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Children Dhamma: Making a Monk out of a Kid
I wonder if you as a parent, would send your kid to a novince monk programme? In Malaysia, such programmes are usually carried out in some temples especially during the long school holidays. One may become a monk, shave his hair and don the saffron robe for one or two weeks or maybe more and when the programme ends,the person can hang the saffron robe, grow his hair back and just go back to his old life. Take it as a chance for the child to be exposed to theDhamma if you like but some older folks may frown on the idea for fear that the kid would end up being a monk. A colleague of mine always send his son for such programme during the holidays. While his son enjoyed the programme, the grandmother wasn't too happy about it. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist when working on the documentary, Children of the Taliban, came across fifteen-year-old Zainullah who blew himself up and killed six people in the process. It seems that the Talibans are running suicide schools inside Pakistan, preparing a generation of boys who are commited to giving up their lives for religion. Would that be better off than having your kid as a monk, I wonder...
I wonder if you as a parent, would send your kid to a novince monk programme? In Malaysia, such programmes are usually carried out in some temples especially during the long school holidays. One may become a monk, shave his hair and don the saffron robe for one or two weeks or maybe more and when the programme ends,the person can hang the saffron robe, grow his hair back and just go back to his old life. Take it as a chance for the child to be exposed to theDhamma if you like but some older folks may frown on the idea for fear that the kid would end up being a monk. A colleague of mine always send his son for such programme during the holidays. While his son enjoyed the programme, the grandmother wasn't too happy about it. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist when working on the documentary, Children of the Taliban, came across fifteen-year-old Zainullah who blew himself up and killed six people in the process. It seems that the Talibans are running suicide schools inside Pakistan, preparing a generation of boys who are commited to giving up their lives for religion. Would that be better off than having your kid as a monk, I wonder...
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