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Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1 on Friday posted a notice about the cancellation on its website. Attributed to district Superintendent Lori Haukeness, the notice stated that students or parents with cultural beliefs surrounding the eclipse may be excused from class with notice to their school’s secretary from a parent or guardian.
“The decision came about when, as a district we really looked at the effects that could happen to students’ eyes if they did not have the correct glasses on while viewing the eclipse,” Haukeness told The Journal. “All it takes is one student taking those glasses off.”
The district said it learned about disruptions in religious or cultural beliefs after receiving information from high school teacher Emelia Jo Chandler...
According to traditional Native beliefs, viewing the eclipse could cause health and spiritual problems. Navajos warn against eating, sleeping or being out in the sun while a solar eclipse is happening.
“You’re not supposed to be out in the sun because nature does change, the atmosphere, the lighting, everything changes,” Carlos Begay, a Navajo culture and language teacher at Page High School, told KPNX news in Phoenix. “If you were to eat during an eclipse, it does cause eating disorders and even other things along the lines of disease. If you were to sleep during an eclipse, that’s where sleeping deprivation comes from, eye problems come from, that’s where blindness comes from, the list goes on.”
Stuff like this is what gives being a progressive or a liberal a bad name. I am deeply respectful of others' beliefs and cultures - especially since I live in a region where there is a large Native American population - all of whom arrived here before the whites and Hispanics did. But this decision on the part of our local schools is simply ridiculous. Deeply traditional Native Americans here in my town have every right to request that their children simply stay inside during the eclipse. Heck, the school could give the 3 or 4 kids who are Navajo the morning off even. However, it is wrong to force children who do not come from Native cultures to miss out on what may be a once in a life time experience for them - especially when the participation of less than a half dozen other kids is not going to impact the other's viewing experience one way or the other.
In the past (and still sometimes in the present), Native American customs and culture have been treated very disrespectfully in my town (and everywhere else in the US), yet this way over-reaction in this case is not going to make things better for anyone. Those on the right will have more ammunition for their feelings that "PC" has gone too far, while those on the left will end up trying to defend something that is pretty hard to make excuses for.
Seems to me that Americans are waaaaay over-reacting to the tiniest little thing these days. When are we ever going to come to our senses and just live and let live?
I will be sure to avoid any Indian Casinos in my area on that day. I would call them the more current, "native American" but every Casino and Reservation around me call themselves "Indian Casino" or "Indian Reservaton
My nephew is 5 and has been all over this eclipse for weeks. He loves science.
If his school cancelled their viewing party my sister would have to keep him home from school on Monday to watch it. He would lose his mind if he couldn't see it at this point. I'm sure there are some kids like that in this school district. They should have told parents to keep their kids at home if they wanted to view it.
My nephew is 5 and has been all over this eclipse for weeks. He loves science.
If his school cancelled their viewing party my sister would have to keep him home from school on Monday to watch it. He would lose his mind if he couldn't see it at this point. I'm sure there are some kids like that in this school district. They should have told parents to keep their kids at home if they wanted to view it.
I strongly suspect some kids around here are going to cut school, as well! If I had a child enrolled in this school district, you could bet that she and I would have been preparing for the big event a year ago, and it wouldn't have involved staying indoors because two or three kids had some unusual cultural beliefs about it!
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