Diversity

In my classroom there is a lot of religious diversity. Being in Provo, Utah, it is easy to sometimes assume that the most common religion in a classroom to be LDS. However, in the classroom where I volunteer it is very obvious that there are varying opinions about religion. I know that there are laws that prevent the combination of teaching religion in school, but the difference is very intriguing to the children and I often hear them talking about it at recess or during lunch. One time in specific, the teacher was singing a song to the class about a boy who ate a bad peanut. This boy went through much turmoil and eventually ended up dying. In the song, there is one verse that sings about the boy dying and going to heaven, however heaven wouldn't accept him and in the end he was sent to hell. The entire class, except one girl found this to be hilarious. The girl later came up to me very upset and said, "How could we sing a song about that, in my religion we don't joke about things about that." I mentioned her comment to the teacher and later the teacher, without mentioning names, had a class meeting discussing differences in what people believe. The class then talked about the ways they could modify the song so that it wouldn't offend children in the class. While discussing this, the teacher made sure that the discussion didn't cross over into a lesson about religion rather she taught the children ways to help others to feel comfortable. I thought she did a great job accommodating the child who felt uncomfortable.