Our schools are being targeted and exploited by evangelical groups as part of their missionary work.
We help parents challenge these attempts at indoctrination.
The legal obligation on all state schools to provide a daily act of worship provides a foot in the door to organisations with evangelistic intentions.
The ambiguity about the specific aims and purpose of religious education, and its low status in schools, also creates an ideal environment for evangelical groups to exploit.
- In our survey of 300 schools, only 16% of schools had a policy or policies concerning the partisan promotion of religious or political beliefs by external speakers.
- No policies of schools surveyed requires parents to be informed of visitors in advance, and no policies clearly prohibited religious proselytising.
Schools which invite external evangelists may have good intentions, but are often unaware of the group's agenda and unprepared to set appropriate boundaries. Our research has found only a minority of schools have adequate policies in place to ensure inappropriate evangelism doesn't take place. Meanwhile, parents are too often not informed of the visits of the backgrounds of evangelical groups.
External groups can make a valuable educational contribution to schools. With the right boundaries in place, staff and parents can be assured of no inappropriate proselytising.
Take action!
1. Challenge inappropriate evangelism in your school
Is evangelism happening at your school? Read our guide to challenging proselytisation.
2. Write to your MP
Ask your MP to support a code of practice so external groups can contribution to schools without evangelism or proselytization.
3. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
4. Join us
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Christian group targets schools with frightening and dubious anti-abortion message
Posted: Fri, 27 Jul 2012 09:12
A Christian group has been touring schools in Sussex telling children frightening untruths about the supposed consequences of abortion.
Lovewise has been telling pupils in religious and community schools that abortion causes holes in the womb, depression and infection and that women who have abortions are twice as likely to get breast cancer.
Lovewise is based in Tyneside and has branches around the country. Its Director, Dr Chris Richards, said that the group had run "a handful" of sessions in schools around Sussex. He declined to say which ones.
But he told the Brighton Argus: "I'm not going to pretend we are morally neutral because we are Christians teaching Christian values."
Schools invite the group to give presentation of up to an hour to children from year 5 to 11.
Bill McIlroy from the Brighton and Hove Humanist group told the paper: "Preaching in Christian schools is one thing because parents know what their children are going to be taught. But teaching such stuff in community schools is disgraceful.
Kate Smurthwaite, the vice chair of the Abortion Rights group, said: With this move towards free and faith schools, the Government has less and less control over the curriculum and what goes on in our schools. To teach this stuff to children who are extremely impressionable is just plain wrong."
Dr Richards added: "Schools are no longer educating children about marriage and relationships, so that's where we come in."
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, commented: "More and more of these extremist religious groups are targeting schools. At the NSS we receive a constant stream of complaints about their activities. Surely schools are capable of exercising some kind of quality control over who they expose their pupils to. A quick look at the websites of some of these groups should ring alarm bells – even though they sometimes very cleverly conceal their real agenda."
Scottish regional council spreads the Gospel in schools
Posted: Fri, 9 Dec 2011 14:39
The Highland Council in Scotland has joined forces with an evangelical Christian group to spread their message to primary school children.
The Council authorised a CD-ROM produced in the United States by the creationist group Answers In Genesis to be given to all children in its 183 primary schools. It distributed the CD at the request of the JAM (Jesus and Me) Trust, an evangelical Christian organisation based in Scotland which spreads the Christian gospel in East Kilbride and surrounding areas.
The JAM Trust claims 450,000 copies of the CD-ROM were produced for distribution in the UK this year. At first glance, the CD appears to be an advent calendar, but is in fact a Trojan horse for spreading the Christian gospel. Earlier this month, copies of the CD were also given out free with copies of The Scotsman newspaper.
Nick Noble, a parent of a six year old who was given the CD in school told the NSS: "I was horrified when my son brought home a CD-ROM containing an "advent calendar" which on a cursory examination is linked to a creationist group in the USA. If schools wish to teach a range of religious views in a balanced context that is one thing, but this is totally unacceptable. It was thoughtless of the school to allow a young child to bring home a gift which I then had to take away or spend many hours teaching my own child about differing religious views which at his age I really don't think would be appropriate."
On 14 December, the Advent Calendar CD, which purports to explain the "true meaning of Christmas" tells children:"When God first created the world, it was not the same as it was today – everything was good. The first man and woman, Adam and Eve, were told they could eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden of Eden except one. They disobeyed God and ate from that tree. That was the start of things going wrong and death came into the world."Children are then informed "Christ died for the ungodly".
A message on 18 December encourages children to pray, advising (quoting from Matthew 6:5-14) that when they pray, they should not "be like hypocrites, for they love to pray in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men".
On 19 December children are warned "God is light and we cannot hide anything from him, He knows the secrets in our hearts."
Stephen Evans, Campaigns Manager at the National Secular Society, said: "It is wholly inappropriate for local authorities to favour one religion or belief over another. In this instance they appear to have completely ignored their responsibility to be religiously neutral in favour of evangelising to young and impressionable children. Local authorities must think twice before carrying out the work of evangelical groups".
The Highland Council declined to issue a formal comment but have acknowledged that parents should have been given the opportunity to refuse the material, and have apologised for any upset caused.
See also: Too much religion on Shetland school advisory board
More information
Evangelism In State Schools report (PDF, 493 Kb)Read our 2013 report on the activities of evangelical organisations in state schools.
