First it was dodgeball. Now the age-old tradition of father/daughter dances at school is being phased out. But don't worry! Mother/son traditions are getting the heave-ho too.
A Rhode Island school district is blazing the trail, calling these gender-specific activities "discriminatory" after a single mom complained that her kid was left out of a daddy/daughter event because she didn't have a dad to accompany her. As a married mom, I can't agree with them more.
We live in a world where 11.7 million households have a single parent at the helm. We live in a world where same sex couples are finally making headway in the fight to adopt and raise kids. Telling girls they need to bring a daddy to an event or boys that they need a mommy is automatically cutting out a whole lot of kids, distancing them from their peers in a time when kids are already so split that we have a bullying epidemic on our hands.
These kids don't need another reason to feel uncomfortable around their classmates, especially not in the so-called "safe space" that a school is supposed to provide.
And quite frankly, neither do parents ... any parent, whether single, gay, or partnered up with someone of the opposite sex.
We don't need to hear from the school that one gender of parent is more important than the other. Maybe it's because I grew up in a poor school district that didn't have the fund for these gender-specific events anyway, but I've never quite gotten the allure of one parent in particular being lauded over the other.
Last year my daughter's teacher sent home an invite to help make gingerbread houses that specifically stated there was room for only one adult helper per child. We let our daughter choose, and she picked my husband. Technically it was better for us based on work schedules, but I won't say it didn't hurt a bit.
I want to be there for the moments big and small ... and so does my husband. That's part of being a parent. The two of us have made a point of deciding who goes to events at school based on our family's needs, not on some outdated notion that little girls need their daddies more and little guys are mama's boys.
What's your take on daddy/daughter and mother/son events at schools?
Image via sameliaz8/Flickr
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Comments 71
I have so much I would like to say regarding some of these comments, but will only say this....a dance being banned is not making anyone SUFFER. You have some soul searching to do if you think that is suffering. You feel sorry for your 'poor, poor kids' with mommy and daddy waiting at home that no longer have a dance, but I'll make sure to think about the kids hurting with a parent's sting of denial, because that is a heck of a lot more to suffer though, NOT a dance being cancelled.
Dear God and this is why liberals shouldnt breed. So punish the kids who do have all this? Its just like black peoples month. We have a black peoples month but what about white, mexican, indean?? What makes them so speacial? And why is no one worried about offending other people of another race? As I said just stupid liberals
I am honestly confilicted on how to feel about this subject. I am a single mom and the though of this make me sad for my chilren BUT at the same time it is a fact of life they will grow up knowing and understanding. I don't see why children with Both parents should be punished. I can obviously see both sides of the argument. Sure my son and I can go to mother son events but it will be so hard for my daughter to understand why her dad won't go with her to father daughter events. it's going to be hard. but that is really just something we are going to have to deal with. it's not fair but that is life. not everything is fair. I don't see it as discrimination. But maybe as an alternative doing something like "parent child dance" I don't know really. but I don't think it's right to get rid of the dances all together.