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From my own experience, Mormons basically kept to themselves in junior high and high school. I can't really recall being teased specifically by Mormons. Honestly, I had a lot of Mormon acquaintances because we had similar interests outside of religion. But I couldn't really get in their crowd. I was asked several times to attend church functions but I declined. I found most teasing came from those that attended mainstream Christian churches. I grew up mostly in West Boise but I also lived in East Boise as well. Lets just say I had many more friends and dealt with much less teasing in East Boise.
I do not see why it matters.. if you are secure in your faith then who cares what everyone else is. To me this sounds like someone who wants only the people who believe what they believe around. I am not trying to be mean to the original poster but just because the public school isnt full of LDS kids you don't want to send your kids there... sounds like you are shelting them way to much or afraid they will be influenced by others which means you have more of a problem than which school to choose. Judge a school by the grades it gets in relation to other schools and the crime rate/llivability of the community you want to live in not if the school is all LDS or not.
I think you misunderstood this thread. It's not even about religion. It's about sending your children to schools where they will be welcomed and fit in. I think all parents want that for their children. I know I do. I have nothing whatsoever against Mormons. If they included my family and my child then I would be thrilled, but rumor has it that they stay with others like themselves and don't include non-Mormon children in their social activities. I would think it would be more comfortable for my child to be in a school where she is with children who don't exclude her.
From my own experience, Mormons basically kept to themselves in junior high and high school. I can't really recall being teased specifically by Mormons. Honestly, I had a lot of Mormon acquaintances because we had similar interests outside of religion. But I couldn't really get in their crowd. I was asked several times to attend church functions but I declined. I found most teasing came from those that attended mainstream Christian churches. I grew up mostly in West Boise but I also lived in East Boise as well. Lets just say I had many more friends and dealt with much less teasing in East Boise.
Are you familiar with Combes Park subdivision and Bristol Heights in West Boise? Was that predominantly LDS?
Gimme it said it very fairly. I am the original poster and fearnofish couldn't have misunderstood me more! I am from a multicultural multilingual background myself, have lived all over the world and attended schools with incredible religious diversity (in fact my high school was predominantly muslim) and have had no issues myself with exclusion from making lifelong friends with people of other faiths, so when I raise my children they will learn to be respectful and make friends of all faiths the same way I did.
However, when it is 'known' that a particular faith is not as inclusive as others then I don't want to put my children through that. This is their childhood we are talking about and they are too little to have the maturity to view the issue with the wisdom that an adult would. All they will see is that they can't go play at somebodies house (or some other scenario) and won't understand why. I have many friends who have experienced first hand growing up in predominantly LDS communities who have painful memories of their childhood. Knowing this, coupled with the knowledge that there are areas that have a strong LDS influence in Boise led me to ask the question in my original post. I want to remain respectful of LDS faith and in fact I think there are values within the mormon culture that I think are to be commended (especially the weekly family night and the committment to giving back to the community) and I can understand why LDS stick together in their communities and rely upon eachother because they see their friends at church and therefore at school. It makes total sense to me. Heck, we do the same thing without religion being even part of the equation.
Anyway I wasn't intending on starting a major debate about religion. I have my faith and will raise my kids accordingly. Ultimately I can only guide them but their life experiences will shape them too.
I think you misunderstood this thread. It's not even about religion. It's about sending your children to schools where they will be welcomed and fit in. I think all parents want that for their children. I know I do. I have nothing whatsoever against Mormons. If they included my family and my child then I would be thrilled, but rumor has it that they stay with others like themselves and don't include non-Mormon children in their social activities. I would think it would be more comfortable for my child to be in a school where she is with children who don't exclude her.
For those reasons, I can say i understand where you're coming from
Mormons are very welcoming and inclusive so long as you're willing to become converts... it's kinda creepy like that... I watched many people I grew up with start going to church out of social acceptance rather than actually believing in any of it...
I grew up mormon, and I know all too well how it is.. it doesn't just exist between mormon/non mormons, but there is also divides within the mormon clique's as well, depending on how influencial their family is in the church..
it really is stupid...
There are very valid reasons why Mormons are considered a cult, and by all official definitions the mormon church is indeed a cult, but many mormon's would scream at such a label... I don't think it's a big deal though.. it is what it is.. and cult or not, it's a socially accepted religious group nonetheless...
their stance primarily when there is a large majority of members in an area is that they tend to keep to themselves out of fear that non-mormon kids and families don't hold the same values they do, and that their children will "hang with the wrong crowd" that somehow the right crowd is other mormon kids.. make sense? Nothing can be further from the truth of course, and what that ends up doing is making them come off as snobs, and holier than thou, and unwelcoming... it's one of those things they do without even thinking about it.. it's the product of the collective believing and formulating opinions along the same lines...
It is what it is.... I wouldn't let it effect you as an adult, but when it comes to kids, I can understand.. kids can be downright cruel.. for no reason at all.. and the ridiculousness in what parents teach and say in their homes often times finds itself being reflected in actions and words and behaviours towards others in the school...
Are you familiar with Combes Park subdivision and Bristol Heights in West Boise? Was that predominantly LDS?
I am familiar with Bristol Heights but I can't tell you for sure if it is predominantly LDS. I can only say the further West you go in the Treasure Valley the more conservative it will be. Hopefully someone can help you out here.
If you go to Google maps and do a search for latter day saints ward boise, id (or meridian or eagle) they will come up on the map. The more wards there are in a given area the higher the density of LDS in the area. I know they will stack ward services in a given church until they need to build another ward church. Out where I live, ten mile-ustick-linder-mcmillan threre is only one church within the square mile and I think my neighborhood (Bridgetower) is predominantly LDS. If you look at the map there are as many as four in a square mile in many sections of Boise. Just look at the map and you should be able to get a good idea of the local LDS population. Link: <latter day saints ward - Google Maps>
Seriously its not that big of an issue unless you or your child turn it into one.
I went to school on McMillan Road my entire childhood. McMillan elementary, Lowell Scott Middle and Centennial High School. I graduated in 1996.
Are there a lot of Mormons? Yes. But I never found them to be particularly exclusive, they just schedule a lot of events that you won't know about if you aren't part of their church system, especially on Wednesdays. It wasn't really a conscious effort to keep anyone else out, but just that they had their own events. Others are always welcome as long as they come with a friend (ie not just a party crasher) and are willing to put up with prayers and whatnot quietly. In other words, you don't have to participate, but don't be a disturbance.
I am a strong atheist. In high school, I would have called myself an agnostic. I did get called a heathen by a few strict mormons, but you know what? I laughed and agreed with them, made it a joke. They realized I wasn't going to be insulted by it, and I actually came to be friends with most of them. My entire group of close friends was nonreligious, or at least nonpracticing. Every high school has "cliques", and the Mormons certainly had theirs, but it was really no different than any other high school "clique". It certainly wasn't like half the school or anything.
I went to college in Logan, Utah. Small college town in Mormon central. During the school year, I would say 80% of the town is Mormon. All 15 roommates I had there were Mormon. Know what? I didn't get converted, and I had a great time. They invited me to all their events, many of which I did go to, and I remain good friends with several of them still today.
How YOUR child handles the situation is as important as the situation itself. Teach them to be tolerent, and to have patience and a sense of humor about those who are less so. Not to laugh at them, but to get them to laugh with your children, and to be able to laugh at themselves.
I can't tell you why agents do what they do. I personally wouldn't list my religious affiliation on a website as I feel it's inappropriate. Agents cannot "steer people to specific neighborhoods based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin- it's against the law. Below is a link to the Fair Housing Act.
Please know this is not my opinion, this is the law I'm required to follow whether I believe in it our not. I understand your point of view, but if agents are steering you to neighborhoods based on religion, I would interpret that as a violation of the Fair Housing Act. Can you find agents that will do that?....Oh, I'm sure you can!
As far as the Eagle schools go, your best bet is to go to greatschools.org, that's what a lot of my clients do. I do not have children in that school district so I don't have any first hand information to offer.
Torrie, in this one case, I am going to have to disagree with you. I believe if you have first hand knowledge, or access to independant surveys that show the proportion of a certain religion, you can state it as a fact. If you live in a subdivision, I would say that qualifies you to offer an estimate, ie "most of my neighbors are Mormons" or "there is only one Mormon on my street".
The Fair Housing Act isn't violated unless you steer someone toward or away from a subdivision because of one of the categories, eg religion. So you can say "there is 1 Mormon church for every 50 houses in this subdivision" but not "you don't want to live there, you wouldn't fit in".
If asked a factual question, I think it is fair to give either a factual answer, or an I don't know, whichever the case may be. (Of course, there are exceptions to this, such as stigmatized properties and mental care facilities, but that is a whole other topic)
It is a fine line, however. If someone comes to you and says "I want to live in a subdivision with at least 75% Mormon families", my response (if I were an agent, which I am not), would be "talk to the church, find out which subdivisions those are, and we'll see what is available" I feel that would be coming down on the right side of the line.
I think you misunderstood this thread. It's not even about religion. It's about sending your children to schools where they will be welcomed and fit in. I think all parents want that for their children. I know I do. I have nothing whatsoever against Mormons. If they included my family and my child then I would be thrilled, but rumor has it that they stay with others like themselves and don't include non-Mormon children in their social activities. I would think it would be more comfortable for my child to be in a school where she is with children who don't exclude her.
I agree. When I first read it I thought you were a mormon and wanted to send your kids to a mormon only type school.
Thinking back to HighSchool the mormon kids did basically stick together. I don't know if I'd say they exclude others but they were not the best at 'blending' with everyone else I guess.
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