Should Children Be Indoctrinated into Religion? Essay

During this stage, the child can engage in symbolic play, and have developed an imagination. This child may use an object to represent something else, such pretending that a broom is a horse. An important feature a child displays during this stage is egocentrism. This refers to the child’s inability to see a situation from another person’s point of view. To test whether or not children are egocentric, Piaget used the ‘Three Mountain Task’. Piaget concluded that the four-year olds thinking was egocentric, as the seven year olds was not. Children, at this stage, do not understand more complex concepts such as cause and effect, time, and comparison.

Being taught and being preached to are completely different things. While one encourages religion the other simply explains the way different religions work. Students should learn about all religions to avoid future discrimination without fully understanding what a religion is. " There are many parents and educators who consider first grade too early to teach about religion in school(Wertheimer)". Many students do not begin to learn about religion until the eighth grade, this can become an issue because by that age many students are reluctant to learning about something that is not familiar to them or may simply not be interested. We live in a country where every time we go to the store we see people of all cultures and religions. It is important for all people to understand different religions to insure each one is respected. There are also other occasions where people may be comfortable with their children being exposed to one religion but not another. For example when a school in Kansas had a presentation sponsored by a United Methodist Church very few parents had an issue with it."If that community had a Muslim group come in and wanted to do that type of presentation, they would have been up in arms(Boston)". In our country Christianity is the most popular religion and many other minority religions, such as Muslim, are extremely

     Religion plays a part in a person's identity structure. It is the search of what one calls faith in one's self and the worship of either one supreme being or numerous beings. But religion comes in different formalities. There are those who were raised practicing their religion, those who were influenced and converted, and those who were brainwashed. People who practice a certain religion will more likely raise their children under that same religion. Being raised practicing a religion creates the virtues and morals for that person's identity from an early stage. It helps parents create a sense of direction and inflict the core values their children need. Some people have

Firstly, I’ll touch upon how education at a public university could affect a child’s relationship with god. After middle school or high school, one’s abilities to make assumptions and decisions for themselves start to rise; they learn about evolution and other religions in school, and they start to think for themselves and develop an identity. For a parent who raised a child under a religious household, this could cause

As children get older egocentric thinking will begin to dominate in a non-logical and non-reversible way, and this will give a more developed imagination and will improve memory. The child grows into adolescents and the operational stage of cognitive development with the use of symbols and abstract concepts grows and shows more

Developmental psychologists have provided evidence that children are naturally tuned to believe from figures of authority.A child’s brain is set-up to believe what is told by elders, even if what is told is nonsense. Children usually acquire the religious views of their parents.

Presented with the task of assessing someone’s faith development required the answers to three essential questions. How has social learning played a part in the individual’s religious development? How has attachment played a part in the individual’s religious development? Upon answering these questions we must then evaluate the stages of faith development in which the individual is in according to James Fowler and David Elkind. After thorough evaluation has occurred the question pertaining to the role of doubt can then be answered. With these questions in mind, the theory that religious beliefs and adherence to spiritual faith are ultimately tested and proved during adolescence was the driving thought throughout the process of interviewing

In some occasions, like Tearsa and John’s case, the child sees this as constraint. Tearsa and John were afraid to exhibit any of their doubts to their parents due to their parent’s authoritative ways. This was common to see that highly religious parents’ children would develop a belief that the religion was the most important thing, (Flor & Knapp, 2001). So the fears of rejection from their own parents were higher. When none of their doubts were confirmed or denied, this resulted in a rejection of the religion. This case especially occurs if the child blamed the religion for the perceived negative methods of childcare from their

trusting religion to act as his foundation as he then learns the stupefying truth of his God’s

“Several researchers suggest that religion and spirituality provide children and adolescents a sense of meaning, self-esteem, coherence, and purpose in life” (Bryant-Davis et al., 2012. p. 308). Christians believe that when something bad or good happens, it is the will of God.

Brandt’s essay, Do Kids Need Religion?” is based on how someone should answer a kid’s question. When Brandt’s daughter was ten years old, her friends died in a house fire. The parents of Brandt’s daughter’s friends took the death well because they were strong and brave about what happened. They were devoted Catholics and talked about how their two little girls were in heaven. But Brandt is not religious in any way and when her daughter asked what happened to her friends, he told her something that he did not believe in because he thought that these deaths had no meaning and could not justify it. Brandt asks families if they think that their children needs religion. He also asks doctors on their point of view about religion and if kids need it. People who have a religion do not have to worry about what kinds of question their child can ask them because they have their own faith and can confidently answer their question. Brandt essay is mainly towards nonbelievers and wants to know

“Seeing is believing.” This idiom is a common saying in the Western culture, and known by people of all ages. However, this is more than just a saying for some but a philosophy of life. Specifically, children tend to resonate with this idiom. Adults do not seem to understand just how hard it is for youth to believe in something that is not a part of the visible world. “Salvation” by Langston Hughes is a prime example of how some children receive the unseen world, specifically a higher power. Hughes at a young age is forced by his aunt to go to her church for a revival. The then twelve-year-old is told that he will see a light and feel Jesus’ presence from there on out. At the revival, the young girls in the group of children claim to be saved immediately. Only young Langston and another boy are left waiting to experience a sign from Christ. Westley, the other boy, decides he is going to lie and say he is saved. Hughes is left on the alter by himself, which leaves him pressured to lie. This event causes the young boy not to believe in a higher being because he has no physical evidence of one. Physical evidence meaning what adults told him he would experience during salvation. Making children conform to religious ideas pushes them away from faith, loses the message that religion tries to spread, all while neglecting others’ experiences of spirituality.

The Cognitive Science Journal found that children who were exposed to religion have a harder time distinguishing fact from fiction. In their study, they told 66 five and six year old children stories containing both realistic and supernatural elements. Out of all of the participants the children who regularly attended church had a significantly harder time identifying the supernatural elements as fictional than those who hadn’t attended church regularly. Devout religion seems to continue to impact children into their teenage years. NBC News found that teen birth rates are higher in religious states. Mississippi ranks at the top in both teenage birth rates and conservative religious beliefs. Experts say that this is mainly due to the discouragement of contraception in religious

Although Native Americans were not considered Christians, they did believe in a supreme creator and taught children their beliefs in being made up of mind, body, and spirit (Dever & Falconer, 2008, p. 3). This has inspired my personal learning philosophy. I believe what a child chooses to have faith in; it will become an important part of their life. This will also provide a solid guideline and foundation as to how the child will live. No matter how young or what faith a child chooses, what they believe will influence everything they learn to do as well as what they choose to

Educators need to understand the impact of religion on the lives of their students. According to Gallup poll data, nearly 95% of teens believe in God and 86% believe that Jesus Christ is either God or the Son of God (Gallup & Lindsay, 1999 as cited in Ream, 2003). These and other similar statistics demonstrate the importance of considering religion when dealing with young people. Ream