Oct. 27, 1999
In the past 20 years, teachers have shied away from teaching about religion for fear of offending students of different faiths.
But some Utah teachers say they have a hard time teaching subjects like history and geography without mentioning religion.
In today's Family Now report, we show you how a Utah teacher is teaching, not preaching.
Martha Ball knew something had to change when she began teaching Utah history and some students complained because she used the word Mormon.
But she says she couldn't teach state history without talking about the LDS Church. She began to study world religions.
Now, she is in charge of the State Office of Eductation's Three R's Project:
Rights, Responsibilities, and Respect.
Martha Ball/Butler Middle School: "The First Amendment teaches us that we have the right of freedom of conscience to choose what we want to believe, and that means religion or no religion and that's it's our responsibility as citizens of the United States to respect everybody's right to believe."
Now, in her Butler Middle School geography classes, she teaches her
students about the First Amendment, and makes them memorize part of it.
Class reciting: "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion."
The students also learn about different religions.
Ball hopes the knowledge gives her students an understanding of each other
and a basic knowledge about beliefs around the world.
Martha Ball/Butler Middle School: "If a teacher can't feel comfortable talking about the impact religions have on culture in a geography class, how can we ever understand all the various countries?"
The students say Mrs. Ball is on to something.
Ryan Schoeck: "There're a lot of different religions in our school and if everybody learns about them, then everybody will be able to respect each other's religion."
This program will be used, eventually, in other schools throughout the state.
