Australian children as young as six taught to mime being choked in primary school scripture classes

Primary school scripture classes teach children as young as six to mime being choked in what a church group describes as ‘age-appropriate play-acting’.

Sydney Anglican Church Youthworks teaches Kindergarten and Grade 1 children to mime choking themselves to understand the consequences if they turn away from God.

The teaching was modelled from Bible chapter Luke 8:4-15 which says: ‘[people who do not listen to God] are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life’. 

Primary school scripture classes teach children as young as six to mime being choked in what a church group describes as ‘age-appropriate play-acting’

The bible scripture goes on to say ‘A sower went out to sow his seed…. Some fell among thorns and the thorns grew up with it and choked it’.

Youthworks CEO Craig Roberts told The Daily Telegraph the lesson ‘incorporates supervised, age-appropriate play-acting as a teaching tool where students mime the response of the plants’.

Mr Roberts said the teaching was expected when parents enrolled their children in Christian schools.

He said parents needed to expect the children would be taught the traditional Christian faith from the Bible.

He assured scripture teachers were trained to handle the classes with sensitivity. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Roberts for further information.  

Graeme Macpherson from Fairness in Religions in School, a parents group, slammed the lesson for being too explicit for young students.

‘The kids have already been segregated, but this parable explicitly gets children to envisage that separation in terms that denigrate non-believers,’ he said.

‘These are strong metaphors for little kids. They encourage them to run rather than walk towards the desired faith on offer and to not identify with other groups and to see them as undesirable.’

Youthworks CEO Craig Roberts (pictured) said the lesson ‘incorporates supervised, age-appropriate play-acting as a teaching tool where students mime the response of the plants’

Youthworks CEO Mr Roberts said the teaching was expected when parents enrolled their children in Christian schools

Christian activist Chuck Stetson said Bible study should be a requirement for every Australian child in school, regardless of their religious upbringing.

‘If you don’t have knowledge of the Bible you can’t understand the English language, literature, history, art, music or culture fully,’ he told The Australian in February.

‘If you’re not, you’re not getting a full education. And that’s unacceptable.’

His view was not shared by a number of Australian parents who joined social media groups including ‘Stop Scripture in Australian Public Schools’ and ‘Fairness in Religions in School’.

‘Public schools should be secular to not favour any particular religion and to respect those with no religion,’ Stop Scripture in Australian Public Schools said. 

 

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