Foiled! News hit last week that some crazy hippie high school teachers in upstate NY were busted for plans to confuse the children and bring them under the mystical spell of a freaky practice called yoga, trying to sway the innocent adolescents into..gasp..hinduism! The audacity! Luckily, some concerned parents and the local Baptist Reverend stepped in to put a stop to the nonsense that was obviously just confusing and stressing the poor kids out more. Those teachers had some nerve trying to give those kids a lesson in relaxation exercises, which, of course, hasn’t the slightest to do with any type of religion whatsoever. While the opposition demanded a stop to the in-class instruction, they’d be totally cool with an after school program, apparently. So there you go… everyone’s happy right?
FUN FACTS:
- “A hundred schools in 26 states use yoga in the classroom to relieve stress. Federal funds and grants are available to educators seeking yoga certification” –Julie Reagan, Massena Board of Education president.
- Parents in Aspen, Colo., were successful in demanding the removal of yoga in the local curriculum in 2002. In Alabama, religious leaders pushed for a 1993 law prohibiting the teaching of yoga in schools, citing connections between yoga and Hindu religious training
Meanwhile, in a related story, at-risk youths in St. Louis Missouri are benefiting from the relaxation and concentration skills they’re learning in the after school yoga classes at the St. Vincent Home for Children.
