Children and school assembly

dobbie

Hi all. My little child in the UK starts school soon. I wasn't brought up a jw and am inactive but there are lots of other jw children going and apparently are'nt allowed to go to school assemblies. I can't remember anything wrong with school assemblies and i think it's daft to keep my child in a separate room while its going on. Can anyone tell me if they know why they can't join in?Then i can make my mind up and if i say to teachers to let him attend them i may find it easier to explain myself to the elders when they find out.Also can they attend RE?Would these two things be a reproving matter if i let my child attend?(I am talking about primary school)Thanks

Swamboozled

I have never heard of a child not getting to attend an assembly, unless it's similiar to a pep rally, which I have heard is off limits to some witness children. I have gone to my child's assembly and they do say the pledge and sing patriotic and school songs. Maybe that's the reason? Other than that it is just like a live verion of the morning announcements here.

Either way I would think it would be a conscience matter and not something you can be reproved for. But then I'm pretty rational....

vitty

Our kids only went into assembly if it was non religious..................yep the teachers loved me for that one................in fact i used to go in and sit with them whilst it was on, it was held at 11.30 am..........it was a real pain.

Now in high school they went into RE as it was taught in an objective way , with all religions disscussed.

I would also like to say my children thought this segregation at assemblies was the worst bit about school, they hated feeling different, they were embarrist about it.

If Ihad my time over again, I would have them join in EVERYTHING the school offers, they miss out on so much and so does the family

Wordly Andre

I remember some that I was not allowed to attend, such as Holidays, other than that some assemblys were for awards and such, don't think that was not allowed. Maybe JW's parents don't want to confuse their kids with the worldly assemblys and theirs.

Hellrider

If there is anything about the assembly that has to do with christmas (of course) but also anything like celebrating the national (4th of july in hte.U.S, 17th of may in my country), the child is not allowed to go according to your guidelines. This included the school brass corps, in my case, as they played on the national day. Soccer was also out, for a number of reasons. Often the team played matches on Sundays, and sometimes had to go to other towns to play etc., and that would not be good for me, "spiritually". So basically, I was not allowed to go to anything that the other kids were allowed to go to. This was part of what ruined my childhood. And now you are pondering on whether you should ruin your childs childhood too. Shame on you.

Crumpet

At primary school which was a C of E there were prayers and hymns in most morning assemblies so I never attended. When I moved up to secondary school I attended assembly as it was mostly non religious. The religious ones for holidays I sat outside much to the envy of my peers.

RE lessons - I attended but did not particpate - ie I was in the same classroom but it was agreed that I would take my watchtower or books study book to prepare and would have no involvement in lessons. However I did used to like watching the religious movies they would show - but did it sneakily!

Dansk

I was one of those idiots who looked after all the JW kids whilst the normal kids went to the assemblies! I took it in turns with other JW parents to oversee the "welfare" of the JW kids (we didn't want them to get polluted by worldly things!).

Looking back, it was all a load of baloney because 1) there is ample proof, much of it here, of just how wrong JW teaching is and 2) JW kids definitely miss out on not attending religious events as practiced in schools.

You stated:

I wasn't brought up a jw and am inactive

In that case, what are you worried about? Be happy - be a normal parent! Allow your kids to participate in assemblies and R.E., thus enabling them to mix with other children AND to learn about all the different religions and cultures in the world. It will open their minds!!

Ian

truthsetsonefree

As a JW-kid, my Mom was fanatical. I was not allowed to go to ANY assemblies. I treat my kid so differently because of that. Though a semi-active JW, my kid goes to ALL assemblies. That includes holiday oriented ones. Interestingly, because there are so many diverse cultures in our area, school events are not named after any holidays. They are designed to celebrate seasons like winter or spring.

mama1119

I was not allowed to go to Pep rallies (and soooooo badly wanted too)...I can't remember why...I think its school spirit we were not suppossed to have, becuase we could'nt go to football games or be a cheerleader either. We had to go sit in another room for assemblies and rallies, I would not want to do that to my child...

undercover

Depends on what the assembly is about.

I was kept out of any assembly that had to do with class politics, like picking school president and the like. I was supposed to sit out of the pep rallies, but I always snuck into them.

They had a room in the admin offices that they used to keep JW kids in when assemblies were taking place. And because most of the faculty was attending the assembly, they would lock us in, so we wouldn't sneak off somewhere else. I wish I had thought to say what Bender said in "Breakfast Club" to the teacher when he locked them in the library...

"That's very clever, sir. But what if there's a fire? I think violating fire codes and endangering the lives of children would be unwise at this juncture in your career, sir."

Children and school assembly

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