Tara Miller, a teacher at the Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science in Hayward, California is under attack this week after parents learned that she asked her kindergarteners to sign card pledging to support gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people. Putting aside how much a 5-year-old would know about transgender people, Miller wants the cards filled out as part of National Ally Week.
Miller passed out cards that asked students to be “an ally” and to pledge to “not use anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) language or slurs; intervene, when I feel I can, in situations where others are using anti-LGBT language or harassing other students and actively support safer schools efforts.”
Val Joyner, a school district spokeswoman, told media that it was not clear that action would be taken against Miller, but that the cards were meant for middle school and high school students.
Students were also told that October 23 would be “Coming Out Day.”
This is all clearly inappropriate and warrants a punishment for both the teacher and any supervisors who was aware of her plan to pass out the material. To make matters worse, these cards were passed out on the eve of a very contentious vote on same sex marriage under Proposition 8 in California, which obviously many conservative parents support.
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So you’re saying that kids should be allowed to call each other names like fag, queer and homo? Kids at this age do that. Please keep in mind this was not a lesson about sexual acts.
As educators, we are told to teach tolerance of ALL ppl. This is acknowleding just homosexuals. What about the non` gay student?
This is clearly a subjective movement, singling out one group.
To be set forth in young children who have NO idea what this is, is wrong on all counts, and takes away the right of the parent to KNOW what their children are being exposed to. Educators need to make sure our children are LEARNING the principles of reading, writing and math. This is wrong on many levels.
I would lose my teaching credentials if I did this.
JT, you said what I could not. Thank you.
“Conservatives are often blamed for refusing to acknowledge the excesses of their own allies and supporters. Liberals should be equally upset with such material on the kindergarten level, particularly in the midst of an intense political season. These teachers have a great responsibility in looking after and educating the children of citizens. This was a breach of that duty in my view.”
Well said JT. I couldn’t agree more.
SL
This story made http://detentionslip.org ! Check it out for all the crazy headlines from our schools.
Kmansfield:
Conservatives are often blamed for refusing to acknowledge the excesses of their own allies and supporters. Liberals should be equally upset with such material on the kindergarten level, particularly in the midst of an intense political season. These teachers have a great responsibility in looking after and educating the children of citizens. This was a breach of that duty in my view.
JT
Holy right-wing troll week, Batman!
This is right out of the Rovian playbook.
This is just one more attempt by liberal teachers to attempt to indoctrinate little children. I resent the sneaky attempt to brainwash these small children, and if I was in that community I would make a HUGE issue out of it publicly, and demand that the teacher responsible be suspended! If we don’t take action against this type of inappropriate “education” of small children, we are going to have an entire generation of confused, and morally corrupt kids!
This is just another reason why public schools should be SHUT DOWN.
If you want to be wrong; feel free to disagree with me.
Prof. Turley,
I think you are exactly correct to call this inappropriate. I think the vote that you reference is the reason why they did this foolish thing. I just don’t know what people are thinking sometimes!
Kids that age don’t understand transgender or what it means to be gay. I don’t think the teacher should have done that with kids that age. It’s okay for middle schoolers and high schoolers, but not 5 and 6 yr olds.
If she wanted to teach the kids tolerance of others, then she should have had them sign a card that states “I’m going to be a friend to everyone and treat them how I want to be treated”
You have to speak to kids on a level that they understand. She could have made the same point that way.
I think it is very very wrong to use children to try to make a political statement in this manner. In this case, she was using the children for her own agenda and that’s wrong.
What next, are we going to have kindergartners sign “I’m going to remain a virgin until I’m married” cards? Or are we going to hand out buttons to elementry aged girls that state “It’s my body, I can do what I want with it!”
Let’s try to keep our kids innocent for as long as possible and not drag them into the dirty politics of today’s world