Moral question on talking about the faith to someone else's kids

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I tutor some kids in lower school (on math) and recently they’ve asked some questions about death, religion, and my beliefs. Mostly these questions have been uncontroversial, i know they are baptized catholic, but I also know their mom is not practicing and is very liberal and probably doesn’t believe a lot of what the church teaches. How far can I go with answering these questions. I’ve told some bible stories once and when they asked what happens when you die I gave a fairly vague answer, but I did mention “heaven on earth.” This death question came up when I told the girl, who bragged about steeling a banner, that she shouldn’t be proud of it and maybe should give it someone to repent. She asked if thats so she wouldn’t feel guilty and go to hell…then the question came.

Thanks for your help 🙂
 
I would say go for it! Just because someone is not your child doesn’t make them any less deserving to hear the beautiful truth that is the teaching of the Catholic Church, Any chance for evangelization is a good chance! For all you know, you could end up being that nudge in the right direction that ends up with her living a life in Christ.
 
I think I would discuss it with the students’ parents first. I would tell the parents that their children have occasionally asked you these kinds of questions, and ask them how they would like you to handle it. Since you’ve been hired to tutor the children in math, I think the parents should have the opportunity to say no to religious discussions, if that’s what they want. Just my opinion, of course.

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Thanks you for your responses. I’m going to talk to the mom this friday if the questions come up again. 🙂 But that leads me wonder how the subject should be approached. I don’t want to bring up the subject and make the mother feel uncomfortable, do you have any suggestions? THanks:thumbsup:
 
If the children have been baptised Catholic, then their parents have given public assent, in the Church, that the children will be instructed in the faith.

As long as your statements are uncontroversially aligned with the catechism and aren’t covering subjects inappropriate to the children’s maturity level, you should, by all means answer the children faithfully.

No “pelvic issues.” I’d stay away from any apparitions (private revelation.) If I thought the child might be any way traumatized by mention of abortion, I’d avoid that too. For instance, my oldest was HORRIFIED when someone mentioned divorce to her when she was 4. The idea had been inconceivable, and it rocked her world to discover that it was somehow possible for a mom and dad to separate. She was sad for days. I’m glad I was there when it happened or it might have been worse.

no need to wreck innocence any sooner than the age of reason.
 
PapaSquash said:
If the children have been baptised Catholic, then their parents have given public assent, in the Church, that the children will be instructed in the faith.

As long as your statements are uncontroversially aligned with the catechism and aren’t covering subjects inappropriate to the children’s maturity level, you should, by all means answer the children faithfully.

No “pelvic issues.” I’d stay away from any apparitions (private revelation.) If I thought the child might be any way traumatized by mention of abortion, I’d avoid that too. For instance, my oldest was HORRIFIED when someone mentioned divorce to her when she was 4. The idea had been inconceivable, and it rocked her world to discover that it was somehow possible for a mom and dad to separate. She was sad for days. I’m glad I was there when it happened or it might have been worse.

no need to wreck innocence any sooner than the age of reason.
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Its a single mom (the kids are adopted) who is very liberal and the kids hear about it. I wouldn’t go into anything political because of this :dts: But it is true how things that might seem little to one person can be traumatic to another, so i’ll be careful. But are you saying biblical references are ok sounding?
 
AdriannaJean said:
I would say go for it! Just because someone is not your child doesn’t make them any less deserving to hear the beautiful truth that is the teaching of the Catholic Church, Any chance for evangelization is a good chance! For all you know, you could end up being that nudge in the right direction that ends up with her living a life in Christ.
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agreed!!!
 
1catholic said:
I tutor some kids in lower school (on math) and recently they’ve asked some questions about death, religion, and my beliefs. Mostly these questions have been uncontroversial, i know they are baptized catholic, but I also know their mom is not practicing and is very liberal and probably doesn’t believe a lot of what the church teaches. How far can I go with answering these questions. I’ve told some bible stories once and when they asked what happens when you die I gave a fairly vague answer, but I did mention “heaven on earth.” This death question came up when I told the girl, who bragged about steeling a banner, that she shouldn’t be proud of it and maybe should give it someone to repent. She asked if thats so she wouldn’t feel guilty and go to hell…then the question came.

Thanks for your help 🙂
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If you are a private tutor, I’d say you’d be fine answering the kids questions as they come up just as you have been. If you teach in a school, of course you’ll have to abide by the school’s policy on what a teacher can discuss.

When I work with kids in a secular environment, I’ll answer basic questions, but if things get too deep or controversial, I’ll tell them that that is a question they need to ask their parents. This is true mostly of the pelvic/where babies come from issues. I wouldn’t have any trouble saying that stealing was wrong. I wouldn’t necessarily use religious language (ie, venial sin) since they probably have no idea what that means.
 
I’d be very wary about answering such questions, except just in passing. Perhaps the best way to go about it is “Well, this is what the Catholic Church and I think about (whatever)…”
 
I would feel free to describe your own beliefs, and qualify them as what you think. You can also say they are what the Catholic Church teaches, but only if you are sure it is so.

If you think they might misunderstand, and you can’t answer at the child’s level, I’d just say it is a hard question, and that you are not sure you can explain it well.
 
can’t figure out how those topics come up in math tutoring session, but if the questions are frequent I would bring it up to the mother, “this does not really have to do with our math class, but junior has asked me several times about . . . (death, religion, whatever) . … and he has asked about my beliefs. I don’t want to get into these topics with him without your knowledge and approval, but I thought you would want to know he has questions about these topics on his mind.”
 
How would you fell if a Baptist, Jewish or Muslim teacher did the same thing with your kids?
 
BillP said:
How would you fell if a Baptist, Jewish or Muslim teacher did the same thing with your kids?
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Well, if my kids asked any adult about topics related to faith, I would expect them to say what they really believed to be true. So I would have no problem with a Hindu saying he believed in reincarnation.

I don’t think it would be possible for me to stop my children realizing that other people have different ideas, and it probably wouldn’t be a good idea either.
 
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