Should Schools Have Religion Themed Holiday Decorations - Essay Example

 Yes, schools should have religion themed holiday decorations because that symbolizes that schools also share the religious concerns of the learners like all other matters influential upon their social, moral and spiritual upbringing. One’s association with one’s religion is supposedly the strongest of all links one can think of. Religion plays the most fundamental role in designing and shaping one’s frame of mind through which one perceives the world and interacts with the surroundings. There is no point discussing that one would value the education gained in schools above what one gains from the religion. The underlying reality is that one has obligatory association with the former and an emotional one with the latter. Therefore, it is important for schools to respect the religious beliefs, values, norms, and festivals of the learners in order to achieve their sincerity and loyalty for their formal studies at school, which is essential for the attainment of education. “Imagery of any type, but particularly religious, is an extremely strong and evocative tool.” (Bate, 2010). This paper evaluates the positive and negative aspects of decorating the schools as per the religious festivals. Positive aspects: Religious decorations in the school represent schools’ participation in the religious festivals. Schools are equipped with students from multi-cultural and differing religious backgrounds. It is not uncommon for students from different religions to indulge in racial fights. Many inter-personal conflicts emerge from the differences of religion. It fundamentally happens because of a lack of understanding and respect for the religiosity of students from other religions. Students take schools as a sacred means of education, and are ready to accept the messages conveyed by the school because of their long-term belief upon it. In such circumstances, school’s involvement in the festivals of different religions through meaningful decorations spreads the message of peace and harmony among the individuals which is verisimilar to decrease the conflicts among students based on differing religions. In addition to removing conflicts, schools’ participation in religious festivals is a source of education for all students regarding other religious festivals and their underlying beliefs. Usually, people do not tend to understand or seek knowledge about religions they do not relate to. Muslims usually know little about Christians, Christians have little knowledge of Hinduism, Hindus are unaware of Jewish beliefs and festivals, and same holds true for all other religions and their believers. Schools’ participation in religious festivals educates students from other religions on the traits of a particular religion whose festival is celebrated at a particular point in time. “Public schools may not provide religious instruction but may teach about religion.” (Anon., 2000). Students tend to remain close to their religion when they observe the whole school involved in it. Schools reserved to formal education that addresses the pre-defined curriculum lack a touch of originality and spirituality. Unless the curricula are enriched with the religious blessings, education remains limited to materialism. Administration’s act of decorating the school as per the religious festivals speaks of its practical role of an educator. Students often display poor performance in academics because they get fed up of the routinely activities. They require a break in order to recapitulate their energies to perform better in their exams. That is why, schools regularly arrange co-curricular activities, stage shows, educational trips and other cultural and religious festivals. Students are encouraged to take active participation in the co-curricular activities because it not only defines their hidden capabilities, but is also very important for their psychological nourishment. When the students receive a go-ahead to decorate the school as per the religious festival at hand, they avail an opportunity to make a temporary escape from the usual boring routine of the school. This freshens them up and they take their studies seriously as a result. Negative aspects: Although there are a lot of advantages of a school’s involvement in religious festivals and decorations, yet there may be occasional disadvantages. Different religions have different number of festivals in a year at different times, that address different religious beliefs. The most fundamental disadvantage of a school’s involvement in religious activities is negative response from the students of other religions particularly when there are many festivals pertaining to a specific religion. In such cases, students from other religions visualize the school as inclined and biased towards a particular religion, and they feel ignored. In other cases, schools might themselves suffer from too many activities in addition to the regular curriculum, and hence it might become difficult and unmanageable to administer them. In the present age, a lot of schools all over the world cater for the education of children coming from different religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Addressing the religious festival related decorations of all students from all religions would convert a school into a home of religious festivals, and it would compromise upon its underlying cause of imparting education. Also, there might be times when religious festivals of two different religions coincide. When this happens, it becomes extremely cumbersome for the school administration to decide which religion’s festival to address. Conclusion: As discussed in the paper above, there are definitely some disadvantages of a school’s involvement in religious festival decorations before holidays in contrast to the advantages. However, the advantages that can be drawn from this activity outnumber the disadvantages. The disadvantages would not be evident in all cases all over the world because not all schools have such an ethnic and religious diversity as is prevalent in schools in some of the most advanced countries. Secondly, schools can effectively manage the religious activities along with the curriculum provided that they can ensure administration and management. However, what is more important is complete support and appreciation from the government. In USA, “On June 25, l962, 39 million students were forbidden to do what they and their predecessors had been doing since the founding of our nation.” (Bergel, 1988, para. 2). In other words, religious activities in schools were banned, which had its own consequences. Therefore, government assumes a fundamental role in deciding the activities and religious proceedings of schools. References: Bate, S. (2010). Should governments permit decorations for religious holidays in public squares? Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/items/893184-should-governments- permit-decorations-for-religious-holidays-in-public-squares. Bergel, G. (1988, May). Banning Prayer in Public Schools Has Led to America's Demise. Retrieved from http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0098_Ban_on_school_prayer.html. Anon. (2000). Federal Guidelines for Religious Expression in Public Schools. Retrieved from http://www.adherents.com/misc/fed_guidelines.html. Read More