Hmmmmmm...
Some things to think about as you send your kids off to school...
Amid controversy over a homosexual speaker, a high school in Wisconsin has
canceled its "Diversity Day" event scheduled for tomorrow.
[...]
This time, a fax from Liberty Counsel stated local pastor Don Greven of Bad
Axe Lutheran Church and the grandfather of a senior at the high school raised
concerns about no Christian, or formerly homosexual, viewpoint being included
among the speakers, the Tribune reported.
[...]
Attleson said the homosexual couple scheduled to speak refused to be on the
program alongside an "ex-gay" viewpoint, saying they would be
uncomfortable.
The committee then decided it would be best to cancel the whole
program...
Alrightythen, so the queers throw a hissy fit because they have to share the spot-light with opposing views and the whole event gets cancelled. Nice.
New York City's Department of Education says local media misreported its AIDS and HIV education curriculum, clarifying that the material for kindergartners is unchanged since it was introduced in 1987.
Beginning this year, however, children in fourth grade and higher will receive more specific instruction about how the disease is transmitted and how to prevent it.
[...]
New York's education department insists the lessons are age-appropriate, but many parents who have looked at some of the material disagree, reports WCBS-TV in New York City.
Queens fifth grader Charles Comaianni had never heard of AIDS but got a lesson yesterday "about the immune system and what happens when your immune system is down"
By the end of this week, WCBS said, the 10-year-old will learn the disease is spread by unprotected sex or by sharing needles.
He also will learn about homosexuality and HIV prevention methods – including a condom demonstration – things his father Nick Comaianni says he doesn't want his son to know about yet...
10-year-olds learning to put on condoms. Great...
The new principals at both of Newton's high schools are young, energetic, and eager to start meeting people in their schools.
They are also both openly gay.
Brian Salzer, 38, who will be the principal at Newton South High School, comes from Sauk Prairie, a small Wisconsin school district near the state capital of Madison, and was the first openly gay principal in Wisconsin.
Jennifer Price, 34, is a doctoral student at Harvard's Graduate School of Education who lives in Newton with her spouse and their two young children. She takes over at Newton North High School in July.
''In the end it's about our leadership and what we do in the schools," Price said yesterday of the dual appointments.
Nathan Bonneau, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators' Association, said he wasn't aware of any other openly gay principals in the Bay State, but could not say definitively whether Salzer and Price are the first.
Many parents said yesterday that the sexual orientation of the principals is not important.
''I don't want to comment on their orientation because it doesn't matter at all," said Mark Wadness, co-president of the Parent Teacher Student Organization at Newton North. ''I think it has no bearing or problem within the Newton community."
But Brian Camenker, a Newton parent and director of a Waltham-based organization that is fighting same-sex marriage, disagreed.
''This is such a blatant, in-your-face move," said Camenker, whose son attends Newton North. ''Nobody else in Massachusetts would do this. Nobody else in the country would do this."
Superintendent Jeffrey M. Young said that Salzer and Price were hired because they were ''the two best principals."...
So if we understand that correctly, a demographic that makes up just 2% of the population just happened to produce two of the best qualified candidates at exactly the same time? For exactly the same school district? Can you say "BullShit"? Seems more like quota management to me.
...Is Newton a rogue town? In nearby Brookline a transsexual told first-graders how his penis was cut off and he became a woman. With no sense of irony, the Globe called it "sex-change counseling." Parents, never notified, had to comfort their terrified children.
Ashland children were instructed to play homosexuals in a skit. As reported in the Middlesex News on April 1, 1994, one boy's line was: "It's natural to be attracted to the same sex." Girls were told to hold hands and pretend they were lesbians.
As reported widely in Massachusetts in 1992, at a required assembly in Chelmsford, an instructor used four-letter words describing the joys of anal and oral sex. The children then licked condoms...
Alright, so what's the point behind posting all of this stuff? Well, I'm a parent of 2 children. One in grade 6 and the other in grade three. The eldest came home with a "health class permission slip" the other day and I started looking into the curriculum a little. The Calgary Board of Education provided 2 links where I could get more information (click and click).
The first one was a pdf file that contains wonderful statements like this:
In an environment of acceptance, understanding,respect and caring, students in the health and lifeskills program can learn to acknowledge and express personal feelings and emotions, as well as to appreciate the strengths and talents of self and others. There are opportunities for students to accept and appreciate diversity and the uniqueness of self and others in our global society. This program emphasizes healthy interactions and values, such as integrity, honesty and trust that underlie safe and caring relationships. Friendship skills are developed and then extended to incorporate skills for working in groups. Such skills include conflict management, consensus building, negotiation and mediation.
If you can get past that horseshit without gagging, it also tells us what topics are covered in each grade. Sort of.
Grade 6
I decided to snoop around in the "Teachers" section of the site to see if I could get anything of substance. Cruised on over to the "Lesson Plans" and found this:
What can a person do to prevent the spread of blood-borne diseases?
Well now I'm feeling a little better. My daughter's going to learn the right things, abstinence, provided that the instructor sticks to the lesson plans. Next I found a section entitled "Managing Sensitive Issues" and this is what I read:
What do students do if parents opt them out of human sexuality instruction?
Administrative Regulation 3015 states that schools must provide alternate learning experiences for students who have been exempted from human sexuality instruction by their parents in compliance with prescribed programs of study.
What are the obligations for informing parents?
Administrative Regulation 3015 states that parents must be advised prior to the start of human sexuality instruction of their right to exempt their child from this course component Parent meetings are strongly encouraged and decisions regarding these should be made in consultation with your principal
What if parents want to observe classes?
When receiving such a request, carefully consider the purpose of the visit and whether or not a parents' presence would impede student discussion of sensitive topics. Interested parents would need to arrange this visit in advance with the teacher(s) and principal. Teachers are not obligated to honor parental requests to observe classes and may obtain further guidance from the ATA at 265-2672.
I was feeling warm and fuzzy untill I read that last paragraph. Specifically, the last sentence. Aparently the teachers union (ATA) has some sort of deal in place where we, as parents, do not have the right to watch their members (teachers) perform their jobs. Warm and fuzzy just left. Even if I wanted to check out the lessons myself, the teacher is under no obligation to allow it.
The bottom line is this: Every day we blindly send our kids off to school with the hopes that they're going to get a proper education. Fo the most part we have absolutely no idea what they're being taught and it would appear that the school boards and teachers unions have mechanisms in place to keep it that way.
Update: After doing a little more surfing while writing this post I came across some interesting stats. I guess what really caught my attention was the "For Professional Reference Only!" headding above the link. Why for professional reference only? Is this information to much for parents or laypersons to understand? hmmmmmm?
Read the document and judge for yourself.
Amid controversy over a homosexual speaker, a high school in Wisconsin has
canceled its "Diversity Day" event scheduled for tomorrow.
[...]
This time, a fax from Liberty Counsel stated local pastor Don Greven of Bad
Axe Lutheran Church and the grandfather of a senior at the high school raised
concerns about no Christian, or formerly homosexual, viewpoint being included
among the speakers, the Tribune reported.
[...]
Attleson said the homosexual couple scheduled to speak refused to be on the
program alongside an "ex-gay" viewpoint, saying they would be
uncomfortable.
The committee then decided it would be best to cancel the whole
program...
Alrightythen, so the queers throw a hissy fit because they have to share the spot-light with opposing views and the whole event gets cancelled. Nice.
New York City's Department of Education says local media misreported its AIDS and HIV education curriculum, clarifying that the material for kindergartners is unchanged since it was introduced in 1987.
Beginning this year, however, children in fourth grade and higher will receive more specific instruction about how the disease is transmitted and how to prevent it.
[...]
New York's education department insists the lessons are age-appropriate, but many parents who have looked at some of the material disagree, reports WCBS-TV in New York City.
Queens fifth grader Charles Comaianni had never heard of AIDS but got a lesson yesterday "about the immune system and what happens when your immune system is down"
By the end of this week, WCBS said, the 10-year-old will learn the disease is spread by unprotected sex or by sharing needles.
He also will learn about homosexuality and HIV prevention methods – including a condom demonstration – things his father Nick Comaianni says he doesn't want his son to know about yet...
10-year-olds learning to put on condoms. Great...
The new principals at both of Newton's high schools are young, energetic, and eager to start meeting people in their schools.
They are also both openly gay.
Brian Salzer, 38, who will be the principal at Newton South High School, comes from Sauk Prairie, a small Wisconsin school district near the state capital of Madison, and was the first openly gay principal in Wisconsin.
Jennifer Price, 34, is a doctoral student at Harvard's Graduate School of Education who lives in Newton with her spouse and their two young children. She takes over at Newton North High School in July.
''In the end it's about our leadership and what we do in the schools," Price said yesterday of the dual appointments.
Nathan Bonneau, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators' Association, said he wasn't aware of any other openly gay principals in the Bay State, but could not say definitively whether Salzer and Price are the first.
Many parents said yesterday that the sexual orientation of the principals is not important.
''I don't want to comment on their orientation because it doesn't matter at all," said Mark Wadness, co-president of the Parent Teacher Student Organization at Newton North. ''I think it has no bearing or problem within the Newton community."
But Brian Camenker, a Newton parent and director of a Waltham-based organization that is fighting same-sex marriage, disagreed.
''This is such a blatant, in-your-face move," said Camenker, whose son attends Newton North. ''Nobody else in Massachusetts would do this. Nobody else in the country would do this."
Superintendent Jeffrey M. Young said that Salzer and Price were hired because they were ''the two best principals."...
So if we understand that correctly, a demographic that makes up just 2% of the population just happened to produce two of the best qualified candidates at exactly the same time? For exactly the same school district? Can you say "BullShit"? Seems more like quota management to me.
...Is Newton a rogue town? In nearby Brookline a transsexual told first-graders how his penis was cut off and he became a woman. With no sense of irony, the Globe called it "sex-change counseling." Parents, never notified, had to comfort their terrified children.
Ashland children were instructed to play homosexuals in a skit. As reported in the Middlesex News on April 1, 1994, one boy's line was: "It's natural to be attracted to the same sex." Girls were told to hold hands and pretend they were lesbians.
As reported widely in Massachusetts in 1992, at a required assembly in Chelmsford, an instructor used four-letter words describing the joys of anal and oral sex. The children then licked condoms...
Alright, so what's the point behind posting all of this stuff? Well, I'm a parent of 2 children. One in grade 6 and the other in grade three. The eldest came home with a "health class permission slip" the other day and I started looking into the curriculum a little. The Calgary Board of Education provided 2 links where I could get more information (click and click).
The first one was a pdf file that contains wonderful statements like this:
In an environment of acceptance, understanding,respect and caring, students in the health and lifeskills program can learn to acknowledge and express personal feelings and emotions, as well as to appreciate the strengths and talents of self and others. There are opportunities for students to accept and appreciate diversity and the uniqueness of self and others in our global society. This program emphasizes healthy interactions and values, such as integrity, honesty and trust that underlie safe and caring relationships. Friendship skills are developed and then extended to incorporate skills for working in groups. Such skills include conflict management, consensus building, negotiation and mediation.
If you can get past that horseshit without gagging, it also tells us what topics are covered in each grade. Sort of.
Grade 6
- evaluate the need for balance and variety in daily activities that promote personal health; e.g., physical activity, relaxation, learning, sleep, reflection
- determine the health risks associated with the sharing of personal care items; e.g., articles of clothing, food/drinks, brushes, lip gloss
- identify and describe the stages and factors that can affect human development from conception through birth
- examine how health habits/behaviours influence body image and feelings of self-worth
- analyze personal eating behaviours—food and fluids—in a variety of settings; e.g., home, school, restaurants
- examine and evaluate the risk factors associated with exposure to blood-borne diseases —HIV, AIDS, hepatitis B/C; e.g., sharing needles, body piercing, tattooing, helping someone who is bleeding, being sexually active
I decided to snoop around in the "Teachers" section of the site to see if I could get anything of substance. Cruised on over to the "Lesson Plans" and found this:
What can a person do to prevent the spread of blood-borne diseases?
- Practice abstinence (not having sexual intercourse or sexual contact)
- Use only clean and new needles or tattooing/piercing equipment
- Avoid touching someone who is bleeding without wearing latex gloves
Well now I'm feeling a little better. My daughter's going to learn the right things, abstinence, provided that the instructor sticks to the lesson plans. Next I found a section entitled "Managing Sensitive Issues" and this is what I read:
What do students do if parents opt them out of human sexuality instruction?
Administrative Regulation 3015 states that schools must provide alternate learning experiences for students who have been exempted from human sexuality instruction by their parents in compliance with prescribed programs of study.
What are the obligations for informing parents?
Administrative Regulation 3015 states that parents must be advised prior to the start of human sexuality instruction of their right to exempt their child from this course component Parent meetings are strongly encouraged and decisions regarding these should be made in consultation with your principal
What if parents want to observe classes?
When receiving such a request, carefully consider the purpose of the visit and whether or not a parents' presence would impede student discussion of sensitive topics. Interested parents would need to arrange this visit in advance with the teacher(s) and principal. Teachers are not obligated to honor parental requests to observe classes and may obtain further guidance from the ATA at 265-2672.
I was feeling warm and fuzzy untill I read that last paragraph. Specifically, the last sentence. Aparently the teachers union (ATA) has some sort of deal in place where we, as parents, do not have the right to watch their members (teachers) perform their jobs. Warm and fuzzy just left. Even if I wanted to check out the lessons myself, the teacher is under no obligation to allow it.
The bottom line is this: Every day we blindly send our kids off to school with the hopes that they're going to get a proper education. Fo the most part we have absolutely no idea what they're being taught and it would appear that the school boards and teachers unions have mechanisms in place to keep it that way.
Update: After doing a little more surfing while writing this post I came across some interesting stats. I guess what really caught my attention was the "For Professional Reference Only!" headding above the link. Why for professional reference only? Is this information to much for parents or laypersons to understand? hmmmmmm?
Read the document and judge for yourself.
posted by Richard at 05:16
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