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You don't want people questioning your statements? Don't post on internet forums.
That was not her point at all and if was the best rebuttal that you could think of, well...people in intellectual glass houses should not throw stones.
Her point as I took it, was that kids are not stressed out to the level that they need to add yoga to the curriculum. Just as you are allowed to disagree with her she is also allowed to disagree with you.
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Originally Posted by Unsettomati
I just looked at the forecast - rain all day today. I mentioned this to my kindergarten-teacher wife. She sighed and said, "Indoor recess today". I asked what this entails. She related that they'll watch a video which leads them through yoga moves (apparently, within the context of a story about Sparky the Penguin). This is intended to fill the void left by the lack of physical activity when there is no recess. It helps, she said, but nothing works as well as actual outdoor recess.
No one has complained yet. Apparently there are no insane parents here--- well, scratch that... my wife's been a teacher for years, and the parental insanity never ends. But at least, here, so far, no one has insanely tried to characterize this simple set of exercises as 'anti-Christian'. Of course, we're in Minnesota. We do have fundamentalist nutjobs here, as well as ignorant people, but both are in considerably shorter supply than elsewhere, and unlike some places, fundamentalist ignorance is neither mainstream nor respected here.
Interesting. I think that is actually the point that some are making here. Thanks for giving us the perspective of someone who is actually there.
Ok now breath in, hold it....hold it....goooood now slowly exhale and keep your eyes closed. Good now bring your arm slowly around to the other side, really feel the stretch. Gooood do you feel that....ok now inhale again slowly and deeply.....ok now we will summon the dark lord satan who will rule the universe, Katy would you slaughter the virgin sacrifice for us? Goooood.
Her point as I took it, was that kids are not stressed out to the level that they need to add yoga to the curriculum.
Yes!
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Originally Posted by mochamajesty
Interesting. I think that is actually the point that some are making here. Thanks for giving us the perspective of someone who is actually there.
I thought the same. Interesting bit from a poster whose wife teaches very young kids...
I think yoga is a good idea for older kids (one of OP's links in the first few paragraphs mentions benefits for adolescents). It would be a nice alternative to plain old gym. Older kids don't need to "run around" like little ones do. I think yoga could benefit teens who have a tougher class/homework load and a lot more responsibility in their busier lives. Between SATs/other standardized tests, sports, clubs, part-time jobs, AP classes and tests, college apps and prep, I think high school kids could definitely benefit more from optional yoga. Like I said, my high school offered dance as a gym alternate and I really enjoyed that change.
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
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Originally Posted by john620
This issue reflects the problem with "schooling" and "education". Education is basically a form of brain washing where students are forced to memorize biased information and are programmed with a thought process and must spew out this biased information on tests and essays using the thought process they were programmed with in order to pass. Whether it's being forced to take this class or forced to memorize this bit of information, it is amazing to me that so many parents relinquish their parental prerogative to schools. If you want your kids to be raised how you want you have to raise them and teach them. Home schooling is the way to go especially after elementary school years.
Yes, they will be steeped in STEM subjects I am sure. Parents have so much expertise in that, right?
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dpm1
We did Yoga in my catholic high school during gym. This is just a handful of people whining and a resulting handful of people whining on the internet about the whining.
Don't you know that the evangelical fundynuts have decreed that Catholics are not real christians?
I thought the same. Interesting bit from a poster whose wife teaches very young kids...
I think yoga is a good idea for older kids (one of OP's links in the first few paragraphs mentions benefits for adolescents). It would be a nice alternative to plain old gym. Older kids don't need to "run around" like little ones do. I think yoga could benefit teens who have a tougher class/homework load and a lot more responsibility in their busier lives. Between SATs/other standardized tests, sports, clubs, part-time jobs, AP classes and tests, college apps and prep, I think high school kids could definitely benefit more from optional yoga. Like I said, my high school offered dance as a gym alternate and I really enjoyed that change.
I agree with this. High school is a totally different animal. In fact, I don't remember elementary being stressful at all. But, I attended elementary school in the 80s FWIW.
If the school systems are stressing kids out to the point that they need yoga, what are we doing? It only gets worse from there.
I agree with this. High school is a totally different animal. In fact, I don't remember elementary being stressful at all. But, I attended elementary school in the 80s FWIW.
I attended elementary school from the late 90s to early 00s and I also don't remember it being stressful. I actually always remember wishing I could go back to the easy days of elementary as I got older and things got harder, then same with middle school, then when I was in college, same with high school. However, something I mentioned earlier, I grew up in a nice, upscale suburban town. It's entirely possible that kids growing up in rougher areas in different family situations have more stressful lives, but I still don't think it's to the point with so many kids that yoga needs to be implemented in elementary schools.
High school yoga? I support that 100%, as long as it's optional. I don't think some high schools kids would take well to being forced to do yoga - especially boys. On that note, I think elementary yoga would be better if it was also optional - like parents are told, 'we will be doing these optional yoga sessions, if you think it would help your kid they are more than welcome to attend.'
Quote:
Originally Posted by mochamajesty
If the school systems are stressing kids out to the point that they need yoga, what are we doing? It only gets worse from there.
Schools around the nation are adding yoga programs, which have proven to help reduce students’ stress and anxiety levels. But one Georgia district found the reaction to its lessons anything but calm.
Bullard Elementary School in Kennesaw decided to make changes to its yoga classes after Christian parents complained about the Hindu origins of the exercises.
“No prayer in schools. Some don’t even say the pledge, yet they’re pushing ideology on our students,” mother Susan Jaramillo told 11Alive. “Some of those things are religious practices that we don’t want our children doing in our schools.”
The school hasn’t cancelled yoga; however, principal Patrice Moore sent a letter of apology to parents and vowed to tweak the program.
Yoga can also help children with anger issues, bullying or anxiety over school work, Crawford said.
More control from the religious community. I'm assuming that parents would rather have their kids hooked on over the counter drugs because it's worked so very well for their parents.
I am one for not having any religious teaching in schools but this isn't teaching kids about religion either.
I disagree, my friend: they want them hooked on PRESCRIPTION drugs.
I fail to understand why people think Yoga is a religious practice. It's a health practice. Just because it was invented by a Hindu doesn't make it part of the Hindu religion. It's like saying having a Facebook account is practicing Judaism.
Yoga has it's birth in a religion. It is not just an exercise. It becomes a state of mind. Christians have their own state of mind. The state has no business installing a religion in any form no matter how watered down or culturally normalized. Serious practitioners of Yoga treat it as a religion....so lets keep church and state separate. Parents have the right also to discourage new age mystic beliefs thrust upon their children. Children are property and product of the bodies of their parents. They are not the property of the state.....if parents do not claim their children as their material property....then the state will.
Your post shows a complete lack of understanding of First Amendment law in this country. Perhaps, if you had read posts #201 and #235 you might have learned you were mistaken.
Allow me to summarize. The question is whether any official act has the effect of "establishing a religion" by a government institution. The U.S. Supreme Court recognized early on that religions influence many aspects of life and culture. Therefore, the Supreme Court developed a test for determining whether an official act establishes a religion in violation of the First Amendment. Part 1 of the test is to ask the question does an act have a primary secular purpose? Teaching Yoga in schools is secular in nature. This is being done to give children assistance relaxing and concentrating so that they can perform better in school. Part 2 of the test is to ask the question whether the act will have the affect of advancing a religion. The answer to this is clearly "no". The children are not likely to even be taught what religion Yoga comes from. No tenets of that religion will be taught them. Ministers of that religion will not be used to teach Yoga. Finally, Part 3 of the test is to ask whether or not the act will create an excessive entanglement between religion and the state. It creates no entanglement at all. The answer to that question is "no" as well. Under the Supreme Court's test Yoga can be taught children in public school without violating the establishment clause of the First Amendment. See Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 US 602 (1970).
If parents don't like their kids learning Yoga, perhaps they should take them out of the public schools. Personally, I think that attitude is nuts. However, at least they are on firm legal ground when they say they have a right to do that.
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However, something I mentioned earlier, I grew up in a nice, upscale suburban town. It's entirely possible that kids growing up in rougher areas in different family situations have more stressful lives, but I still don't think it's to the point with so many kids that yoga needs to be implemented in elementary schools. 
