Grinchy remark sends kids home in tears

[Graham]

I actually tried phoning the lady concerned, I still bet the real story is somewhat different. I just don't trust the media!

Sadly she has a private number.

Re. parenting, I agree with parents rights to teach their own children as they see fit. This is a God given right and I wouldn't want to interfere even if i dissagreed with parents.

But teachers have to teach and many times it conflicts with the teaching of the home.
The big issue of Creationism vs Evolution is a classic example of this.
Do kids go home crying and say 'Mummy, you lied to me, God is dead, we came from monkeys!!" ? If so, do teachers care? They teach what they think is right, whether it is or not.

I don't mean to open a controversial issue and I won't debate it here, I'm just making a comparison.

and listen, I don't take any comments here as an attack on Christianity, I'm certainly not offended, we're just considering comments by the media about a teacher and whether they are justified or not.

I'm not even defending "Christmas" (the Christian version or otherwise) since I celebrate neither.

I'm quite prepared to admit that if I had actually been there, I might have considered Theresa's comments out of place also.

[GlassMan]

I don't think you meant to offend anyone Graham. But it's not just about teaching things that some people find offensive but it's about teaching things in an age-appropriate way.

If a kid in a high school biology class (which is where evolution is introduced) goes home upset because they found out they descended from monkeys and starts crying, then there is something seriously wrong with that kid. A teenager should be able to handle an idea that contradicts their long-held beliefs in a much more adult manner.

Also, because of the stident effort to keep every mention of God (both for and against) out of US schools, no child would ever hear that God is dead in a classroom. I grew up in South Texas where the population is overwhelmingly Christian and everyone goes to Church. San Antonio is so Catholic that the morning after the election it's traditional for the Mayor-Elect to have breakfast with the ArchBishop to discuss priorities for his term of office, even if the Mayor-Elect isn't Catholic. And if you weren't Catholic then you were Southern Baptist or a stricter Fundamentalist.

Yet, even in that climate with teachers that I also saw at Church, evolution was always taught without any mention of God. It was always presented as the prevailing and overwhelmingly accepted scientific explanation for how life came to its present form and diversity on Earth. In private discussions with my teacher I know that she felt that God guided the process in a variation on the now "cool" Intelligent Design theory, but she never even considered injecting that into class. It wasn't her place to talk about that, it was my parent's place.

Now, once in College I did take severa classes over at the Divinity School (and later spent time in a seminary) and we did discuss things more in depth. But each discussion was at the appropriate level for our age and for our intellectual development.

[macwilkin]

This thread is very close to the "line of demarcation" in regards to threads of a religious nature...I'm not going to shut it down yet as long as the discussion continues to be civil and respectful of different POVs, but please see the Forum Rules regarding "religious threads". It is ultimately Hank's call, though, since this is his "house".

Regards,

Todd

[Graham]

No problem Todd, and agreed. As I said, and no disrespect to Glassman, the evolution thing was just a comparison, I did say I will not debate it here.

I see the topic as education and parenting even tho' Xmas is regarded as a "christian issue"

[GlassMan]

I agree, we are not here to debate about the religion of it. I just tried to use the example of evolution to show how the same topic can and should be handled differently at different age/grade levels so that the subject matter is always dealt with in an age-appropriate manner.