She should be punished. What if she was assigned a black study mate for a project? We are trying to promote a civil society, not indulge racist or religious propaganda.
not allowed to talk to boys until a certain age.
- Thread starter lucifers angel
- Start date
And by punishing her, you would convince her that she is wrong?
Sure the parents can request it - but they have no right to EXPECT it to be granted - I think any school would make some kind of effort to accommodate her, but draw a line when it came to disrupting other pupils and/or granting special favours. But in this case it appears that the school have disrupted other kids' education and granted special favours.
If I avoided doing assigned work, I would be punished with bad grades, and a mark of "does not work well with others", they made no distinction about the gender of who I was supposed to be working with. School is for learning things like that, how to get along with people that are different.
So would punishing her for not talking to a black person change her opinion of them?
The threat of (minor) punishment is a tool that teachers should only use with the greatest restraint. Making a child work with others of different sexes and races will teach them that there is nothing to fear, as well as things like teamwork and cross cultural understanding.
I don't think punishment would work in any case. I do not think punishment changes attitudes at all. Just silencing a person does not convert him or her. IMO, children should be taught why something is not right, not have it impressed upon them as something to do only because there are negative consequences for not doing it.
Punish the child? That hardly seems fair. She is only doing what her parents expect of her. She should be informed that its is a rude thing to do and that maybe she should break the rules in an effort to explain why she is not speaking to them if that is allowed... I don't know what the rules and regulations of this religion are. But if she does not want to speak to black people she is within her rights to do as she wishes. She'll probably make more enemies than friends. I know I would really be offended by this request, and would suggest her parents perhaps look for a predominantly (non black) school, but I can't force them to do anything. People can believe what they want and practice what they want eventually the black students or boys in this case should just avoid her. If she doesn't want to talk then that's...that. Write her off and move on.
It's unlikely that a young child would resist a teacher's insistence on talking to or working with boys, by punishment I only mean rather benign things, not something overly negative. I doubt this was the childs own idea. If the child refuses to do so, I think it would be appropriate to, for instance, assign extra work, keep her from recess or lunch, give her a bad grade, encourage peer pressure to conform to the norms of our society...
It would be wrong of the teacher to force the girl to talk to boys, if she knew that the girl was not allowed to., because that is pitting the child against their parents. Even if their ideas are less than normal or even stupid that isn't a kind thing to do. Like forcing a child to eat a specific food even though their parents would be very mad with them if they ate it. An 8 year old hardly has the will power to stand up to her parents and say they are wrong and she isn't following their religion anymore. They probably have a few years before that happens. I bet this a religion most people convert to later in life.
Probably, I would talk to the parents and probably force the child out of that school. As a teacher, I would run the classroom with equality, so I couldn't tolerate selective mutism in the name of religion.
Talking to the parents is probably the best course of action to take. Suggest that she be put into an all girl school, but you can't force them to do anything. I mean if they like their daughter to be miserable, thats makes them terrible parents, but not unfit parents.
Bollocks. Being a parent is not all about your rights and wants, it is about doing what is best for the child.
Challenger78
Valued Senior Member
They're pretty common.
I'm in one..
My thoughts personally,
Kids develop their ways of dealing with people at an early age. Cutting her off from boys will only stunt and disadvantage her later.
Weird.
But all religion is weird.
I agree with you there, fully.
Think of how boys will be affected psychologically with some a girl never talking to them.
This is very bad.
OMG I already fallen in love with Japan, but now its for certain I will be coming to live there sometime in my life.
Yeah, you grew up with no girls talking to you, and look how you turned out *shudder*
Now that was just too easy, wasn't it? He practically walked into that one. And Challenger##, you. You revived this damned thread. /contributes nothing
