School Controversy
In a school district near where I live there is a controversy brewing. Before Christmas children in the elementary school were shown a film in social studies class about families.
Why would anyone be mad that their child was shown a family video you may ask?
Well the film included children talking about their same sex parents.
Many of the parents of these students are upset their children were shown the video and said that it was irresponsible of the schools to do so without parental consent. There was a general letter that went out to parents at the begining of the school year, but didn’t have any specifics.
I do think the parents should have been informed of the film with specifics so that if they wanted to sit down and talk to their children first about such issues they would have the time to do so.
Over the telephone, the director of curriculum told our local news that “the video makes no judgment about lifestyles.” She said, “the video is to teach respect for the diversity of all children . . .”
I believe that no child should be ashamed of their home situation, whether they have a single mother, two fathers or they live with their grandparents. I think if you have a film on families, non traditional families should be included.
I also do not think it is the school’s responsibility to teach children about diversity, it is the parents job.
I am not sure if I think fourth grade is the appropriate age group to start talking about different families. I don’t think I would be mad at the school district, which has been given rave reviews by my neighbors and acquaintances, but I also do not have kids within the school district yet.
Would you be mad if they showed a video on non traditional families in your schools? What age is a good age to start talking to your children about same sex partners?
same sex parents, non traditional lifestyles, school age kids, kids, parenting,
January 25th, 2007 at 10:02 am
I do have a problem with parents not being informed and not being asked for permission.
My husband and I want to be the ones to teach our children about such things, not leaving it up to the schools and teachers. This could be the reason why some parents are upset by this situation that you write about.
I’m not sure when the appropriate age should be, either. I think children are ready at different ages - not all children could be ready for that kind of discussion in 4th grade.
Things to think about, for sure!
January 25th, 2007 at 10:46 am
I take a more liberal approach simply because I want my son to learn and respect diversity from an early age. Unfortunately I think schools repeatedly have their hands tied when it comes to many things regarding curriculum, and this is only serving to lessen our children’s education.
January 26th, 2007 at 9:59 am
I also have a more liberal approach. As a social worker who has worked with all kinds of families, I am in favor of simply raising children from the beginning with the knowledge that some families have two parents of the same sex-just as some families have only a mother, some only a father, some stepparents, etc. With same-sex partners being so common, this is simply a fact of life.
January 27th, 2007 at 3:21 am
I guess I kind of a gree with the liberal view. Our kids (currently 5th and 2nd grades) have known about same-sex parents for a couple of years. We didn’t discuss the whole romantic love kinda thing, or the behaviors that these same-sex couples might engange in behind closed doors. We just simply said that the traditional way has been a mommy and a daddy…but there are all kinds of families. Some have just a mommy, some have just a daddy, some have 2 mommies, some have 2 daddies. Then, later in the school curriculum when they start discussing puberty, physical changes, mama parts and papa parts, we can talk about behaviors.