05.23
Look, I hate to be cynical and come off like I don’t care, but you really do have to wonder sometimes what it takes to get parents to take their kids out of a corrupt school system. A story that my friend sent me this morning is just a perfect example. Evidently they’re riled up in California because of a new gay-centric set of lessons that kids as young as 5 are now required to sit through. What they’re mad about, evidently, is that they are not being allowed to opt their kids out of those lessons. But, that concern exposes a woeful misunderstanding of the real danger that their kids are in. Here’s how the story lays it out:
“I believe these children are far too young to be learning about what these issues mean,” said Alaina Stewart, who has three children who attend elementary school in Alameda. “These are adult issues and they are being thrust upon the children.”
But the school board says otherwise, and its attorneys say that if the curriculum is adopted, the parents will have no legal right to remove their children from class when the lessons are being taught.
“By not allowing kids to opt out,” says David Kirwin, who has two children in the system, “the school district is violating a First Amendment right for those who have a religion that doesn’t support homosexuality.”
The proposed curriculum will include a 45-minute LGBT(Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Trans-gender) lesson, once a year from kindergarten through fifth grade. The kindergartners will focus on the harms of teasing, while the fifth graders will study sexual orientation stereotypes.
I have two pieces of news for Mrs. Stewart and Mr. Kirwin. First, you can take your kids out of those classes any time you want to. It’s called homeschooling and their are two million kids doing it as recently as 2007. The numbers are most certainly higher now. Secondly, even if you somehow win this battle (which you won’t) and your kids are able to opt-out, what is the end result? Now your kids don’t have to go to a 45 minute LGBT training session, but they still have to spend 8 hours a day in a place with hundreds of other kids and teachers who have. Excuse me if I think that’s not much of a victory. Do you not think that a teacher that is willing to teach that stuff will restrain his/herself from including references to those concepts in their other lessons? That’s naive at best. Your kids are being indoctrinated for eight hours a day by an organization of people whom you do not know, with agendas that you’ll never find out about. Stuff like this is only the ever-so-slight tip of the iceberg that peeks out from time to time. The bulk of the agenda is always hidden.
But, these issues, overall, expose a lack of understanding on the part of parents as to just how political the education machine is. That’s why I quipped earlier that it’s a foregone conclusion that these parents will lose this battle. Showing up at a school board hearing is no different than showing up at a town-hall meeting for some senatorial candidate. The agenda is set in advance. What you say in that setting is meaningless. No minds are going to be changed because it’s not about the ideas. It’s about union money and political power. Case in point:
One parent told FOXNews.com an “overwhelming” majority of parents spoke out against LGBT instruction at one of the meetings, but that public opinion had little impact.
“The chairman of the school board repeatedly claimed to the audience that the curriculum is evenly supported and opposed,” said a parent named David, who asked that his last name be withheld.
“I am beginning to lose confidence of the board, as it seems to have a preconceived political agenda and not truly represent their constituent’s opposition to the curriculum,” he said.
At least this guy named David is finally waking up to the real concern. Hopefully this will be a trend, but I’m going to maintain my cycnicism for now. When it comes to education it’s really hard to shake yourself out of the status quo. It’s too easy to just go to some school meetings and then be mad when nothing changes. The “I did all I could” mentality doesn’t help your children though. The fact is that it’s the same thing as going years in an abusive relationship or an abusive work environment and never working up the courage to shake your life up. Sometimes stability is over-rated. This is one of those times. It’s not worth maintaining the status quo and an easy, predictable daily routine if your kids are going to suffer for it.
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