Originally posted by Mongoose
I'm sorry if I sounded like I was tooting my own horn there; I just took offense at the feelings of some that religious schools are unnecessary. Personally, I feel that religiously-affiliated schools are very necessary. They provide important, quality alternatives to public schools in failing districts, a role which explains my support for school tuition vouchers for private/parochial schools. They provide a place for those of religious faith to daily express their personal values without fear of repercussions. They provide environments for learning about one's faith, without having to deal with questions of constitutionality.
One thing they do not do is instill in their pupils a sense that "other" students are "inferior." During my 12 years of schooling, I never once received that impression, and many of my friends go/have gone to public schools. To me, that distinction is nonexistent. Other kids were not "aliens;" they just didn't go to our school. I do know, however, from what I've heard about our public school system (which is supposed to be one of the best in the state, at least on paper), I'm glad I went to parochial school; I haven't had to deal with a lot of crap that seems more prevalent at public schools.
What I do find strange is that religious schools in Scotland are publicly funded. Add to that the fact that they're now forcing them to combine campuses, and I think the whole situation is very strange. Religious schools are supposed to be alternatives to state-funded education, not different iterations of it. I'm not objecting to the fact that the children from different schools will be mingling; far from it, I think that is a very good thing. What I am objecting to is the Scottish government's interference in the business of religiously-affiliated schools; it takes away the authority of the dioceses that are running the schools. Obviously, things are different in Scotland; this would obviously never happen in the United States.
Firstly, AFAIK the situation is that the state provides funding for Catholic schools and that the church is responsible for actually administering them. As far as I'm concerned, it's necessary for governmental control over denominational schools to ensure adequate standards and coverage.
Incidentally, I'd argue that it's far better to improve public schools than rely on private or denominational schools to provide a quality alternative. But that's a different situation over here, I'd gather, i don't think Scotland has many schools which would be classed as failing
per se, largely because we're a smaller country. Plus not all Catholic schools are better in educational terms (based upon the annual league tables, some are better, some are worse. where I come from, the Catholic secondary school actually has a much lower average than the non-denominational one i went to)
The situation in Scotland RE: religious schools, and specifically Catholic schools is very different to what I'd imagine your experience would be. What i should emphasise is that, in my personal experience, Catholic schools - specifically the existance of an 'exclusive' set of schools - do breed resentment and, at worst, sectarianism. I speicfically remember going to a library on a sort of joint outing (i.e. which Catholic school pupils also were going along to), and basically having to endure a long series of taunts from certain individuals from said school who were trying to start a fight.
This is likely not a problem in the US simply because
everyone is in some form an immigrant.... i.e. the original resentment (and presumably the reasoning for seperate Schooling) in Scotland can be placed upon the Catholic Irish who emigrated to avoid the potato famine, into what was a massively Protestant country. Unfortunately, the taint of sectarianism is a inherent part of much of Scottish society nowadays, and it's often through misunderstanding or division. What's worse is that it's often not about belief...it's about people pigeonholing themselves into a certain faction because their family is, not because they feel strongly for that religion. And, of course, some of it is just down to football.
From my perspective, I have never seen a benefit for the seperate school.... given that religious education can be exempted on parental wishes, and that it's not difficult to provide a seperate faith based education as an adjunct to 'normal' schooling, I can;t see any purpose in the current system. And, as i said earlier, all i can see is a negative impact*.
*note; this is not to imply that the sectarian problems of Scotland can be blamed as simply on one side or cause, so don;t think I'm saying that removing Catholic schools would solve anything, just that it might help in resolving differences.
EDIT; incidentally, I never saw any sectarian (or indeed religious) tension, etc at my former school. In fact, I'd venture that the majority of my friends are actually Catholic (of those whose religions I know, of course), so certainly there's been nothing in my state education to foster anything. That said, I'm not a person who's easily prejudiced, anyways.
