Human Rights - a Little Common Sense Please

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has awarded a family $12,000 because they were convinced that a Montessori School discriminated against a child who was barred from preschool.

The couple who are atheists objected to the school in any way acknowledging Christmas, Hanukkah, Remembrance Day, Valentines Day or Easter. They were aggressive in their refusal to accept any of the normal cultural practices of the school. The school then demanded that they sign a letter agreeing to the policy or else the young student would not be allowed to enrol. The parents refused to sign - yelled foul and took it to the Tribunal.

It needs to be noted that this is preschool and a private preschool at that. The mother was on the board and should have known that the school encouraged the young children to be aware of and celebrate special holidays. If the parents did not want their child to participate in any of these activities, they really needed to look at other options.

I am not saying that it is appropriate for schools, whether private or public, to make people follow specific religious practices nor is it right for that school to dismiss a family’s specific cultural practices.. But it is difficult to see how decorating elf ornaments or lighting candles is forcing children into religious practices or preventing them from following their own.

I understand that some families believe that telling kids there is a Santa Claus is lying to children and therefore sets a bad precedent. The parents were welcome to tell their child that Santa Clause was not true, that there was no tooth fairy, and that the Easter Bunny did not deliver chocolate eggs. But all parents when their child is of a certain age, and starts to question the stories, tell the truth and then very specifically state - “don’t tell your younger brother or sister or your friends - “let them believe in the magic for a little bit longer”. It was the atheist parents with unusually values (arguing that Valentines Day or Remembrance Day should not be recognized has nothing to do with atheism) who were unable to be flexible.

I understand that some people can not/do not believe in any sort of religion. For them, the concept of any sort of higher power is an anathema to their entire being. But it is up to those parents to explain to their child that they believe something different than other people. It is not the school’s job to isolate children from the activities and cultural norms of the world around them.

I think it would be great if we could do away with much of Christmas, Valentines Day and Easter. But even if I wished to outlaw it in my life, and even in my children’s school life, we would all still be exposed to all of the hype and commercialism and yes even a little bit of the religion. If this family want to keep their young child pure with no exposure to all of the silly celebrations and commercialism - they better plan on moving somewhere deep in the boreal forest where no one else lives.

Or else they could take these celebrations as teaching moments - moments when they could explain to their child why they believed something different. It is their choice what they do but we should not reward them for demanding that their way is the only way.