As a future teacher, I found this topic interesting because when the students come up to me in the classroom and they spoke of God or brought their bibles all I could really say was it was not school appropriate. The majority of students are too young to question me on my response so it has never been an issue. However, up until now I have never really understood why teachers have always bypassed the topic of God other than they were not allowed to discuss the topic because of lawsuit potential. Looking into the Bill of Rights and seeing how it began and what it has become over the years has brought a new perspective and enlightenment to me. The issues that surround this topic are one of heightened sensitivity and personal beliefs. I feel like that because of researching this topic I am better prepared to answer that question if and when it is asked of why it is not school appropriate. I feel like I am also better prepared to pick and choose how cultural holidays need to be addressed. I plan on finding out students religious beliefs through a "Get to know you" questionnaire for the students and parents at the beginning of the year to be proactive to avoid any future problems or issues that may arise.
As a Social Studies teacher it would be interesting to poll the students in my classroom to see if they know anything on this topic and if they do how would answer the poll accordingly to their belief system. Once the poll is completed I could take the students answers and compare them to the adults to see how they compare or contrast. Teaching religion as related to the objectives would allow students to analyze, evaluate, and interpret the development of religion not only in the US but in our neighboring countries. The rigorous material and critical thinking that the students would be involved in would be a great way for them to grow in their learning. It would also give the students an opportunity to work with historical documents that they may not come in contact with until much older. Students would learn about their rights as a citizen and how diverse cultures rights play into our history (past, current and future).