Teachers (or other mandated reporters) would you do anything about a minor being forced to attend church?

Interesting topic. I don’t see it as abuse but I’m interested to hear other thoughts.

Unfortunately in the US I think that’d be a wasted effort, but I don’t disagree that it’s abuse

Japan has some great laws about forced religious participation and it being child abuse, but in the US a lot of parents see it as their right to indoctrinate their kids with religion and punish them if they don’t abide by it

No? I’m not religious as an adult but this happened in my childhood, my husbands childhood, and most people I know who were raised religious. Religious parents have made their kids go to church since always. I wouldn’t do this to my kid, but at the end of the day if we start reporting people simply for parenting practices we disagree with chaos will ensue.

I would raise one concern though- I would talk to the child to try to gauge if something bad is happening at church. If THATS the case, then that changes my answer. If you know of or suspect abuse happening at church causing the child to have such a reaction, then yes I’d report.

Being forced to go to church is far from abuse, I’d stay out of it.

That’s unfortunate😪 I remember being forced to go to church. In my case, I grew up and left. So did most of the kids that were forced to go. Eventually we’re old enough to decide for ourselves.

Depends on if it’s cult like. I would ask what church and than see if it’s a cult . You see odd things in the US. I saw a story of a girl who was placed in a cult that disguised themselves as a church. I would be worried for those kids. One day it was normal next thing they were dropped of to be away from their parent follow strict rules and get hit for offending whoever watching them. After verifying what’s with the church is if it’s normal or not then I bring it up. Also watch out for extremist. I personally don’t force my kids to church. Extremist are way to much for me and had to already put some in there place before. They tried to make mother who had knee issues and just had gone to doctor for her shoulder to kneel try to even push her down even after we told them she couldn’t. They have some mental health issues and will cause harm to kids and the elderly. I have so many stories that I wouldn’t be surprised if the child experienced it and that why he doesn’t want to go

A lot of kids don't like going to school

I remember my granny forcing me to go to church. She was lovely, not abusive. My hatred of it was no different than my hatred of school. If I didn’t go, I was driven and escorted in. Having to sit still and listen to boring crap is unpleasant for most kids. Part of life though.

To answer your questions, no I wouldn’t report something like this, not on this alone. And yes, if it was my place, like a teacher, I’d just talk to the family.

Y’all school is a legal requirement in most places and necessary for getting an education, equating forcing a child to go to church to forcing them to go to school is a false equivalency. And let’s say even if your kid hates school that much, you talk to them and figure out what’s going on, what’s not vibing with them, is it the school/church itself? Something they disagree with? Someone there mistreating them? Etc. chalking things up to tough titties that’s life and childhood is such a regressive mindset to have. Kids are their own people they deserve autonomy of the mind, to hold their own opinions and beliefs and yes as parents it’s our job to sometimes steer them but religious indoctrination to the point of forcing them repeatedly when they don’t like it is abuse

Are they physically abusing them when trying to get them to go?

Are they using a cattle prod to force them to go to church or are they loading up their family in the car and going?