Scottish Humanists gear up for high court battle with religious institutions to give pupils the right to opt-out of religious observance in schools.
In 2013 the Scottish Secular Society campaigned to change the ‘opt-out’ law to a situation where parents would be required instead to ‘opt-in’ should they want their child to receive religious observance in schools. This was thought to be in keeping more with the current make-up of religious affliations in Scotland. After studying the national situation it was concluded by the Scottish Secular Society that the law no longer reflected the demographic of Scotland and, in practice, tended to ostracize pupils whose parents did choose to opt-out. During the campaign it was clear that a great many parents were not even aware that it was possible to opt their child out of religious activities.One of the chief architects of the opt-in campaign, Mark Gordon, said: “My personal experience in opting my own child out of Religious Observance was the trigger for raising the petition. It became abundantly clear from discussions with the school, analysis of the legislation and discussions with others that many parents did not
feel able to take the stand I had.”
Source: HUMANISTS IN FIGHT FOR PUPILS’ RIGHTS | On The Button
