Religious Schools: a Blessing or a Curse?

By Alessandra Profumo

I am the first to admit that I am a product of my Catholic school education. The academics were rigorous, the discipline even more so. The nuns that taught us were, for the most part, well meaning women who somehow managed to instruct sixty children in one room with no aides, outdated textbooks, one large blackboard, an endless supply of white chalk.

They also had grey felt blackboard erasers with wooden grips that effectively doubled as projectiles when hurled at the back of the head of someone who was talking out of turn. We sat, hands folded, in six rows of ten in wooden desks with ornately scrolled iron sides that were bolted to the floor. The doors were heavy, the cloakrooms dark and narrow, and the linoleum tiled floors, squeaky clean. Outside, we had a large asphalt area as our playground. It was devoid of any apparatus save for the handball, foursquare, and hopscotch lines painted on top. We occupied ourselves with jump ropes, red rubber bouncing balls and as we got older, volleyballs. Oh yes, we had one more thing, abuse.

There are many forms of abuse and let me say up front, that I was never the victim of or knew anyone who was, the victim of sexual abuse at my school. This despicable form of abuse, unfortunately, has been the fate of too many students at other Catholic schools. The abuse I refer to was, by today’s standards, both physical and psychological. I say, by today’s standards, because back then, it was called corporal punishment and obedience to authority. It was not only condoned but perfectly legal. Teachers were permitted at will, to hit students with their hands, rulers, yard sticks and paddles. They could pinch, pull, push, swat, and drag. You could be forced to kneel on the ground, stand with arms outstretched for long periods of time, have your ears boxed and yes, be thumped on the head by the aforementioned erasers. You could be subjected to hours of writing standards such as “I will not forget my homework” until your fingers were numb, and assistance was needed to release your hand from the pencil grip. All of this, in addition to, the constant reminder that even questioning, any form of authority, was tantamount to a sin ( I can’t remember if it would be considered venial or mortal) that surely would only result in one spending time in the dismal abyss of purgatory if not flat out misery deep in the flames of hell.

So here we are in the 21st century and surely the scenario I described is as outdated as having to refrain from eating meat on Fridays or wearing skirts that are long enough to touch the floor when kneeling. Sadly, I am wrong. Yes, in Catholic schools, corporal punishment has been banned. This is not the case, however, for Christian Fundamentalist schools in the nineteen states that still legally allow corporal punishment. However, in many schools, the psychological and emotional abuse continues. Children of lower economic status, or those for whom English is a second language, are made to feel inferior or somehow lacking in intelligence or abilities. Studies show that four out of five children of minority or poor families are punished more frequently than their counterparts. I well remember being pulled out of my fifth grade class and lectured by our parish priest as to his concerns about my “hanging out with the wrong crowd….. the bad girls” Translation: most of my friends were of Mexican descent. By the end of eighth grade, before graduating, I was asked by the head of the convent, if I had ever considered becoming a nun? Her reasoning was that I clearly was a good student from a good family (even though we were liberal and Italian) who seemed to want to help those in need. She then stated that perhaps I felt that I had a mission as so many of my friends came from families who were not of such good standing (translation: Mexican). Though I knew perfectly well what she meant, I acted confused and asked her to explain. With great irritation, she sent me back to class.

Socially, things have greatly changed in the Church since the sixties. The membership has become more tolerant partially in thanks to the impulse born out of Vatican II. Nuns who once hurled erasers at students are now leading the fight for much needed social change. But Pope Francis is no John XXIII. Though he has a humility about him, rejecting the pomp and circumstance associated with the office, he so far, has shown no indication that he is ready to follow through with many of the ideas of Vatican II let alone initiate forward leaning social changes of his own. Minority and poor students are still being underserved by being taught by undertrained and overworked teachers in schools with facilities that are inadequate. Dogma is still holding sway over curriculums that are being taught through outdated methodologies. While there isn’t the push for assimilation at all costs, as there was during my schooling, immigrant students are still expected to learn new skills in an unfamiliar language. Humiliation and shame are still too often used to discipline, and equally as destructive to young self esteems, apathy is too often the mood in too many of the classrooms. In my own humble opinion, the first and best place for the Church to make a meaningful social change in the fight against poverty, would be to create schools that are safe places of learning for all students, free of abuse, intimidation and bullying, whether it be from dogma or teachers.