h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Three years ago whilst attending a local state junior school and at the age of 9, my daughter's form teacher every day made the whole class pray in the morning and again before going home. The school knew we were atheists and Mair (my daughter) was excused hymns and prayers although still attended school assembly every morning so as not to miss out on the "community experience". However, this particular teacher insisted in making Mair lead the class in prayer and when I wrote a letter of objection, he then insisted that she stand with her hands in a prayer position like the rest of the class and close her eyes. It then took a telephone call to the school's head teacher to rectify the situation and following this my daugher was victimised by her form teacher who would tear up her paintings in art in front of her and throw them in the bin when she is, in fact very talented at art!

It seemed the Hindu and Jehova's Witness children in her class were not pressurised in any way but the fact that Mair did not have any religion at all, appeared to present some sort of "challenge" to this "teacher".

Personally, I cannot condone any form of religious teaching in state schools. It is not a fact, cannot be proved and is tantamount to teaching fairy stories as part of the national curriculum. If parents who insist their children be told a pack of lies as part of their education want this so badly, they should either take the time to teach their offspring themselves or send them to a religious school which should not be state funded in any way.

I agree absolutely, but I understand that the first Sikh school opened in England last week. Like Jewish schools and convent schools it seems to have some form of state funding, even if it's not completely free. I hope your daughter's secondary schooling is secular. People who want to, or whose parents want them to while they're still under parental jursidiction, should go to religious institutions at the weekend

Thanks. Fortunately, Mair's secondary school's headteacher is a doctor of science and assemblies are almost non-existent and although she still has to study R.E. by law, it tends to cover learning about different types of religions which I don't mind. It is when religion is taught as fact that I tend to become irritated.

Personally, I think that bad religious education from someone who's obviously intolerant is one of the best weapons in the atheist's aresnal. Where I studied for my A-levels, there was an R.E. teacher who:

Threw a bible at a girl beause she said she didn't beleive in god.

When attempting to teach (me) Philosphy for General Studies, started off the first lesson by asking for student's *opinions* on sex before marriage. When one very timid girl finally plucked up the courage to say she didn't see anything wrong if the people involved had some kind of commitment to each other, he interrupted her loudly, and told her she was simply wrong. (He was a _useless_ philosophy teacher as well)

Tried to make a teacher at the local Further Education College apologise, and retract her advice to an aspiring secretarial student whom he also taught that she'd be better off concentrating on studying English than R.E. Fortunately, the teacher (my mother), supported by her boss, declined to do either.

With 'teachers' like that, the decent portion of religious people rather have an uphill struggle.