Sabbath vs. School activities? Lower grades...

[NeedleinA]

Well school for the kiddos is almost upon us in our area of the world again. I'm not sure how it is in your areas, but for us here, the schools have a huge chunk of their high school activities routinely on Sunday: Cross country, band concerts, show choir, etc. It has been this way for as long as I can remember now. One of the school board members was a Sister in our last Ward. This concern was brought up to her in an open forum discussion at Church. She said her hands are basically tied, and that useless enough parents complained, there was unfortunately nothing she could do.

If the students don't attend these Sunday events, it "does" hurt their grades.

So, curious what you would do?
Have them participate and get an "A".
Have them miss the event and get a "B" or a "C" instead?

I'm of the thought that it is better to take a B or a C ? How about you?

[LeSellers]

4 minutes ago, NeedleinA said:

So, curious what you would do?

Take them out of the government-run, tax-funded welfare schools entirely.

Just another reason. GRTF-Welfare schools were designed to weaken families and undermine Christianity. Doing a great job, ain't they?

Lehi

[zil]

Keep the Sabbath day holy (as best you know how).  The end.  An A in God's class is worth more than every A any school can give anyone.  (Especially since an A from an educational institution means nothing more than that you played the school's game the way they wanted you to.  No offense to teachers - I learned much from many good ones, but I learned sometime in high school that grades weren't about whether I learned something or not, they were about a set of rules and as long as I played the rules, I got As.  It was up to me whether I learned something.)

I know colleges and what-not look at grades and this could be a sacrifice, but nothing is worth violating a commandment.  Turn your future over to the Lord and trust him to make up for whatever is lost by keeping the commandments.

That said, I wouldn't keep quiet.  There are likely lots of other people who feel the same way, and not just Mormons.  It seems like a good way for various Christians to join together.  (Personally, I don't think schools should even do things on Saturday - let families have the weekend already - that extra-curricular stuff they do isn't crucial - lots of us survived just fine without it.)

[NightSG]

1 hour ago, NeedleinA said:

One of the school board members was a Sister in our last Ward. This concern was brought up to her in an open forum discussion at Church. She said her hands are basically tied, and that useless enough parents complained, there was unfortunately nothing she could do.

Don't you have some Southern Baptists around you can recruit into raising hell over this?  (As long as football isn't affected, of course.  It's a holy ritual for most of them.)  

[prisonchaplain]

For a grade to depend upon participation in an event outside of school hours, particularly on a religious holy day (Sabbath counts) strikes me as illegal. There are law firms that do free work for just this kind of thing. Where it could get sticky is if the lower grades are not directly related to non-participation, but rather that the student comes to be seen as less eager, less of a team player, and that marks go down because of a loss of grace/trust.  BUT, if this is official--no Sunday play, your grade drops--you may have a case.

[MrShorty]

40 minutes ago, zil said:

Keep the Sabbath day holy (as best you know how). 

This. Though, in a little bit different discussion direction, how different is "my school class requires me to participate in this activity on Sunday so I think it is okay to participate" from "my employer (including the NFL for LDS professional football players) requires me to work on Sunday, so it is okay."?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, LeSellers said:

Take them out of the government-run, tax-funded welfare schools entirely.

Just another reason. GRTF-Welfare schools were designed to weaken families and undermine Christianity. Doing a great job, ain't they?

Lehi

How did I know you were going to say that? 

Always dependable.  And always consistent.  I like consistency.

[Guest]

45 minutes ago, prisonchaplain said:

For a grade to depend upon participation in an event outside of school hours, particularly on a religious holy day (Sabbath counts) strikes me as illegal. There are law firms that do free work for just this kind of thing. Where it could get sticky is if the lower grades are not directly related to non-participation, but rather that the student comes to be seen as less eager, less of a team player, and that marks go down because of a loss of grace/trust.  BUT, if this is official--no Sunday play, your grade drops--you may have a case.

YES! YES! YES! and even more YESes!!!

Or, should I say AMEN, brother!!!

Edited August 10, 2016 by Guest

[Guest MormonGator]

Grades are pretty superficial and mean nothing in the long run. I know of D students growing up who graduated college with honors. Several of them actually.

Edited August 10, 2016 by MormonGator

[Backroads]

1 hour ago, prisonchaplain said:

For a grade to depend upon participation in an event outside of school hours, particularly on a religious holy day (Sabbath counts) strikes me as illegal. There are law firms that do free work for just this kind of thing. Where it could get sticky is if the lower grades are not directly related to non-participation, but rather that the student comes to be seen as less eager, less of a team player, and that marks go down because of a loss of grace/trust.  BUT, if this is official--no Sunday play, your grade drops--you may have a case.

As someone who works in education, I concur with this. I don't know Texas law, but this doesn't seem legally kosher.

Bring it up.

And I'm takin this to my teacher forum for further perspective.

Edited August 10, 2016 by Backroads

[paracaidista508]

1 hour ago, MormonGator said:

Grades are pretty superficial and mean nothing in the long run. I know of D students growing up who graduated college with honors. Several of them actually.

I agree except when you are in college trying to figure out how to pay the  tuition because you couldnt get a scholarship then it isnt so superficial anymore.

 

[paracaidista508]

1 hour ago, prisonchaplain said:

For a grade to depend upon participation in an event outside of school hours, particularly on a religious holy day (Sabbath counts) strikes me as illegal. There are law firms that do free work for just this kind of thing. Where it could get sticky is if the lower grades are not directly related to non-participation, but rather that the student comes to be seen as less eager, less of a team player, and that marks go down because of a loss of grace/trust.  BUT, if this is official--no Sunday play, your grade drops--you may have a case.

I say go to the events...get good grades, get a scholarship, become a lawyer and sue them to ruins.

Then nobody will have any school stuff on weekends because they will be broke. That will teach em.

I do agree- this is likely illegal. Find someone of another denomination to make a stink though. NOBODY cares what mormons think to include the courts.

[omegaseamaster75]

2 hours ago, NeedleinA said:

Well school for the kiddos is almost upon us in our area of the world again. I'm not sure how it is in your areas, but for us here, the schools have a huge chunk of their high school activities routinely on Sunday: Cross country, band concerts, show choir, etc. It has been this way for as long as I can remember now. One of the school board members was a Sister in our last Ward. This concern was brought up to her in an open forum discussion at Church. She said her hands are basically tied, and that useless enough parents complained, there was unfortunately nothing she could do.

If the students don't attend these Sunday events, it "does" hurt their grades.

So, curious what you would do?
Have them participate and get an "A".
Have them miss the event and get a "B" or a "C" instead?

I'm of the thought that it is better to take a B or a C ? How about you?

I have never heard of this in my part of the country and you don't get more liberal than where I am from. Pretty much everything happens during the week, with the odd Saturday thrown in. Nothing on Sundays school related. Someone on the school board is pulling the strings for their own convenience 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Carborendum said:

How did I know you were going to say that? 

Always dependable.  And always consistent.  I like consistency.

If lds.net were a drinking game...

 

(that would be bad)

[NeedleinA]

13 minutes ago, Eowyn said:

If lds.net were a drinking game...

 

(that would be bad)

Beer for everyone!  root beer I mean

[NeedleinA]

dup

Edited August 10, 2016 by NeedleinA

[Guest MormonGator]

5 minutes ago, NeedleinA said:

Beer for everyone!  root beer I mean

Needle stop lying to us. I saw you at a Rangers game slugging whiskey with all the good ole' boys! 
 

[Guest MormonGator]

dupe

Edited August 10, 2016 by MormonGator

[Backroads]

The teacher forum is shocked at graded requirements outside school hours.

Many teachers have forms for excusing students due to holy days during the regular week.

[Blackmarch]

5 hours ago, NeedleinA said:

Well school for the kiddos is almost upon us in our area of the world again. I'm not sure how it is in your areas, but for us here, the schools have a huge chunk of their high school activities routinely on Sunday: Cross country, band concerts, show choir, etc. It has been this way for as long as I can remember now. One of the school board members was a Sister in our last Ward. This concern was brought up to her in an open forum discussion at Church. She said her hands are basically tied, and that useless enough parents complained, there was unfortunately nothing she could do.

If the students don't attend these Sunday events, it "does" hurt their grades.

So, curious what you would do?
Have them participate and get an "A".
Have them miss the event and get a "B" or a "C" instead?

I'm of the thought that it is better to take a B or a C ? How about you?

who and what is more important? The lord's way is the way of sacrifice.

[anatess2]

2 hours ago, Blackmarch said:

who and what is more important? The lord's way is the way of sacrifice.

Of course, God is.  But, that doesn't mean you should just give up on school because it conflicts.

This is the anatess-family way - if school conflicts with God, we work our buns off to resolve that conflict.  It is, of course, important to get good grades.  It is a test for a kid to figure out how he can succeed under an authority figure whose rules may not be fair or may conflict with one's morality - and succeed without sacrificing one's principles..

As @MormonGator stated, the grade doesn't necessarily mean you mastered or failed your academics.  Rather, the grade is something you achieve to learn how you can work under someone's imperfect authority.  Yes, learning to brown-nose while sticking to one's principles is a useful skill...

 

Edited August 10, 2016 by anatess2

[tesuji]

8 hours ago, NeedleinA said:

Well school for the kiddos is almost upon us in our area of the world again. I'm not sure how it is in your areas, but for us here, the schools have a huge chunk of their high school activities routinely on Sunday: Cross country, band concerts, show choir, etc. It has been this way for as long as I can remember now. One of the school board members was a Sister in our last Ward. This concern was brought up to her in an open forum discussion at Church. She said her hands are basically tied, and that useless enough parents complained, there was unfortunately nothing she could do.

If the students don't attend these Sunday events, it "does" hurt their grades.

So, curious what you would do?
Have them participate and get an "A".
Have them miss the event and get a "B" or a "C" instead?

I'm of the thought that it is better to take a B or a C ? How about you?

I would put the Lord first and pray and have faith that it will work out.

Sunday activities affecting grades is ridiculous to me, but it sounds like that's how it is, unless you try a different educational route.

In my experience, having that Sunday day off mentally helps me do better in the remaining 6 days of the week

 

[zil]

5 hours ago, paracaidista508 said:

sue them to ruins.

Do you need me to find you the scripture which says this is wrong?  Or would you like to do that on your own?

[LeSellers]

7 hours ago, Carborendum said:

How did I know you were going to say that?

Because you know I speak the truth.

Lehi

[LeSellers]

1 hour ago, zil said:

Do you need me to find you the scripture which says this is wrong?  Or would you like to do that on your own?

Please provide.

Lehi