Comments on: Anoka-Hennepin School District's Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 30 May 2018 21:08:42 +0000

Again .. in terms of Warren's initial post .. I think it would be good to see what the school is actually saying ... I give two links (here and here) to this in my post at 3:57 PM. The school is gong well beyond not giving any direction but appears to be avoiding any moral instruction. I also found some of the NEA information referred to in the one document to be informative. Dave

By: M. Worrell

M. Worrell — Wed, 30 May 2018 21:08:41 +0000

Ken# ~ Sep 15, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Ken, I think you’re assuming a few things that are not reliably true:
1) That teachers know enough objective factual information on subjects outside their area of concentration to competently correct a student’s assertions. In some cases they might, but as a parent who has on several occasions had to correct my daughter’s teachers’ false assertions about Christianity and other topics, my level of confidence is low. This isn’t a slam against teachers… why should they be expected to do such a thing?
2) That only false information is offensive. I can assure you that liberals, conservatives, gays and lesbians, Christians, Muslims, and nearly everyone else on planet earth is less than appreciative of the unadorned facts being presented to their kids by a third party.
3) I’m not an expert on homosexuality or Mohammed, but I was an Art Education major. Be glad that had I gone on to teach in the public schools, I would be teaching art, not theology or human sexuality.
I’m attempting to step out of the combat zone and say, “How can we protect every child without making moral value judgments or decisions about levels of exposure to facts that parents are better able (and entitled) to navigate?”
Everyone… I mean EVERYONE… loves to steer public school policy, and everyone has an agenda. So let’s just accept that and try to focus on the basics. One basic is that every kid… ugly, fat, gay, skinny, Christian, atheist, brilliant… whatever. They all deserve to be safe from bullying, and they don’t have to agree with their teacher.

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 30 May 2018 20:30:32 +0000

M. Worrell# ~ Sep 15, 2011 at 1:51 pm
“Do we want to discuss certain objective facts about Mohammed in an 8th grade classroom where, say, a couple of Muslim students are in attendance?”
If the christian students were spreading false information about Mohammed and islam, and upsetting (or even threatening) the muslim students then yes, I would want the teacher to correct that false information with accurate information. And I’m sure the muslim students would appreciate it as well. Now, that doesn’t mean the teacher has to give an entire history of islam, just correct the false information being used to hurt other students.
And I suspect that what you, M. Worrel, think you know about Mohammed is probably about as accurate as what PAL knows about homosexuality.

By: M. Worrell

M. Worrell — Wed, 30 May 2018 20:30:32 +0000

I believe the bullied student (and the teacher, honestly) can be better protected and supported in the context of every student having the unassailable right to attend school without feeling in any way unsafe. There is no room for a value judgment of any kind to impact that right one way or another. Every student should own it and be encouraged to count on it.
In terms of keeping facts from students, yes, I think that’s absolutely appropriate at times. Not all facts are appropriate to discuss as part of a public school education, and certainly not in every grade. Do we want to discuss certain objective facts about Mohammed in an 8th grade classroom where, say, a couple of Muslim students are in attendance? I don’t think so. It would be offensive, and it would actually make those particular students feel attacked and unsafe.
Regardless, a presentation of objective facts will not eliminate bullying.
Case in point: obese kids. Obese kids are, in fact, fat. They are probably unhealthy, and their obesity may even be a result of faulty thinking or even mental illness (compulsive eating, etc.). It doesn’t matter. They are entitled to attend school without being bullied no matter what the issue is. No one has to be convinced that being fat is good in order to assert that message.
Teaching kids that a knowledge of the proper facts about a person is what disqualifies them from bullying sends the wrong message. Either bullying is acceptable or it isn’t. I just think that’s a more appropriate standard to observe, and it eliminates the need for teachers to wade into deep waters as it relates to theology or even the most recent scientific facts related to human sexuality. Nor will they have to tiptoe around the boundaries of what should or shouldn’t be said.
Most public school teachers are frankly not qualified to speak authoritatively on matters of personal conviction and belief. They shouldn’t need to be, in my view.

By: Warren

Warren — Wed, 30 May 2018 20:30:32 +0000

In a bullying situation, M. Worrell, you would be of some value but not to the degree necessary. You might say for a student to stop making disparaging remarks, but you would not support the bullied student.
Furthermore, the school is a place to learn facts. It is a fact that all mental health groups believe homosexuality not to be mental disorder. With your approach, political concerns about the matter keep kids from hearing facts. You may not like those facts but you are advocating keeping facts from kids. Strange move for a school.