When one odd thing happens it's kind of like, I don't know, a happening? Then something similar goes on and you scratch your head and wonder and then, three times a charm...
It all started with my daughter who is a couple weeks shy of 12. She came home last week and said, "One of my teacher's said it was okay to say faggot."
What?
"What are you talking about?" I asked her.
"Well, she said it just means gay or retarded," she told me as she shook her head in disbelief.
I did not know what to make of this. I found it unsettling and bizarre. Who says that? I don't think saying it's okay cause it means retarded is even remotely all right to say. I didn't really know what to do though. Saige knew it was crazy. That's why she told me. I just said, "That's insane." She agreed with me.
Then she came home and told me they had someone who worked in the school come in a read a poem in their class. She said, "It was very inappropriate."
Here we go again. "Inappropriate how?" I ask.
"Well, it went something like, when the sun goes down and the moon goes up, don't be distressed, I'm up your dress," she said.
"What?" I ask again.
"I know," she says. "My teacher told him it wasn't okay to say to us." (I believe that was the same teacher that uses questionable words in every day conversation but, apparently this is where the line is drawn.)
Then today. Chase comes home. "A teacher yelled at me," he informs Saige and I.
"Why? What'd you do?" Saige asks him.
"I was talking in line. He told me to stop and I said sorry," Chase said.
"That's it?" I asked.
"No! After I said sorry he said, 'Sorry doesn't matter. Sorry doesn't do anything. What if someone killed the president? Do you think they could just say sorry and he would magically come back to life?'" Chase tells us.
I'm sorry. That borders on psycho talk to me. Comparing a ten year old chatting in the recess line and an assassination of a world leader is not really apples to apples.
I'm not sure what is the appropriate thing to do, or do I just shake my head, reassure my children that all of it is just weird and not remotely sane. I was relieved that in every situation my kids knew it was not okay. There are a lot of things that happen daily that I'm sure they don't tell me. These stuck out enough that I heard about them.
These are the things they're learning during the school day?
Huh...
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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5 comments:
well gene would be in the school today ripping them all new....(not appropriate to type). while i never thought i would use gene as an example or good parenting....i would address them all. the first one is incredibly disturbing. the last one with chase is equally upsetting. when i think of all of the gross, out of line, and disturbed teachers that we had i wish enough parents had complained about them to remove them(mr. ford comes to mind immediately).
so proud though of your kids. and therefore you.
I think it'd make Saige feel good if you stood up about all of that. It'd set a good example for her. We don't have to sit and shake our heads. We don't have to scream and act like maniacs either, but I think there's a way to confront it and show her that you will stand up when you see something wrong.
We are blessed. The recently-elected ultra right-wing, republican school board members will handily resolve this sort of thing. With an understanding of how we truly came to be, Saige and Chaise will revere God, respect their Teachers, and minister the Truth to doubters like you: gays must be mocked straight, women are objects to be treated as men see fit, and the assassination of a (black) world leader is on par with the crime of talking in line. Better times are coming. And then...the apocalypse.
OMG. I just heard there's an apocalypse coming. Wanna pull your kids out of school and come over to our bomb shelter?
It was very interesting for me to read that post. Thank author for it. I like such themes and everything that is connected to them. I would like to read a bit more soon.
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