Injudicious Decision

The principal of a local area high school cancelled a field trip to the U.S. after being pressured into doing so following a tempest in a teapot created by the website http://LifeSiteNews.com . The decision by St. Peter Catholic High School principal Norma McDonald to cancel the trip was lacking in judgement. When a valuable opportunity in self-determining education is abandoned as a result of actions initiated by a group external to the education system, it begs for a renewed debate on the merits of allowing religious ideology, however disguised, to take precedence over the need for education to be objective in nature. While McDonald’s decision may have been influenced by factors beyond her control, the decision to sacrifice a great learning experience because of internet chatter was unwarranted.

From my perspective, this is yet another example to add weight to the argument that religious teachings should be restricted to homes and places of worship, not a school environment. For education to be valuable, it needs conditions that promote independent objectivity in subject matters that are considered grey in possibilities. A religious ideological influence merely slants the process to subjective conclusions that can be counter-productive in trying to build bridges that connect our many societies.