Students Suspended for Refusing to Watch TV
Maggie
Article published October 14, 2000
Program for confrontation
Church’s ban on TV has Perrysburg students leaving their classrooms
The Rev. Ray Tinsman, pastor of the Dayton Church of God, says that television
has no place in a holy life. BLADE PHOTO BY JEREMY WADSWORTH
BY JUDY TARJANYI
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
The Rev. Ray Tinsman will talk on a cellular phone, listen to the radio, and
even use a computer, but his personal technology line stops at the television
set.
As a minister in the Church of God (Restoration), Mr. Tinsman teaches against
television viewing, a doctrine he had to defend this week before the principal
of Perrysburg Junior High School.
One of Mr. Tinsman’s congregation members is embroiled in a dispute with the
principal - and her ex-husband - over whether her children should be allowed to
leave the classroom when a television is on or a film is being shown. The
children’s father opposes having his children leave the classroom, and
because he has court-ordered jurisdiction over the youngsters’ education, the
school has claimed it must take his side.
In the meantime, the students were being disciplined for leaving class under
the truancy provisions in the school’s code of student conduct. Both
13-year-old DJ and 14-year-old Carlotta spent Oct. 6 in the Wood County
Juvenile Detention Center, where the schools’ supervised suspension program
is located. But on Thursday, Principal Patrick Calvin, who met with Mr. Tinsman
on Monday, decided to withhold further disciplinary action while the parents
and school seek a resolution together
The children’s mother, Selena Maurer, became a member of the Dayton Church of
God when she separated from David Maurer in 1993. Since then, she said, she and
the couple’s five children have embraced the church’s teaching on
television, which includes prohibitions against video games and movies. Even
before that, she said, she monitored her children’s television viewing.
"For me, religion has nothing to do with this," Mr. Calvin said. "There’s a
court order that says the father is in charge of all their educational
decisions and he wants them to be in class, all classes, participating in a
regular public education setting." This includes the school’s daily Channel
One "news" broadcast televised at the start of each school day. The program,
which contains advertising aimed at students in grades 6-12, has been
criticized for its commercial exploitation of schoolchildren.
Mr. Maurer, a member of Lakeview United Brethren Church in Camden, Mich., where
he is the Sunday school superintendent, said he believes that by being exposed
to what is on the television his children could learn how the rest of the world
lives, then make their own decisions about it.
"There’s no place where you’re going to hear 100 per cent good stuff, even
in the church. You have to be able to have some kind of a brain to take the
good and throw out the rest. And if you’re not allowed to hear what other
people believe and what other people are like, you’re not going to be able to
see how different a Christian viewpoint is from a worldly viewpoint."
Mr. Tinsman said his church’s teaching against television is based on such
biblical passages as Romans 1:28-32, which talks about the evils of the world,
those that do them, and those who take pleasure in others doing such things.
He said television was likely invented out of good motives and can have a good
purpose but that because so much of its content today consists of violence and
improper sexual conduct, the church considers it best not to view it at all. It
takes a similar position with the Internet, allowing adults to use it only as
part of their jobs.
"I myself never have watched a movie in my life," Mr. Tinsman said. "I never
grew up with TV in the home. I credit most of my social skills to not watching
the TV and my clear mind, my pure mind, I credit to not watching TV."
Mr. Tinsman said he believes television discourages the development of social
skills in people because they are used to listening to one side and giving no
response. He said TV also robs time from families. "Most people who have
children do not have a hard time understanding our stand on this. Most of them
say they have trouble monitoring it anyhow."
Mr. Tinsman’s church, which grew out of a split in 1910 with the Church of
God-Anderson, Ind., allows radios, but only for such uses as listening to the
news or weather bulletins. "Because you can’t see it, there is less potential
for evil, but we are extremely careful with the radio."
Likewise, he said, church members restrict the use of phones. "We practice
carefulness in every area concerning our children. They don’t just grow up.
They’re raised."
Mr. Tinsman said church members also dress modestly. Women wear skirts and both
men and women wear long sleeves. "People would probably consider us
old-fashioned, though we don’t necessarily say that, but we live plain. We
all have public jobs and drive cars. We’re not Amish or anything, but we live
plain, simple lives."
When it comes to school, most children are either home-schooled or attend
private religious schools, but those who have been in public schools have had
few problems, Mr. Tinsman said.
"Once we had a little trouble concerning sex education, but we met with the
school board and got it worked out. Normally, schools don’t have any problem
working together with us on that."
He disagrees with Mr. Calvin that the court order supersedes the religious
rights of Miss Maurer and her children and is seeking legal advice.
Ron Rissler, legal coordinator for the Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties
organization that frequently handles cases involving religious freedom in
public school settings, said, "You can ban content in curriculum, due to
religious belief ... But [to challenge] all that comes across a TV set, that
might prove a burden on the school."
Mr. Calvin agreed. "There are certain things we can adjust curriculum-wise."
For example, he said, a student can opt out of a sex-education class or do an
alternative activity in a class dealing with holidays.
Mr. Rissler added, "There are denominations out there that do not want the
viewing of the TV screen and that is probably not a bad idea, but in the
educational setting, I think the school should monitor it and offer students
the opportunity to opt out of some of the programming."
Maggie
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who kill female victims (AOTBE).
WyrdWoman
>
> The Rev. Ray Tinsman will talk on a cellular phone, listen to
> the radio, and even use a computer, but his personal technology
> line stops at the television
> set.
> Mr. Tinsman said church members also dress modestly. Women
> wear skirts and both men and women wear long sleeves.
> "People would probably consider us old-fashioned, though we
> don't necessarily say that, but we live plain. We all have public
> jobs and drive cars. We're not Amish or anything, but we live
> plain, simple lives."
I hardly call cell phones and computers components of plain living.
I can appreciate his stance that watching TV isn't always the most
constructive thing to do, but I personally don't agree with being so
restrictive about it. I do think that those kids should be able to
leave the classroom if recreational television is being watched, but TV
plays a big role in the classrooms nowadays, especially with the special
school news/activities channels. Some of those kids are going to have a
hard time if they can't watch educational programs that have assignments
that go along with it.
I've mentioned before that I was raised in a very conservative religious
household, and my elementary school teachers sometimes bent over
backwards for my "needs." (More like my parents' needs.) I couldn't
participate in anything that had to do with the "pagan" holidays of
Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc, so during those seasons, I often had
to skip assignments, projects, or school plays that dealt with anything
religious. I very much appreciate the teachers I had in grades K-6 for
putting up with so much. If they had made a big deal out of it, I'm
sure I would have felt like even more of an outsider compared to the
other kids in the class.
So I sympathize with those involved in this story, but I don't hold the
same religious views as Rev. Tinsman.
--
WyrdWoman
Maggie
>I've mentioned before that I was raised in a very conservative religious
>household, and my elementary school teachers sometimes bent over
>backwards for my "needs." (More like my parents' needs.) I couldn't
>participate in anything that had to do with the "pagan" holidays of
>Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc, so during those seasons, I often had
>to skip assignments, projects, or school plays that dealt with anything
>religious. I very much appreciate the teachers I had in grades K-6 for
>putting up with so much. If they had made a big deal out of it, I'm
>sure I would have felt like even more of an outsider compared to the
>other kids in the class.
***I know what you mean. There's a new child this year in my son's fifth grade
class--black (among a large majority of white students), scholarship student,
about my height (5'8"), with a name that is the same as a type of distilled
liquor and she's a Jehovah's Witness, which apparently means she has to leave
the room everytime there is a birthday celebration for any of her new
classmates (cupcakes and a song--takes 15 minutes or so) and she can't sing the
national anthem or pledge to the flag. Sometimes I wonder if this poor girl's
parents could possibly do more to ensure that she's thought of as an outsider
by her fellow students.
Renzoku Satujinn
school. an assignment to watch a TV program is not unreasonable. If
there is advertising they can ignore it as well as they ignore the
rules of thier school. If the mother encourages this type of
disobidience in her children she should have all custody rights
revoked. It is a shame stupid people are allowed to have children.
Alex
In article <20001018194440...@ng-cg1.aol.com>,
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WyrdWoman
> These kids need to get a grip. They need to do what they
> are told in school. an assignment to watch a TV program
> is not unreasonable. If there is advertising they can ignore
> it as well as they ignore the rules of thier school.
The kids are doing what they're told -- by their parents and church.
It's not the kids' fault that they're restricted from doing what
"normal" kids do in class. It might be better for them to go to school
with similarly restricted kids.
--
WyrdWoman