SHoWLE Objects to Bedford Public Schools forcing kids to attend a religious event

Bedford Public Schools is forc­ing chil­dren to attend an assem­bly dur­ing the school day put on by a reli­gious group in the guise of sui­cide pre­ven­tion. Instead of allow­ing par­ents to opt-in to an event where kids will be “invit­ed” to attend a church ser­vice after school, par­ents must opt-out. The Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie strong­ly oppos­es these assem­blies that attempt to cir­cum­vent church and state sep­a­ra­tion by dis­guis­ing the reli­gious aspect under an impor­tant issue like sui­cide pre­ven­tion of char­ac­ter build­ing.

Carry the Cure is a non-profit orga­ni­za­tion that uti­lizes clin­i­cal tools, cul­tur­al tra­di­tions, and faith-based meth­ods to offer com­mu­ni­ties com­pre­hen­sive sui­cide & abuse pre­ven­tion and healthy life-choice skills. Carry the Cure does­n’t offer any sci­ence based tools that most schools don’t already know and use to help pre­vent chil­dren from com­mit­ting sui­cide.

Groups like Carry the Cure offer schools a free assem­bly on an impor­tant top­ic like sui­cide and dur­ing the pro­gram invite the kids in the audi­ence to anoth­er event either after school or at a local church where ser­mons, tes­ti­mo­ny, and oth­er reli­gious ser­vices not allowed at the assem­bly dur­ing the school day.

SHoWLE believes issues like sui­cide pre­ven­tion and char­ac­ter build­ing are impor­tant and some of that can be addressed in the school, but we object strong­ly to a reli­gious group being allowed to present a fake assem­bly to be used to indoc­tri­nate chil­dren in reli­gion lat­er. We also object that the fake assem­bly is manda­to­ry and requires the par­ents to opt-out. Any pro­gram, espe­cial­ly if it involves a reli­gious group, should always be opt-in with the par­ents ful­ly informed as to pur­pose of the pro­gram, the group pro­vid­ing the pro­gram, and any oth­er ques­tions that arise.

Bedford Public Schools made an error is approv­ing Carry the Cure to per­form their fake assem­bly dur­ing the school day and to force chil­dren to attend.