earlier this week was very revealing... the whole 'inappropriate comments about homosexuals' is simply a media beat-up. Religion belongs in schools just as much as history and any supposed 'secular' moral system. Anyone who thinks the 'separation' between church and state means there cannot be prayers in school, chaplains, seminars etc needs to re-visit constitutional law 101 or simply read the constitution.
Posted by give us a break, 3/11/2009 10:38:19 AM
Define 'religion'. If religion is 'a system of beliefs and values' then you will never erradicate it from govt. schools. Do you really want to? If the 'religion' is not Christian, it is will be the 'religion' of secularism with its related 'religions' of materialism, hedonism, me-ism, survival-of-the-fittest-ism ... Better to choose your 'religion' carefully, than leave a vacuum.
Posted by c.d., 3/11/2009 10:56:41 AM
Our experience was that if an ACT principal wanted a school chaplain, the wishes of the children and the concerns of the parents counted for nothing. The ACT Government has never bothered to explain why it accepted this divisive program at all from the Feds, apart from the obvious attraction of the 30 pieces of silver.
Posted by Stephen, 3/11/2009 11:34:43 AM
Students in secular schools are allowed to receive spiritual help - this is a right enshrined in the ACT Education Act. Religion certainly does have a place in secular state schools by the Territory's own law. The relevant sections of the Act are: Part 1.2, 7 General Principles of Act (v) and (viii) - on breadth of education. Likewise, part 3.2, 29 on Religious Education. Government schools are well within their rights to have chaplains and Focus on the Family presentations. Indeed, they are encouraged to do so by the ACT's very Education Act.
Posted by Rob, 3/11/2009 12:43:56 PM
Jesus cult dosnt belong in public schools. Surely handing out presents (christmas) and chocolate (easter) to our kids is enough.
Posted by brendan, 3/11/2009 4:02:56 PM
"Religion has no place in Government schools"... Sounds like a pretty exclusive statement to me - funny that, it is usually churches and religions who are accused of bigotry, closed-mindedness and intolerance. Doesn't moral relativism say that anything goes? Shouldn't that include the opportunity to explore personal faith? I'm sure no one has a problem with "new-age" proponents coming into state schools...
Posted by Kath, 4/11/2009 9:46:07 AM
Oh dear! The usual religious rent-a-crowd are working their fingers to the bone shoring up a very dodgy practice in once secular schools. There certainly is room in all schools to learn about 'religion', but that is not what SU chaplains do. A trip to their many taxpayer funded webpages will reveal all sorts of evangelising tricks they get up to, from JAFFA clubs to read the Bible to Prep year students onwards, to SUPA clubs, where, yes, more Bible reading and evangelising goes on. Then there are the gendered programs designed by Hillsong they run, in school but with the aim of getting students to go off-campus for highspeed evangelising and proselytising. Plus, they corner the fundraising within schools, all of which goes to the closed books of SU, not to the school that raises the money. Now SU chaplains in the ACT are engaged in political lobbying to get their hands on yet more ATO cash.
Posted by Jehovah, 4/11/2009 11:13:33 PM
Good point Brendan, according to Jayell, if religion has no place in our public schools, then no more Saint Valentines Day, Christmas decorations/presents/KK's/ Santa (aka St Nick), or Easter eggs representing new life and the most important day on the Christian calendar. Children in state schools should have the opportunity to experience and learn about many faiths, including Christianity. To suggest otherwise is unrealistic and plain stupid.
Posted by Lids, 5/11/2009 10:07:56 AM
Amen, c.d!! Oh, sorry, I mean, I agree! Secularism is a world view, a belief system in itself, with a definite agenda, and with an attached set of values. It's not some impartial, neutral, "a-spiritual" philosophy that people make it out to be.
Posted by valleygirl, 6/11/2009 10:10:44 PM

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