No child should be compelled to worship in school. Replace worship with inclusive ethical assemblies
I believe religion should be a choice and not a legal obligation.
Alex from Bristol
I absolutely support this; there should be no compulsory religious ceremonies in our schools, only optional comparative religion taught as part of social studies. Nor should there be any faith schools, as these preclude children from non-religious families. In the UK less than 50% of people claim to have a religion and an even smaller % actually practice any, no more than 10% of these.
Tony from Ipswich
Compulsory worship is a wholly unwarranted imposition of egregious ideologies on children paid for by our taxes.
Terry and Siri , from BRISTOL
End faith schools indoctrination. Why does our education system so badly fail our children and explicitly breach The Human Rights Act and The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child in relation to freedom of thought, conscience & religion? Let's loosen the grip of the religious hold the the CofE & Catholic church has on our schools & children. Free our children!
Michelle, from NORTHAMPTON
Compulsory collective worship is so incredibly and unethically discriminative and disrespectful because it disregards all other faiths and none, and shows an utter disregard for modern cultural diversity. It absolutely breaches our children's right to freedom of thought, belief and religion. Schools interfere with that and that goes against human rights.
Michelle, from SHEFFIELD
I fully agree that compulsory worship, of any denomination, is an anachronistic imposition that shouldn't take place in publicly funded organisations.
Martin, from READING
No child should be coerced into any adult religious beliefs. It is deemed as child abuse, as there is no proof to suggest there are gods.
Carl, from NORTH LONDON
I have always felt that compulsory worship was a deeply disturbing concept in the first place. Having it as a mandatory activity for school children is fundamentally wrong. I regard it as sinister and a form of abuse. I support this campaign whole heartedly.
Matthew, from EAST LONDON
I was raised Roman Catholic but went to a non-religious school. Looking back, I can't believe we had prayers, religious hymns, self-proclaimed preachers allowed access to children to spread their faith (probably not CRB checked either). Religion should be a private personal matter, no one has the right to brainwash and indoctrinate children into any faith, especially other peoples children.
Daniel, from WARRINGTON
Incomprehensible that in the 21st century, the UK still has this archaic law on compulsory Christian worship in schools. I am a practising Christian, but it is obviously not right to impose compulsory Christian worship in our schools. We need pupils of all religions and none to integrate. I went to a faith school, but they should certainly not have any place in our education system.
Paul Stanley's work shows how much more inclusive and engaging school assemblies could be without the anachronistic legal requirement for religious worship, argues Sue Garratt.
As a bill to reform collective worship progresses in parliament, Stephen Evans argues that the time has come for lawmakers to recognise that laws mandating worship have no place in modern Britain.
Church of England guidance which aims to promote an 'inclusive' form of collective worship in schools misses the point and highlights the need to stop imposing religion on children, says Alastair Lichten....
Following major curriculum reforms in Wales, Alastair Lichten argues that the Senedd should now turn its attention to ending the collective worship requirement in schools.
National Secular Society
Challenging Religious Privilege
Supporter comments
No child should be compelled to worship in school. Replace worship with inclusive ethical assemblies
I believe religion should be a choice and not a legal obligation.
Alex from Bristol
I absolutely support this; there should be no compulsory religious ceremonies in our schools, only optional comparative religion taught as part of social studies. Nor should there be any faith schools, as these preclude children from non-religious families. In the UK less than 50% of people claim to have a religion and an even smaller % actually practice any, no more than 10% of these.
Tony from Ipswich
Compulsory worship is a wholly unwarranted imposition of egregious ideologies on children paid for by our taxes.
Terry and Siri , from BRISTOL
End faith schools indoctrination. Why does our education system so badly fail our children and explicitly breach The Human Rights Act and The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child in relation to freedom of thought, conscience & religion? Let's loosen the grip of the religious hold the the CofE & Catholic church has on our schools & children. Free our children!
Michelle, from NORTHAMPTON
Compulsory collective worship is so incredibly and unethically discriminative and disrespectful because it disregards all other faiths and none, and shows an utter disregard for modern cultural diversity. It absolutely breaches our children's right to freedom of thought, belief and religion. Schools interfere with that and that goes against human rights.
Michelle, from SHEFFIELD
I fully agree that compulsory worship, of any denomination, is an anachronistic imposition that shouldn't take place in publicly funded organisations.
Martin, from READING
No child should be coerced into any adult religious beliefs. It is deemed as child abuse, as there is no proof to suggest there are gods.
Carl, from NORTH LONDON
I have always felt that compulsory worship was a deeply disturbing concept in the first place. Having it as a mandatory activity for school children is fundamentally wrong. I regard it as sinister and a form of abuse. I support this campaign whole heartedly.
Matthew, from EAST LONDON
I was raised Roman Catholic but went to a non-religious school. Looking back, I can't believe we had prayers, religious hymns, self-proclaimed preachers allowed access to children to spread their faith (probably not CRB checked either). Religion should be a private personal matter, no one has the right to brainwash and indoctrinate children into any faith, especially other peoples children.
Daniel, from WARRINGTON
Incomprehensible that in the 21st century, the UK still has this archaic law on compulsory Christian worship in schools. I am a practising Christian, but it is obviously not right to impose compulsory Christian worship in our schools. We need pupils of all religions and none to integrate. I went to a faith school, but they should certainly not have any place in our education system.
Peter, from READING
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Related News
Posted: Tue, 21 Jun 2022
“No plans” to review school collective worship, government tells UN
The UK government is refusing to review laws requiring collective worship in schools despite repeated requests from a UN committee.
Posted: Wed, 15 Jun 2022
Government opposes moves to protect secular schools’ ethos
The government has refused to support amendments to a bill which would help nonreligious academies protect their secular ethos.
Posted: Wed, 25 May 2022
NSS criticises move to entrench faith school protections in law
The National Secular Society has criticised a move to enshrine protections for the ethos of faith schools into law as a missed opportunity...
Posted: Wed, 08 Dec 2021
Bill to replace worship with inclusive assemblies heads to Commons
A bill to replace mandatory collective worship with inclusive assemblies in non-faith schools has cleared the House of Lords.
Posted: Wed, 10 Nov 2021
Bill to end compulsory worship in non-faith schools progresses
A bill to end the duty on non-faith schools in England to hold daily acts of Christian worship has progressed in parliament.
Related Opinion
Paul Stanley's work shows how much more inclusive and engaging school assemblies could be without the anachronistic legal requirement for religious worship, argues Sue Garratt.
A vision for inclusive assemblies for all
Posted: Fri, 05 Nov 2021
As a bill to reform collective worship progresses in parliament, Stephen Evans argues that the time has come for lawmakers to recognise that laws mandating worship have no place in modern Britain.
Schools should be liberated from the compulsion of worship
Posted: Thu, 16 Sep 2021
The Church of England's new evangelical missional strategy should lead us to question its entitlement to proselytise in schools, argues Stephen Evans.
Schools aren’t there to save the church
Posted: Thu, 22 Jul 2021
Church of England guidance which aims to promote an 'inclusive' form of collective worship in schools misses the point and highlights the need to stop imposing religion on children, says Alastair Lichten....
Mandated worship can never be inclusive
Posted: Wed, 19 May 2021
Following major curriculum reforms in Wales, Alastair Lichten argues that the Senedd should now turn its attention to ending the collective worship requirement in schools.
Ending compulsory worship in schools should be next on the agenda for Wales
Posted: Tue, 16 Mar 2021
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