I rather think that if it was given to him by a friend, he probably won’t get past “I, Nephi, being born of goodly parents…” and any aghast reaction a teacher has will only give him incentive to find out what the horrible truth about it IS.
Which would of course be good for US (the Mormons…) but isn’t exactly what a catechism teacher might want.
…and the above statement is flippant. It wouldn’t be what we would want.
- No twelve year old should be doing this without the approval of his parents.The teacher should refer him to them.
- If he HAS the approval of his parents, a teacher would be well advised to stay out of it; tell your priest, let family counseling handle it. Does any teacher really want to get between a student and his parents? NOT a good idea.
Either way, the teacher should say 'that’s nice…now, what was it we were talking about in regard to Mary?" and redirect the conversation to the information he needs to know about his OWN faith.
If the kid asks questions and insists upon answers from the teacher, then it really, truly IS the time to bump it to the parents.
Or, if he insists, get the information from
lds.org. When the child asks questions, answer them according to what HE is asking, not what the teacher
thinks he is asking.
I am reminded of the old story about the kid who came up and asked his mother where he came from. Mom took a deep breath, and gave him ‘the talk.’
At the end of it, he looked at her and said “Wow. I just wanted to know if we came from Milwaukee.”
Pay attention to what is really being asked, not what you are afraid is being asked.