Humanism books donated to Shropshire schools - what do you think?

The British Humanist Association, which represents non-religious people who ascribe to secular moral codes, is to distribute copies of a book called What is Humanism? to schools across the county.

The book, by Michael Rosen and Annemarie Young, is described as the first book about humanism aimed at children, and features contributions from comedians Stephen Fry and Shappi Khorsandi, novelists Philip Pullman and Natalie Haynes, and physicist Jim Al-Khalili.

The books, which have been paid for by a crowd-funding campaign, by the association, and are aimed at children aged 10 to 13.

They will be distributed among 5,000 schools across England, Wales and Northern Ireland this week, but will also be available for other schools on request.

Dr Simon Nightingale, chairman of Shropshire Humanist Group, said humanists were non-religious people who looked to science and reason to understand the natural world, making moral decisions based on empathy and concern for others.

He said the book would support teachers who wanted to explore non-religious ethics and humanist world views in religious education lessons.

"This is the first time the BHA has distributed a book to primary schools, and for many schools, it will be the first book about non-religious world views in their libraries," he said.

Dr Nightingale has already given talks about humanism at a number of Shropshire schools including Meole Brace School in Shrewsbury, Burton Borough School in Newport and Telford Priory.

"Recent surveys have shown that over half the UK population live without religion and among young people it's almost 70 per cent," he said. "Of those that live without religion, almost all hold basic humanist beliefs, even if they are don't call themselves humanists."

He said it was important people with and without faith understood each other better.

Dr Nightingale said he was particularly keen to address the belief humanists were against religion.

"We support the rights of those with faith to live as they wish and we collaborate with other religions and interfaith groups to promote values we share with most moderate religions," he added.

"Learning about humanism helps children, whether they're religious or not religious, to have a good think about where they get their values from and how they go about making ethical choices.

"A lot of teachers find Humanism to be a really useful perspective to explore in the classroom because it helps pupils to get to grips with big ethical questions and the wide variety of different religious and non-religious world views."

Colin Hopkins, director of education for the Diocese of Lichfield, said it was important that children develop an understanding of different world views and philosophies.

"The vast majority of schools in Shropshire, including Church of England schools, follow the local authority's agreed syllabus for religious education, which covers Christianity and other world religions," he said.

"High quality RE is an entitlement for all children. It's important that children and young people develop an understanding of major world faiths and other philosophical traditions so that they have an informed basis for their own religious commitment or a non-religious perspective on life."