Parents Protest Yoga Being Taught in Elementary School: Righteous or Not Right?

by tentmaster Posted 2013/01/17 22:00:00

Related Topics: Student, School, Emotion, students, Discipline, Sun, Fitness, Life, Protest, Emotions, Elementary School, Parent, Teaching, Program

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	Righteous practice!	560 votes	66%
	Not right at all!	285 votes	34%

An elementary school in Encinitas, CA has apparently been teaching young students to "thank the sun for their lives" during their new Ashtanga yoga classes as part of the fitness curriculum. The supporters of the new program defend yoga by saying that it will teach mental discipline and help the children regulate their emotions. Is this a good-hearted practice, or unbalanced thinking?

+29

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Xerxes,Phantom of PHAET 2013/01/17 20:23:02

Righteous practice!

+35
Are they afraid, their children will actually get some kind of exercise?
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AaronJasonCumbie 2013/02/08 03:08:36

Righteous practice!

It is nothing but spiritual discipline, and these kids today NEED ALOT of DISCIPLINE

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Little Red 2013/02/05 22:02:05

Righteous practice!

Yoga is amazingly claming and relaxing. And I find it very theraputic, teach kids that this can relaxing could help then much later into life, especially at a teenage stage.

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MsDianna 2013/01/29 08:29:57 (edited)

Not right at all!

I want my child to be taught reading, writing, arithmetic, science, geography, math, music, art, physical education - if a parent wants their child to attend yoga class let them do it on their own time.

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Christopher Kirchen 2013/01/27 13:30:30 (edited)

Righteous practice!

I don't see why not; it's not like they're teaching them how to have sex, or how to do drugs, Yoga's not intoxicating or harmful in any way that I'm aware of. "Thanking the sun for their lives", though, would go against many spiritual teachings that kids have been raised with thus far though, so I could see how that could be upsetting.

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hapman 2013/01/25 12:33:44

Righteous practice!

what's wrong with these parents? eastern philosophy is the science of the mind and the human condition. it's about calming and controlling the mind, so we can deal with all the situations the human condition is likely to present us with as well as possible. and understanding the human condition, so we know what we're dealing with and what to expect. whatever spirituality was in western religions has been subjugated by the primary concerns of politics and profit. ummm ....ok, yeah. I see their problem now.

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Brad 2013/01/24 08:40:36

Not right at all!

+1
Let public school teachers keep their spritual belief systems to themselves. Why? Because those children they've been entrusted to educate are not their children, to indoctrinate with their own personal spiritual belief systems and agendas. And besides, Yoga is so flaky and devoid of practical substance, it is nothing more than a fashionable placebo for the masses.

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hapman to Brad 2013/01/25 00:40:37 (edited)

+1
but none of that applies to christianity, of course. your knowledge of eastern philosophy is truly staggering.

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Monty to Brad 2013/01/29 08:54:46

huh? in plain mega-speak please

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Libertys Martyr 2013/01/24 07:57:53

Righteous practice!

+1
Stretching is good for everyone! So is getting sun! So many of us are deficient in vitamin d anyways.

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Brad to Liberty... 2013/01/24 23:04:30

What does this have to do with "thanking the sun..."? Nothing of course, since one is just ordinary outdoor activity, while the above is a type of theistic (or, to be technical, polytheistic) worship. Now of course I wouldn't necessarily argue with anyone for believing whatever they choose to personally believe in (although admittedly being online has a way of waking up my former, less mature, inclination towards debate for-the-sake-of debate sometimes). But that is not what this is about.

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Liberty... to Brad 2013/01/26 06:31:24

+2
You'd think they'd have better things to do than thank the sun.

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Brad to Liberty... 2013/02/07 20:33:12

An understatement...

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virgil alastor 2013/01/23 19:52:36
Christo... to virgil ... 2013/01/27 13:33:44

+2
No they don't; if they don't wish their kids to engage in it that's their right.

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mustangluver 2013/01/23 17:50:53

Not right at all!

+2
Why the hell would anyone be against a non invasive form of exercise? LOL

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Brad to mustang... 2013/02/07 20:42:26

Why do you ask? Who ever said it was the "exercise" aspect that anyone objected to having their kids made to participate? Please, the thing that I find most scary here is the attempted use of the, "truth fog" by those who support this stuff being taught in public schools. Asute adults can discern this. Still developing kids are fooled more readily.

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KarenInKenoshaWisconsin 2013/01/23 17:26:13

Not right at all!

+1
It's a good practice. I wouldn't use the word righteous. It's one of those loaded words, especially within the given contexts.

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Monty 2013/01/23 14:36:11

Righteous practice!

i think it's a good thing to teach kids,idk what those parents are so worried about

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codenamev 2013/01/23 02:59:52

Righteous practice!

+2
Namaste, motherf**kers!

This is not a religious practice; this is meditation, not prayer.

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Brad to codenamev 2013/01/24 08:56:12

Glad you acknowledge eastern meditation as having nothing to do with prayer. But eastern meditation does involve the deliberate emptying your mind of intelligent, logical reasoning. Other than possibly giving your thinking brain a kind of rest short of having to actually sleep perhaps, I've found nothing can be gained in meditation that cannot be better gained through any kind of highly focused rigorous exercise; only with the additional benefit of enhancing, rather than turning off, my thinking activity.

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codenamev to Brad 2013/01/28 00:01:59

Yoga employs meditation, but it's not the only thing that it uses. There's something to be said for exercise that can both be body-intensive, but mind-relaxational. I don't know about anyone else, but I've never had deep thoughts travel through my mind while I was doing push-ups.

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Brad to codenamev 2013/02/09 10:34:24

LOL That's funny. You're quite right that push-ups and thinking deeply are something of a challenge to perform simultaneously. Maybe that's why I never seem to get to more than about 15 reps before I find myself stopping to reflect, "What the *&^% was it I was thinking when I decided to do this? Oh yeah... Darn", before repeating the process. Getting back to a serious note however, aerobic exercise is the kind of exercise I was thinking of, in comparison/contrast to eastern meditation. I personally find this kind of exercise [after pushing through the initial 20 or so minute, that is] invigorates thought activity, etc; something I experience as the positive here.

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Commrade#371 2013/01/23 01:45:53

Righteous practice!

I like the top comment

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Illjwamh 2013/01/22 21:16:20

Righteous practice!

+2
How dare they try to improve children's health! All that processed food we've been feeding them while they watch TV will go to waste!

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Prion Indigo 2013/01/22 19:40:04

Righteous practice!

It should be up to the individual to choose.

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Illjwamh to Prion I... 2013/01/22 21:16:59

+2
What? It's not a religion, it's a health and fitness routine. You know, like they're supposed to do in P.E.?

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Prion I... to Illjwamh 2013/01/24 05:54:45

+2
That is true in the west, but it actually originates from Hinduism, so that is why some have religious qualms against it. It is more than P.E.!!! It is a holistic exercie beneficial for MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT.

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Prion I... to Illjwamh 2013/02/11 05:26:27

Actually yoga wa originally Hindu in practice.

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Ayushee 2013/01/22 19:14:16

Righteous practice!

+2
Yoga is great for health is it is even better that it is taught from such a young age,it will build a habit of yoga which is healthier,so what's the problem? Why did they protest? i guess they are nuts.

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tokie164 2013/01/22 18:54:47

Righteous practice!

It will help with anger and it helps with keeping healthy so yea why not?

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JayLynx 2013/01/22 18:46:38

Righteous practice!

+2
In a free country, any imposition of this type isn't benign, families have the right to keep their own faiths. A school must to listen to the parents. After all, public or private schools are held with the supporte of parents.

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xxdudeitsbellaxx 2013/01/22 18:35:22

Righteous practice!

Yoga is not bad.. i just hate that Downward Dog has turned sexual lol

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Syl 2013/01/22 17:59:28

Righteous practice!

There is nothing wrong with being grateful for the sun. Without it there would be no life on Earth. If children learn to be thankful for things most people take for granted, that can only have a positive effect on their lives.

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Brad to Syl 2013/01/24 23:30:05

+2
Okay, who suggested there was any objection to being "thankful for" the sun? Actually the article clearly states as being at issue is elementary public school pupils being taught to "thank the sun". I too am thankful for the sun and many other of life's blessings. One of these many other blessings I'm thankful for is having a car. I'm very fond of my car in fact. But you'll never see me literally "thanking my car" for the valued mobility it gives me. (See the difference in meaning now?)

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t.eliot, topbard 2013/01/22 17:59:06

Righteous practice!

+2
WHAT???? It's good exercise, teaches discipline and respect and honors the practitioner as well. Good heavens. We can't have THAT in our schools.

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KittΣnclysm 2013/01/22 17:47:16

Righteous practice!

+1
Way to make it religious just so you can get butthurt.

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Tylurr 2013/01/22 17:31:52

Righteous practice!

+1
The only thing I can think of as being an issue is if it were a requirement.

No.

If you force someone to do something, they'll resent you in the long run for it. Especially children. As healthy as it is, it needs to be a choice. It's not academically necessary to know how to do yoga to make it in the real world.

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Brad to Tylurr 2013/02/08 09:23:38

Thank you! :-)

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macbeth 2013/01/22 17:16:32

Righteous practice!

Its not as though the children are being asked to study Vedic scriptures or anything. I know of more than one Catholic priest who practices yoga.
Lot of fuss about nothing. OM..........

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Jimm 2013/01/22 17:14:30

Not right at all!

+4
I have to straddle a line on this one...on the one hand I once practiced yoga & meditation in my younger years and found it to be very beneficial..HOWEVER...I can understand those who do not want their children exposed to the religious/philosophical aspects of the practices. If all they are teaching is the physical exercise aspect of the practice, then I'm sure it is very beneficial..however..if they are adding in the bit about "thanking the sun for their lives", that will definitely conflict with Christian parents who would object to their children being forced to study Eastern religion!

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