How to prevent my child from being indoctrinated with Christianity?
Context: We are living in a Germany and have a small child (15 months) who will go to a public kindergarten at the age of 24 months.
Problem: In our region, all public funded kindergartens also have a denomination, typically catholic. All kindergartens inform the children of god, will sing religious songs, hold festivities, and may even pray with them. As an atheist, I find this abhorrent and deeply offensive, but there is not much choice - it's one of these kindergartens or no child care at all.
So how can I help my child to understand that most of this is, at best, just a funny story without relevance?
I want him to be able to make a conscious choice when he is able to - but I do not want him to believe simply because he has to ingest this at this impressionable age.
On the other hand, I fear negative consequences for him if I denounce this too openly and he says "Daddy says your god is just your big imaginary friend and not real" at the kindergarten.
(22)22 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
My children both go to a Church of England school and, like you, I'm an atheist.
I deal with it by letting them make their own mind up. I have made it very clear that I don't believe in God but if they want to, that's their choice. If they want to talk to me about it, I remember what I learned in school and use phrases like "some people believe" and "what works for others".
If you start forcing your opinions on your child, you run the risk they will not believe anything the teacher tells them. If they're lying about God, what else are they lying about? Your child must trust teachers otherwise they won't want to learn anything.
We have the inverse problem in the states. Public Schools routinely indoctrinate kids with an empty, secularist religion, in my humble opinion of course.
My advice to you is either find a private school or home school your kid.
Lastly, remember that you are your kids' first teacher. If your children aren't solid in their religious beliefs by now (or lack thereof) then it's your fault.
It's not too late for you to teach them, but it's also not the end of the world if your kid learns something different.
Previous Page Next Page
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2025 All Rights reserved.