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This evening, my son told us that his Social Studies teacher informed his class earlier this week that anyone who voted for *presidential candidate* is "stupid". He went on to explain that members of a certain party are stupid - ... really?
Is this okay for a teacher, a Social Studies teacher, a teacher of 10 year old children to be saying to his classroom? If this were your child, and the teacher had called YOUR beliefs "stupid", what would you do?
Seriously, I'm asking. I have every intention of discussing this with his principal tomorrow. Is this acceptable to anyone?
The school system should be no place for politics. That is why I always got a chill seeing those Obama indoctrination videos in elementary schools.
This evening, my son told us that his Social Studies teacher informed his class earlier this week that anyone who voted for *presidential candidate* is "stupid". He went on to explain that members of a certain party are stupid - ... really?
Is this okay for a teacher, a Social Studies teacher, a teacher of 10 year old children to be saying to his classroom? If this were your child, and the teacher had called YOUR beliefs "stupid", what would you do?
Seriously, I'm asking. I have every intention of discussing this with his principal tomorrow. Is this acceptable to anyone?
I am not backing the teacher by saying the following. 10 years old at times have the ability to embellish the facts.
My suggestion is first to call the teacher not angry and ask the teacher what happened to make your son tell you what he did. If you do not like that answer then proceed to the principles office with the notes you have from your discussion with the teacher. If you attack the principle with this without first going through the teacher , you are putting the principal in a position to having no choice to back the teacher.
Yes. As I stated, politics do NOT belong in elementary school classrooms.
But that being said, it wouldn't have made my own child uncomfortable in the classroom if it had been the other way and he might not have mentioned it to us, though it probably would've come up later.
I have heard from the school. As in my original post here, I did not mention political affiliation in the email, though I'm sure they knew what affiliation it was. They have assured me that they are 'handling' this and will keep me updated. They apologized, on behalf of the school district, said they agree that he shouldn't have made those statements in the classroom. I assured them that we expected an apology from the teacher to the students regarding his inappropriate and offensive comments. I let him know that my son would keep us informed as to whether or not an apology for his inappropriateness was made to the classroom. I don't know what will truly happen, if anything. I told them that as they expect to keep this confidential on behalf of the teacher, then I also expect my son's right to privacy to be upheld as well. This is a conservative area. If it has a chance of being addressed anywhere in the way it should be, it would be here. If anything was achieved, at the very least, this teacher should realize that if he were to make another comment in that vein that it will escalate the situation and that at least ONE of his student's parents were offended and not taking it quietly or well.
How "stupid" is it to make a comment like that in an area where the vote was 80/20? Can you imagine a NYC teacher telling his students that Democrats are "stupid" and so are those who voted for Obama? Can you imagine the outrage?
Just last night a friend of mine said her elementary aged son had a substitute teacher who said anyone with tattoos, and hair dyed in weird colors are all drug addicts and lazy. LOL, her son stood up and told the sub she was wrong, and that he knew people with tattoos and colored hair and they had jobs and weren't on drugs.
Teachers need to teach and leave their personal and often erroneous opinions at home.
Kids deserve to shop the marketplace of ideas just like anyone else.
So, you believe that teachers should tell 10 year olds that their parent's beliefs are stupid? You believe that a 10 year old should be subjected to a biased rant by someone in a position of authority over him, other than his parents? Really?
Well, in the interest of a 'marketplace of ideas', shouldn't a teacher be allowed to explain to 10 year old students that evolution is a flawed THEORY and that anyone who believes that mankind evolved from fish is a moron? I mean if it's a 'marketplace', then why aren't ALL ideas welcome?
Just last night a friend of mine said her elementary aged son had a substitute teacher who said anyone with tattoos, and hair dyed in weird colors are all drug addicts and lazy. LOL, her son stood up and told the sub she was wrong, and that he knew people with tattoos and colored hair and they had jobs and weren't on drugs.
Teachers need to teach and leave their personal and often erroneous opinions at home.
Wow - I hope your friend followed up with the school! I think my son would take exception of that. Though WE are conservative (in dress/appearance as well as politics) we have military family members with multiple tattoos and piercings. I think they're idiots, but my son still loves his uncles/cousins.
None of our 'weird' relatives are on drugs - they don't need to be. The chemicals from the dye in the tattoos and hair dye keep them high enough.
So, you believe that teachers should tell 10 year olds that their parent's beliefs are stupid? You believe that a 10 year old should be subjected to a biased rant by someone in a position of authority over him, other than his parents? Really?
Well, in the interest of a 'marketplace of ideas', shouldn't a teacher be allowed to explain to 10 year old students that evolution is a flawed THEORY and that anyone who believes that mankind evolved from fish is a moron? I mean if it's a 'marketplace', then why aren't ALL ideas welcome?
You really don't see the difference?
Politics versus hard, verifiable science? Politics is based on divergent and sometimes opposing opinions and the persuasion of people to your position. Science is about verifiable evidence and controlled studies.
For the record I went to a liberal high school and had one conservative social studies teacher. There was no outrage. Perhaps in liberal areas they are more tolerant of divergent opinion?
You appear to want some kind of revenge. It almost appears that you are relishing putting this liberal in his place. What does an apology in front of the class accomplish aside from undercutting the teacher's authority in the classroom and humiliating him/her?
I'm not saying that the teacher was right. At age 10, kids really don't have a sense of political sophistication to investigate the facts and come to their own conclusions-- therefore you have to be very careful how facts are presented.
I also don't believe for a second that the OP would be raising any type of fuss if the teachers political stance were congruent with her own.
Follow up on your email with a visit to the school and ask to speak to the principal. Explain the situation and ask for a meeting with the principal and the teacher. In my experience schools are slow on this, hoping that time will make problems go away - so follow up immediately.. Bureaucracy and procedures will kick in and it can take up to a week to get a you/principal/teacher meeting at which time they will try to minimize and defuse the situation - make it sound like a misunderstanding. Your email documents your concerns but drive over and follow up on it immediately to keep it on their font burner. Stick to your guns but don't pull out the blazing guns until you've heard the teacher's version. They will try to make this a 4 way with you/child/teacher/principal and nicely try to persuade the child that he misunderstood. Be prepared.
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