Don’t use students as political pawns

RE: Catholic students and anti-abortion activities (Oct. 7)

Catholic high school students can earn mandatory volunteer hours by attending anti-abortion prayer demonstrations.

To achieve a high school graduation certificate all students must complete 40 hours of community service. The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board calls them Christian service hours. The approved list of activities includes:

An event or activity to support a charitable agency, institution or foundation that conforms to Catholic standards.

Participation in activities that promotes the human rights and well-being of all groups in society as long as the values of these groups are in harmony with Catholic teachings.

Pro-life organizations and anti-abortion groups such as the Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform all conform and support the values, standards of the Catholic Church on the issue of abortion. Encouraging susceptible students to volunteer with these organizations is reprehensible.

The education minister is right in saying the HWCDSB Christian service program needs to be investigated since it does not meet the criteria as to what community involvement activities were designed for. Publicly funded educational institutions should not be using students as political pawns for the advancement of their religious agenda. The minister should also investigate whether the HWCDSB still buses students, during school time, to Ottawa to participate in the annual prolife rally.

Schools are for learning, not for advancing values that are contrary to the acceptable values of society. Malcolm Buchanan, Civil Rights in Public Education, Hamilton