Finally Christians and Muslims have something to agree on: They don’t want public school teachers teaching their children on matters that go against the teachings of their respective religions -- topics ranging from homosexuality and birth control to evolution and global warming.
In Ontario, Canada, newly passed Bill 13 promotes diversity and acceptance in an attempt to curb bullying. Punishing bullies used to be sufficient, but apparently not anymore. Now our kids need to be taught about sex -- both homosexual and heterosexual -- to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings.
Here’s a concept: Why not teach kids to respect all people, regardless of their skin color, gender, religion, or parental status? Why all of a sudden do kids need to be taught about sexuality, environmentalism, and religion (but not Christianity! Never Christianity) in order to play nice?
Back to Ontario and this Bill 13. Many parents have complained about the new policy, and have asked that they be notified when the controversial subjects will be taught in class, so that they may exempt their children from those sessions.
One parent, Steve Tourloukis, says:
I’m not an extremist, but I must ensure that my children abstain from certain activities that may include lessons which promote views contrary to our faith.
Tourloukis is suing the Hamilton school board for their refusal to communicate with him before his elementary aged son and daughter were taught in the classroom about “family, marriage, and human sexuality.” He is supported by the Parental Rights in Education Defense Fund.
Parents absolutely should have a right to notification and an option to withdraw their children from controversial teaching. Teachers’ rights to teach do not supersede parents’ rights to parent, and their wishes should be respected. After all, we’re the ones that are raising them -- from diapers to graduation caps; it’s parents that do the heavy lifting. When they turn 18 and go out into the world, they can complain to their therapists that mom and dad wouldn’t let them stay in class to hear how fish are more important than people, or how lesbians do it.
The state does not know how to raise our children better than we do, and the implication that they do is insulting. Kids don’t have to be taught about homosexuality in order to be nice to the kid with two mommies or two daddies. Kids rarely care about that stuff anyway. Let parents decide how much they want to tell their kids about alternative lifestyle choices.
While they’re at it, they should teach their kids to be kind to everyone, no matter what their families look like.
Image via Glen's Pics/Flickr
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Comments 84
@bills. there are conflicting reports about global warming but that doesn't mean kids shouldn't learn about it or that MY kids shouldn't learn about it because someone else didnt want their child to. If there are differeing opinions, so be it. I'm inclined to supplement my children's education at home anyway so I can easily bring up any subject that I wish them to know more about. There's no need for me or anyone else to try and change school curriculum.
I bet every single one of you would have a cow, if they said "let me teach the kids tolerance and teach the about Christianity". You would fly off the handle because it goes against your beliefs. How is that teaching your kids to be well rounded and open minded?
Someone in an earlier comment said that almost half of Americans don't believe in evolution. I've never heard that statistic before, but if it's true, we're even more f*cked up than I thought.
Oh calm down Bills. No one (two words, BTW) degraded or called your kids names. Stop flying off the handle and read more carefully. As for teaching about Christianity, I'd more than happy for my kids to learn about it in a religion class, where they were taught about ALL major religions with objectivity and critical analysis. If you want them to be taught only about Christianity (or whatever religion), then do that at home or church.
Katy the problem with Global Warming is its a theory being taught as fact. All they have to do is call it a theory as it is and most parents wouldn't have a problem with it being taught in school. They had theories in the 70's too, it was called Global Cooling then. Just because its science doesn't make it right, and just because someone says it will help the planet doesn't make them right. Remember in the 80's when they told us to stop using paper bags because we were killing all the tree's, then it was stop using plastic you're filling up dump sites, and now its watch out for those cloth bags they are made with toxic material. We have to admit to our children that there are certain things no one knows for sure and that's where faith comes in.
Kids must be informed of all situations ocurring in actuality around them. Sex and religion being one of those things. I attended a private Catholic School and there were a few kids that were not catholic, so when we had religion class they were assigned different school activities and could stay in the clasroom if they wanted or go to the sub principals office, there was never an issue. Many times, they were interested in staying, so their parents were notified and always were Ok with it, It was education not imposing a religion.
Relgion was the driving force behing many historical events.