School | Ask Sam

To Sam 14 December 2025

School | Ask Sam

To Sam,

My teacher has told me that I can‘t watch a play with my school because of my religion.

Let me explain a bit more because this is a bit more complicated than what I wrote above.

Every year our school watches a play performed by the P7 about the birth of Jesus and even though I’m not Christian I still enjoy seeing it. I have asked not to go on the church visit we do since I am not Christian and I have never been before and the school said yes. But when my P6 teacher was talking about the P7 Play she asked me something. It wasn’t completely infront of everyone but still close enough to other children for them to hear. My teacher also spoke in a very loud voice. She said “I’m guessing this means you are not watching the P7 show since you aren’t going to church.” But instead of asking it was more like the was giving me an order. I should have said that I always watch the show because if wasn’t aloud to watch it with the rest of the school because of my religion that would be discriminatory, but I was too scared to say that to a adult so instead I just said “Some of my older friends are in that show and I’ve always watched it.” My teacher ignored me and started talking about “Applying your religion“ and stuff and basically ordering that I cannot watch it because if my religion. This whole time my friend was sitting next to me and could here every thing she was saying, but I don’t know what she thought of that. My teacher then said that she wasn’t saying she wasn’t letting me go but she would be confused if I did! That is not her thing to be confused about!

Though she may have said she wasn’t saying I couldn’t go it felt like she was. In her head I think that she was trying to order me to not go. After that talk P6 had to line up for assembly. My friend who is very religious asked me if I wasn’t going to the P7 play, even she seemed to think what our teacher said was wrong and discriminatory. After that I went home and started to think of ways I could still watch the P7 play. I told my mum who is a social worker about this and she agrees what my teacher said was discrimination, I didn’t want her to talk to the school about it but now, I wish she had. In the end I didn’t watch the play, even though it would be the last time I would get to watch it.

Sam 22 December 2025

Hi there,

Your religion is part of who you are, and it’s not okay for people to make assumptions or decisions for you based on it. The law says that schools have a duty to make sure they’re allowing you to follow your religion and aren’t forcing you to do things that are against it. Sometimes this can involve food, other times it could be things like not visiting a church or a religious ceremony.

Whether you are able to take part in something should be something that you and your parents or carers decide. By taking that choice away from you, your teacher has made an assumption and has discriminated against you based on your religion. The choice should always be up to you and your parents or carers.

Even when you know something is discriminatory, it can feel hard to know what to do next. Getting support from your mum was a good thing to do, and there’s no right or wrong thing to do next. What your teacher said wasn’t your fault or responsibility, so whether you feel comfortable raising it should be your choice.

Talking to the school about what’s happened can help in a few ways. It can be a chance for this teacher to understand that this kind of discrimination isn’t okay, it can also help prevent it happening in the future. If you did want to raise it, it can help to think about who you most feel comfortable with in the school. You could think about asking your mum to raise it or share it with someone like the headmaster or another teacher you trust.

Whether you choose to talk about it or not, it can help to think about what you’d want to do next time. It could be that you make a plan with your mum about how best to get support, or even plan different ways you could reply or say it.

It wasn’t okay that someone took the opportunity to see this play away from you. Remember, your voice and what you want always matters. If you’re feeling isolated with what’s happened, our counsellors are always here to support you as well.

Take care,

Sam

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