My Child is being taught completely Protestant beliefs in History, what should I do?

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I am a father of two, both go to independent schooling. My son is in his 5th year, and in History they are teaching Pro-Luther and a complete bias to Protestant beliefs ( we’re Catholic). His History book is saying Catholics are teaching everything that we all here everyday. We worship Mary, we worship Saints, we call Priests “father”. And so on.

Have you know I live in Britain, a mostly Protestant country.

I have talked to my son about this, and making sure he is paying no attention.

Should I do something or what?
 
I would remove them, and try either regular Home school, or Catholic school. Or maybe report it to the school. They shouldn’t allow this even if they’re mostly protestant.

You’re in my prayers, God Bless!
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JaredBM said:
I am a father of two, both go to independent schooling. My son is in his 5th year, and in History they are teaching Pro-Luther and a complete bias to Protestant beliefs ( we’re Catholic). His History book is saying Catholics are teaching everything that we all here everyday. We worship Mary, we worship Saints, we call Priests “father”. And so on.

Have you know I live in Britain, a mostly Protestant country.

I have talked to my son about this, and making sure he is paying no attention.

Should I do something or what?
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That’s certainly a problem that we don’t seem to have in the States! Here, the schools just take out everything religious from our history books. I don’t know which is worse. Like the previous poster said, if switching to a parochial school is an option, I would do that. But I realize that’s not always possible.

Ultimately, I think it’s important to realize that religious formation falls on the parents, who were entrusted by God to bring up little saints. I applaud you for paying great attention to what’s being taught in your son’s classes. It’ll be up to you to educate your children on our Catholic faith, and obviously instruct them to ignore what’s being taught in the classroom. But I would say that it’s even more important to teach them what the Truth is, because if you just tell them to ignore incorrect information, that won’t be enough.

However, if that doesn’t work, you may want to consider homeschooling, which may or may not be a viable option, depending on each situation. In any case, I will say a prayer for your family.
 
JaredBM said:
I am a father of two, both go to independent schooling. My son is in his 5th year, and in History they are teaching Pro-Luther and a complete bias to Protestant beliefs ( we’re Catholic). His History book is saying Catholics are teaching everything that we all here everyday. We worship Mary, we worship Saints, we call Priests “father”. And so on.

Have you know I live in Britain, a mostly Protestant country.

I have talked to my son about this, and making sure he is paying no attention.

Should I do something or what?
Click to expand...
Are you sure you are correctly understanding the history book? Could you give the title and author of the history book, and maybe someone on this forum will have access to it and can also comment.
 
AllSeasons said:
That’s certainly a problem that we don’t seem to have in the States! Here, the schools just take out everything religious from our history books. I don’t know which is worse. Like the previous poster said, if switching to a parochial school is an option, I would do that. But I realize that’s not always possible.

Ultimately, I think it’s important to realize that religious formation falls on the parents, who were entrusted by God to bring up little saints. I applaud you for paying great attention to what’s being taught in your son’s classes. It’ll be up to you to educate your children on our Catholic faith, and obviously instruct them to ignore what’s being taught in the classroom. But I would say that it’s even more important to teach them what the Truth is, because if you just tell them to ignore incorrect information, that won’t be enough.

However, if that doesn’t work, you may want to consider homeschooling, which may or may not be a viable option, depending on each situation. In any case, I will say a prayer for your family.
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I have run into wrong information being taught her in the US. Not as blatant as the OP. It usually about the “reformation”. It is the Protestant point of view and they have no clue what indulgences are.
 
You should either convert to Anglicanism, or move to a country where Catholicism is the established Church. I hear Argentina is beautiful this time of the pontificate.
 
Well, we do call priests, “Father”, but the rest is off.

Not sure how I’d handle that. What my parents tried to do was use these times as teaching moments. However, in the end, I’d say the school ended up being a stronger influence than them, at least for me.

I began to look at my parents vs. school, society, the media, etc., and eventually came away with the idea that my parents must be wrong!
 
I suppose watching A Man For All Seasons as a family and then discussing it would be a little above the heads of fifth year students. But it seems to explain a lot.
 
JeredBM - Can I presume you are referring to 15-16 yr. olds in 5th.Year Secondary School?

When you say it is an ‘Independent School’, is it one with a known/declared denominational bias?

It seems to me that the history being taught there is a blinkered ‘history’ that is omitting to tell the fuller story. If I was in your position I would make time to speak to that teacher, and if no joy, then speak to the head teacher. If no joy is found there either, then there is always OFSTED as the Government quality watchdog that you can approach. I would also make sure your children were fully clued as to the politics and agendas of that time,

I am indeed puzzled by such a Protestant politically biased approach to the history of that time, given that Henry VIII and ‘Anglicanism’ get rather a bashing in the general UK media these days.
 
We have that problem here (U.S.) as well. For us it has to do with a teacher who is very devout in her Lutheran faith. She has been so over the top (claims the Church still sells indulgences) that my kids just laugh her off. It also helps that they had a middle school teacher that was very good when teaching the reformation period and prepared them to hear others’ opinions.

Can you teach reformation history on the weekend? We often use Sunday to teach any information that may be lacking in the schools or RE programs.
 
I’d probably try to go over it with them at home. And pray that this chapter/unit ends quickly. I might also suggest telling their instructor so that they know, if tested answers given by your kids reveal a differing interpretation. If you want further details on what I mean, I can elaborate here or by message.

Good luck.
 
I was wondering where abouts in Britain the OP is? I went to school in Scotland and some of what you say sounds familiar. We covered similar things in history and in religion class (it’s been 6 years since I did history at school so not that long ago) but it wasn’t as clear cut as you say. We did it while studying the reformation/past kings and queens And their beliefs on religion, separation of state and church in scotland/ monarchy and Church of England etc etc. It was never this is right or wrong simply this is what happened and the reasons why people gave for doing so are/is? It may have been highlighting protestant beliefs and reasons for the separations but I never had anything anti catholic - simply this is what and why.

I went to a ‘Christian School’ and Catholic Priests/Various Protestant Denominations Ministers were all involved with the education.
 
It is a “Christian” school, there are Catholic Schools in the County, but the current economic troubles in EVERY country trouble a lot. I am one of them. This school is good, really good, in Math, Science, etc… Just not on Religion.

Also, from Northampton for whoever asked.

I think I rather just talk to the teachers, but we might have a problem if they don’t give everyone there right to their beliefs. Not preaching what they believe to all the kids.
 
MomaMary8 said:
We have that problem here (U.S.) as well. For us it has to do with a teacher who is very devout in her Lutheran faith. She has been so over the top (claims the Church still sells indulgences) that my kids just laugh her off. It also helps that they had a middle school teacher that was very good when teaching the reformation period and prepared them to hear others’ opinions.

Can you teach reformation history on the weekend? We often use Sunday to teach any information that may be lacking in the schools or RE programs.
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Yes, I have gone over it thoroughly, but keep in mind, he’s in primary school.
 
Take if up with the teacher. If that fails, the Head Teacher. If that fails, your local authority, then OFSTED.
 
AllSeasons said:
That’s certainly a problem that we don’t seem to have in the States! Here, the schools just take out everything religious from our history books. I don’t know which is worse. Like the previous poster said, if switching to a parochial school is an option, I would do that. But I realize that’s not always possible.

Ultimately, I think it’s important to realize that religious formation falls on the parents, who were entrusted by God to bring up little saints. I applaud you for paying great attention to what’s being taught in your son’s classes. It’ll be up to you to educate your children on our Catholic faith, and obviously instruct them to ignore what’s being taught in the classroom. But I would say that it’s even more important to teach them what the Truth is, because if you just tell them to ignore incorrect information, that won’t be enough.

However, if that doesn’t work, you may want to consider homeschooling, which may or may not be a viable option, depending on each situation. In any case, I will say a prayer for your family.
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Oh, gosh no. If you are under the impression that public schooling in the US is neutral in the area of religion, you are sadly mistaken. I can send you several instances of information in public school textbooks that is flat out wrong and hostile to Christianity. There are websites that list problems with textbooks. A lot of the problems have to do with incorrect historical information that has nothing to do with religion, but there are some religious problems as well.

OP, if you think you can watch what is being said and reteach when your son gets home, more power to you. I found that I can’t keep up with it. Another idea would be to buy a better curriculum and go over it in the summer. I would be concerned about his age, though. I think that can work with a high schooler, but a younger student, I don’t know.
 
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