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Seminary taught me a couple of things. My time in Seminary was spent mostly with useless "scripture chases", watching LDS propaganda movies, listening to teachers going on and on about faith promoting rumors formally presented as fact and watching myself and fellow students trying to stay awake.

My schooling suffered because I woke up at 5 in the morning usually missing breakfast. My personal life suffered because I was taught kooky ideas by my teachers such as that if you dated a nonmormon you would sleep with them, become addicted to drugs and worst of all fall away from the church. Missions and the need to serve was pounded into me.

I didn't go my senior year. I took an early bird class instead. Strangely enough that was the year I came out of my shell, got socialble and did a hell of a lot better in school.

Seminary in Utah, and this is another issue, is during the school day. How can they get away with this?

Interesting topic that doesn't get touched on enough in my opinion. Early morning seminary before school has to be brutal. Not to mention how lack of sleep effects the rest of the school day.

Bond...James Bond wrote:Interesting topic that doesn't get touched on enough in my opinion. Early morning seminary before school has to be brutal. Not to mention how lack of sleep effects the rest of the school day.

By lunch id usually be dragging my butt. I didn't ever fall asleep in class but when I got home I was exhausted and my homework lagged.

I wouldn't call it brainwashing, but it sure made for a sleepy day. Senior year I'd work until 10:30, get home and do some homework, then be in bed by 11:30, only to wake up at 5:00 for seminary.

Made little sense to me.

But I was scripture chase champ. :o)

My daughter isn't in seminary. She just started her freshman year, and she happened to go to a different high school than almost everyone else in our ward, so I don't think anyone even knows that she's not going. There's a seminary building right across from her high school, but she had a full load of classes she wanted to take and didn't want to miss taking a real class in order to do release-time seminary. Getting up early is out of the question too, with her bus already coming at like 6:30 in the morning as it is. What's funny is that it seems my wife hasn't even noticed. I'm sure she'll raise hell when she does, but my daughter's content not to do anything about it until she gets "busted" by my wife over the issue.

Personally, I think it's a waste of her time, and she's got enough on her plate already. My daughter agrees. I'm sure others in the family would be mortified to find out she's not in seminary. You simply must do four years of seminary. You just do.

I went in 9th grade and 10th and stopped halfway through 11th grade in Southern California. As I look back this was the craziest thing. Science will tell you that teenagers need their sleep, even into the late morning as they have different sleep patterns and here you need to get up at 5:30. Sleep deprivation is a good way to brainwash. Girls showed up in PJ's and robes with curlers in their hair. One teacher use to buy us glazed donuts. Knowing what I know about myself I must have been zombied about fifteen minutes after I ate one. And no one gets more sanitized church history than seminary students. To me the whole thing is just bizzare. regarding Utah I think they challenged it in court in the 80's. They might have had it in public school or somthing. I can't remember all the details.

How long is seminary usually?

1 hrs? 2?

On average, a teenager needs at least 8 hours of sleep. When you consider that some seminary students are operating motor vehicles while sleep deprived...that's kinda scary.

Bond...James Bond wrote:How long is seminary usually?

1 hrs? 2?

50 minutes, maybe? (It's been a good long while since I've been. . .)

Jersey Girl wrote:On average, a teenager needs at least 8 hours of sleep. When you consider that some seminary students are operating motor vehicles while sleep deprived...that's kinda scary.

A couple of years ago in Vegas there was a horrible accident involving several teens in a car who were driving from seminary to school. the car was full of teens, several died. They were going over 80 miles an hour and the stupid kid driving had a student drivers license. People are dead because of a mixture of tardyness, inexperience, stupidity and probably sleep deprivation. One of the teens that survived lost a leg. Gaz, Steuss, do you remember any further details? I think they were cimmaron students.

Edit: found an article about the driver winding up dead later from her injuries. Tragic story.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2002/May-13-Mon-2002/news/18734323.html