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Actually yes, they should. Those are all normal family activities that parents have been teaching their children for centuries before they got so lazy as to relegate them all to teachers.
Oh yeah? Those activities have been part of the public school curriculum since the 1800s.
LOL..Santa Claus is now inappropriate for kids at Christmas time.
Which is weird because Santa may be named after a saint, but it's largely the secular part of Christmas. And the secular part of Christmas almost single-handedly keeps the retail establishments from bankruptcy. How many Jewish shop owners love Christmas for that reason alone? I know quite a few Jewish people, and they don't seem to have any problem with the hoopla around the holidays. In fact, some of them even have a Christmas tree.
That being said, it was strange that the field trip to see Santa was allowed to happen all these years.
You make it sound like these children go to school for free. Their parents pay taxes. Time for school systems to realize who is in charge and that should be the parents of the children. Don't want your child to see Santa, don't send them. Let them remain in the classroom. Christmas is a historical fact that changed the calendar from B. C. to A. D.
Political correctness takes all the fun out of life.
I see posts along this line to be taking us from B.C. to A.D. to B.S.
As a former school administrator, I had to watch every penny that was being spent by my staff. I approved many field trips that were related to the school curriculum that was determined by the voter-selected/tax-payer selected Board Of Education. Sending 450 7th graders on a field trip was no minor financial concern. We had to rent the buses (whether it was by school system buses or public transportation buses, we still had to rent the buses). We had to pay the bus drivers if they were school system buses, if they were public transportation buses, the driver cost was included. So let's see -- for one grade level to go on a field trip would mean hiring 11 school buses and 11 drivers. For most trips, lunch would have to be provided.
Then there was the educational cost. Since in my case it was a middle school, if we went to the Smithsonian science museum in D.C., that meant no math instruction, no English instruction, no social studies instruction, no physical education for that day.
In the case of visiting Santa, for a couple of minutes with Santa, a trip spends a minimum of 3 hours, all that expense, and all that hassle.
And to be honest with you, few field trips are actually worth it. Take a bus load of kids to a museum and watch them run through an entire museum in 20 minutes. Field trips need to be highly structured to get much good out of them.
And you want to spend all that time and all that money for a couple of minutes with Santa. Parents ought to get off their butts and take their own kids to see Santa. The school ought to be involved with taking kids on field trips that have experiences not readily available to parents with kids.
[quote=Jukesgrrl;42356356 We are talking about a separation of Church and State, a fundamental bedrock of American life, crafted by the founders of our nation.[/QUOTE]
Are these the same men who put "In God We Trust" on all our currency???? That argument has been flawed for 240 years. All this is really about is the PC'ers pushing the envelope to yet another level.
Well what does that matter? Mom has a point to make.
Hmm, well given that none of my kid's field trips are played for by the taxpayers and it's usually 30 or so bucks per trip, I'd have something to say about it too. I think field trips are fun and school should be fun, but I don't see the point in this at all - there are ballets and plays and god knows what they could be doing this time of year.
I wouldn't send mine because she'd have a screaming fit if you tried to make her sit in some strange bloke's lap. Meanwhile, I have to get fbi level clearances just to go on the freaking bus.
Hmm, well given that none of my kid's field trips are played for by the taxpayers and it's usually 30 or so bucks per trip, I'd have something to say about it too. I think field trips are fun and school should be fun, but I don't see the point in this at all - there are ballets and plays and god knows what they could be doing this time of year.
I wouldn't send mine because she'd have a screaming fit if you tried to make her sit in some strange bloke's lap. Meanwhile, I have to get fbi level clearances just to go on the freaking bus.
I'm sure the man playing Santa needs his clearances as well.
This doesn't happen too often, but I'm in agreement with phetaroi on this one. If the school wanted to do a field trip to see Santa, they should have done it during off hours (after school or on a weekend), using funds provided by PTA dues or voluntary contributions, open to everyone (in their class) but not required of anyone.
I just don't see how seeing Santa contributes to the school's educational mission.
I see posts along this line to be taking us from B.C. to A.D. to B.S.
As a former school administrator, I had to watch every penny that was being spent by my staff. I approved many field trips that were related to the school curriculum that was determined by the voter-selected/tax-payer selected Board Of Education. Sending 450 7th graders on a field trip was no minor financial concern. We had to rent the buses (whether it was by school system buses or public transportation buses, we still had to rent the buses). We had to pay the bus drivers if they were school system buses, if they were public transportation buses, the driver cost was included. So let's see -- for one grade level to go on a field trip would mean hiring 11 school buses and 11 drivers. For most trips, lunch would have to be provided.
Then there was the educational cost. Since in my case it was a middle school, if we went to the Smithsonian science museum in D.C., that meant no math instruction, no English instruction, no social studies instruction, no physical education for that day.
In the case of visiting Santa, for a couple of minutes with Santa, a trip spends a minimum of 3 hours, all that expense, and all that hassle.
And to be honest with you, few field trips are actually worth it. Take a bus load of kids to a museum and watch them run through an entire museum in 20 minutes. Field trips need to be highly structured to get much good out of them.
And you want to spend all that time and all that money for a couple of minutes with Santa. Parents ought to get off their butts and take their own kids to see Santa. The school ought to be involved with taking kids on field trips that have experiences not readily available to parents with kids.
The "parents should...." line is tired and a red herring. In all reality, parents could home school their children and just be done with it. Its a poor argument against a school activity since all can be done by parents.
Well what does that matter? Mom has a point to make.
Because it's all about her point....the entitled mindset set of "if I am not happy, everyone else can suffer"....gotta love that type of person
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