Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Is religion good for children? That's the topic for discussion on next Sunday's The Big Questions on BBC One at 10am.

Last week it was revealed that the Catholic Education Service had been in touch with Catholic schools in England and Wales, advising them of a duty “to do all we can to ensure that the true meaning of marriage is not lost for future generations.” The duty is a reference to a letter by two archbishops, which was read out in Catholic churches on 11th March 2012.

St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls in Carshalton acted on the "duty" by suggesting pupils could sign a petition against marriage equality.

So why was this story ignored by Newsround?

Recall Newsround's 40th anniversary survey, and the spurious finding that kids these days are twice as likely to say religion is important than they were in 1972.

Newsround recently reported on human rights, but when it comes to secular and LGBT human rights there is a wealth of evidence that the BBC, and in particular BBC children's TV, is still mired in old-fashioned religious intolerance.

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