Parents sue school for teaching yoga to children
The parents of two California grade school students have sued to block the teaching of yoga classes they complain promote eastern religions, saying children who exercise their choice to opt out of the popular program face bullying and teasing.
SAN DIEGO—The parents
of two California grade school students have sued to block the teaching
of yoga classes they complain promote eastern religions, saying children
who exercise their choice to opt out of the popular program face
bullying and teasing.
The Encinitas Unified
School District, near San Diego, began the program in September to teach
Ashtanga yoga as part of the district’s physical education program —
and school officials insist the program does not teach any religion.
Lawyers for the parents challenging the yoga program disagreed.
“As a First Amendment
lawyer, I wouldn’t go after an exercise program. I don’t go after people
for stretching,” said lawyer Dean Broyles, who heads the National
Center on Law and Policy, which filed the suit on Wednesday in a San
Diego court.
“But Ashtanga
yoga is a religious-based yoga, and if we are separating church and
state, we can’t pick and choose religious favourites,” he said.
The lawsuit is the
latest twist in a broader national clash over the separation of religion
from public education that has seen spirited debate on issues ranging
from the permissibility of student-led prayer to whether science
instructors can teach alternatives to evolution.
The lawsuit, which
does not seek any monetary damages, objects to eight-limbed tree posters
they say are derived from Hindu beliefs, the Namaste greeting and
several of the yoga poses that they say represent the worship of Hindu
deities.
According to the suit,
a $533,000 grant from the Jois Foundation, which supports yoga in
schools, allowed the school district to assign 60 minutes of the 100
minutes of physical education required each week to Ashtanga yoga,
taught in the schools by Jois-certified teachers.
Broyles said that while children are allowed to opt out of the yoga program, they are not given other exercise options.
“The kids who are
opting out are getting teased and bullied,” he said. “We have one little
girl whose classmates told her her parents are stupid because she opted
out. That’s not supposed to happen in our schools.”
Encinitas schools
Superintendent Tim Baird said the suit was unfounded and that the
district had worked with parents who had concerns as they developed and
implemented the program.
“We are disappointed
by the suit. We thought we had worked well with the concerned parents
and had resolved their concerns,” he added.
Encinitas resident
Dave Peck said his law firm had offered to represent the school district
for free but was turned down and is now working with parents who
support teaching yoga in schools. He called the lawsuit “a tortured
attempt to find indoctrination where none exists.”
“There is really no
dispute as to the physical and mental health benefits of the yoga
program — teachers and parents throughout the district have raved about
noticeable improvement in the students’ focus,” said Peck, whose
children attend Encinitas schools.
“We reject the
argument that yoga poses constitute the practice of Hinduism as both a
matter of law and common sense,” he said. “There is absolutely nothing
religious or spiritual about the classroom instruction.”
Source: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/22/parents_sue_school_for_teaching_yoga_to_children.html
Source: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/22/parents_sue_school_for_teaching_yoga_to_children.html
