My bro who’s in grade 5 tells me his teacher asked why we don’t celeberate christmas.. when he said we only celeberate what God has gifted us with (Eids) the teacher questioned “Why? Christmas is a national holiday, no longer religious, so why don’t you celeberate it?” This is where my brother comes up to me and asks what should he tell the teacher. I got this weird feeling like wth, the teacher has no right in asking such questions..
this is one of many examples where this education system we look up to , is trying to ‘brainwash’ our kids. i know u already know this.. just be careful!!!
lets give the teacher the benefit of the doubt.. it may just be curiosity
"we only celeberate what God has gifted us with (Eids)" - is a good answer. That also means we do not celebrate any other festival, be it from other religions or secular/national
one would expect a person in the education system to know the basics, having studied in a university is she ignorant or has her own agenda?
It might be curiosity or it might be some agenda the only way to find out is to go and talk to her/him and educate her or debate with her about her agenda.
This is wrong, teacher should know better that not all kids celebrate christmas (and they don't have to be Muslims...) Instead of insisting why he doesn't celebrate christmas, she should have asked her what he celebrates and how he celebrates.
CP, not all teachers are like this these days, teachers now a days are more respecting of other cultures.
He can just say that our family celebrates other occations and I hope ppl will respect our choice like we respect others :D
Now let me give you an opposite story . My son told me at dinner table that they were doing Season related theme drawing in the class and teacher came and commented. You understand that we are doing Winter season not Christmas season.
Then in another class they were making greeting card and teacher came and told him I hope you do not get offended by other kids making greeting cards. . He was making a seasons greetings card.
And his question to me was " what’s up with poeple why they think that Muslims are not open minded to accept other religions and beliefs?"
I have taught my kids to respect others POV so that others can respect his POV.
Along this logic... Should Chinese celebrate Christmas? They don't even celebrate new year (Jan 1). They have their own new year celebrations according to the lunar calender. Every culture is different.
Next, the teacher might ask the kid why he does not celebrate Valentine's.
What I dont like is the teacher putting a child on the spot and questioning your younger brother when she can easily get a detailed answer from an adult?!?!?!
Thats awful, cricket. And its way out of bounds for the teacher to be asking "why". Its reasonable to ask children whether or not they celebrate a certain holiday and invite them to talk about the holidays the do celebrate...but your brothers teacher was just plain wrong and not typical of most schools that I know of in US. We had our holiday concert today and saw the kids sing songs of eid, kwanzaa, christmas, hanukah and winter. Thats how it should be. Maybe talk to the principal of the school about the teacher and her lack of tact.
In addition to explaining to the teacher so he/she understand, maybe you can also ask to come in to do a little presentation. Would be good if the presentation could be timed with Ramadan/Hajj/Eid, but even if its at another time could be good. You can bring props, decorations, clothes, pictures -and dont forget food!
Great idea ME! We had a Muslim family in our neighborhood who did just that - the mom came in on Eid, gave a talk on Eid, its meanings and traditions, she dressed in Eid clothes and gave out little Eid candy bags to each class that she spoke with. The kids all LOVED it and went around saying Eid Mubarak to each other.
But still, its disturbing how the teacher behaved here...things like that should be told to the principal of the school.
My bro who's in grade 5 tells me his teacher asked why we don't celeberate christmas.. when he said we only celeberate what God has gifted us with (Eids) the teacher questioned "Why? Christmas is a national holiday, no longer religious, so why don't you celeberate it?" This is where my brother comes up to me and asks what should he tell the teacher. I got this weird feeling like wth, the teacher has no right in asking such questions..
this is one of many examples where this education system we look up to , is trying to 'brainwash' our kids. i know u already know this.. just be careful!!!
I was thinking about this, what if the teacher had asked my 6 yr old? He's in 1st grade.
Most likely, he would have added humor and taken it easy.
First he would have just provided a simple answer - learned from the Masjid school - that we are Muslims and we celebrate Eid. We ENJOY Christmas and love the gift giving/exchanging - but we do not celebrate it because we are Muslims. Muslim people don't celebrate Christmas.
That's ALL. That's the answer. If the teacher wants to elaborate more and asks more questions that my kid has hard time answering - and if he actually remembers and tells me after school - then I would definitely meet with the teacher after school when I go to pick up my kid - and just have a friendly chat with her. Making sure that if she wants to learn more - then she is more than welcome to!
I would take it as an educational experience for the teacher. They know what they are teaching (the subject) but they are not an all rounder. If I knew the teacher, that she is otherwise nice, then I would not be grumpy over it, and it would be a pleasure to introduce her to some of the things our religion has to offer!
^yes..it was well said indeed. Yet...no matter what the intention of the teacher was...dont you think that a primary school teacher should know that some people do not celebrate christmas? Sheesh...and then to go questioning the child as if the child is being deprived of something necessary...thats what I found disturbing, not that she should be fired from her job or hunted over it. But yes, having a chat with the teacher is a very nice solution.
Along this logic... Should Chinese celebrate Christmas? They don't even celebrate new year (Jan 1). They have their own new year celebrations according to the lunar calender. Every culture is different.
Next, the teacher might ask the kid why he does not celebrate Valentine's.
Most of my Chinese neighbors and co-workers do celebrate christmas and new years in US.
^yes..it was well said indeed. Yet...no matter what the intention of the teacher was...dont you think that a primary school teacher should know that some people do not celebrate christmas? Sheesh...and then to go questioning the child as if the child is being deprived of something necessary...thats what I found disturbing, not that she should be fired from her job or hunted over it. But yes, having a chat with the teacher is a very nice solution.
Yes that's very immature of the teacher and it is disturbing. Esp. if she says i*t's a national holiday - no longer religious.* With these words kids are *not gonna be able to EXPRESS themselves rightly- but they KNOW the answer. *
Like I said before, my son might have said we ENJOY Christmas by exchanging gifts - so yes THAT is a way we are contributing to the NATIONAL HOLIDAY. So THAT should answer her queries.
you are absolutely right! she has no right to question a child about that. This is very ignorant of her.
However because many people just like her are ignorant when it comes to this.... it may be a good idea to talk to the classroom about Eid and why we celebrate it and why we dont celebrate christmas.. NOW (as in monday) would be a good time to do this before the holidays start.
. He was making a seasons greetings card.