I doubt that I am the only person on the sidelines of the Morinville public-Catholic school debate who is still waiting to hear what the real issues of the complainants are.
I have read numerous letters in the paper and heard many mentions on the news about parents concern of religion being forced on their children and their rights to secular education. However, I’m wondering if behind all of this vague rhetoric there are any specific examples to illustrate how these children are being indoctrinated beyond repair by the current schools and their teachers.
I did not attend Catholic school in St. Albert until high school, but aside from two three-credit religion classes (one of which was about world religions) and an optional grad mass in my three years there, I found religious mentions in the school to be very few and to have little effect (positive or negative) on my classmates or me.
Can anyone give me an example of a child of a different faith/no faith who was somehow damaged by attending a “Catholic” school (I use quotations because in my experience, Catholic/Christian education is hardly emphasized in these schools)? Are there specific values or beliefs that are being emphasized that are contrary to your own beliefs that have pushed your children away from the way that you are trying to raise them? I know I will probably be criticized by proponents of this issue saying it is really the principle of the matter that is important, but I don’t buy these arguments as suitable justification to spend millions in taxpayer dollars to establish two school systems.
As a parent myself, I can understand the desire to have the best education for your children. However, I also understand that regardless of the label of the school, Catholic, secular, public or separate, instilling my children with what I believe to be correct values and beliefs is my job, and that if I give them a solid foundation, I will be able to counter the many contrary messages that they will inevitably be exposed to in school, in the media and from other people they encounter.
Holly Jones, St. Albert
