Tuesday, October 17, 2006

The Things Kids Learn These Days

Here's a thoughtful column about what kids learn in school these days.

The money quote:

As it happens, I agree with Kersten on two points: Adults shouldn't project their agendas onto children, and parents have a right to frame The Talk as they see fit. But I also happen to think that it's a parent's place to answer a kid's questions about the things he sees and hears out in the world, and if you think you're going to get out of this part of the job by imposing a Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy on teachers, your head is firmly up Slot B.
Well said.

But when I read this article, especially the 5th-to-last paragraph, I found myself wondering.... If parents in this school system do "have the right to review" what their kids are taught and to have their kids "excused from parts" they don't approve of, and if one of the mothers who is so upset did tell the teacher in August that she didn't want her children taught about these issues, what went wrong?

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