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Tenn. Senate OKs ban on teaching of homosexuality

I can think of one specific point in my school years where homosexuality came up. It was in high school, but I can also see it coming up in Jr. High or Middle School too the way it was discussed in my class.

We were debating gay rights. The teacher was a complete twit on how debates should work, but it still was a class discussion. And I could also see it coming up in a class discussion on current events or even something like talking about what they did on a summer vacation. What if someone's family went to a gay rights event or their mothers or fathers got married or the family went to a same sex wedding? Those might have been the only things that happened to the kid over the summer and the other kids all got to discuss what they did with the class. It wouldn't be fair to exclude a kid or, worse, make them find something else to talk about just because some people want to stick their fingers in their ears and continuously chant "la la la, gays don't exist, la la la, just don't talk about them and they'll go away, la la la".

Completely ridiculous law.
 
How do you teach kids about voting with out influencing them?

you don't teach them modern political stances.

my AP Political Science teacher, for example, taught us about how the modern welfare state was the natural conclusion of the founding fathers dreams, how republicans wanted to control all of our moral decisions, and how the election of Bush could be seen as an interesting holdover from America's history with a natural aristocracy coming from the British Tradition.

now don't get me wrong - i loved her, she was a brilliant teacher, and I learned alot from her. I'm also a bit of a natural contrarian, and while I'm pretty sure that "pushing students to think her way" wouldn't have been something she would have consciously labeled as a reason for her to speak to her kids in the way she did, if it was, she failed with me (though not with a few others). She no doubt thought she was just teaching us How It Is in an objective manner so as to provoke us to think.

But that was senior year of high school - where a bit more latitude can be fine. When I came home from my 7th Grade AP Social Studies, and my father asked what we had learned in school today, and I replied that we had learned that Muslims want to take over the world and kill anyone not of "the Book" who doesn't convert, he was fairly irritated. And not just because that was the precise opposite of how he wanted to teach me to address other faith systems - but because the "more latitude and/or thought provoking ways to address complex and contested issues" sort of approach doesn't belong at that age level.

have the kids read the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers, and compare the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to each to see how the two sides interacted, who won where, etc. no need to teach them about modern political battles - they will get that plenty at home and then at college.
 
I can think of one specific point in my school years where homosexuality came up. It was in high school, but I can also see it coming up in Jr. High or Middle School too the way it was discussed in my class.

We were debating gay rights. The teacher was a complete twit on how debates should work, but it still was a class discussion. And I could also see it coming up in a class discussion on current events or even something like talking about what they did on a summer vacation. What if someone's family went to a gay rights event or their mothers or fathers got married or the family went to a same sex wedding? Those might have been the only things that happened to the kid over the summer and the other kids all got to discuss what they did with the class. It wouldn't be fair to exclude a kid or, worse, make them find something else to talk about just because some people want to stick their fingers in their ears and continuously chant "la la la, gays don't exist, la la la, just don't talk about them and they'll go away, la la la".

Completely ridiculous law.

no one is getting excluded. as i understand it, the teachers are just gagged.
 
you don't teach them modern political stances.

mmmmkay.


have the kids read the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers, and compare the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to each to see how the two sides interacted, who won where, etc. no need to teach them about modern political battles - they will get that plenty at home and then at college.

And this doesn't influence them in any way what so ever?


BTW States rights are still an issue.
 
the current battles over the correct boundaries between states and the federal government isn't required; there is plenty of material in our first century - the civil war for goodness sakes - to allow the students to fully weigh the Federalists and Anti-Federalists arguments with regards to real-world situations involving competing rights and responsibilities. My AP US History Teacher had a brilliant segment on this using the Jackson Administrations' fight with South Carolina.
 
the current battles over the correct boundaries between states and the federal government isn't required; there is plenty of material in our first century - the civil war for goodness sakes - to allow the students to fully weigh the Federalists and Anti-Federalists arguments with regards to real-world situations involving competing rights and responsibilities. My AP US History Teacher had a brilliant segment on this using the Jackson Administrations' fight with South Carolina.


Okay so in a course that involves issues of civil rights can the Stonewall riots be mentioned?
 
Generally speaking you're not going to get Civil Rights History in High School - that's a collegiate elective. And I don't really see it happening at the K-8 level.
 
Asian parents never give us the "sex talk." They just expect you to be smart enough to figure it out.

And it isn't taught in schools here either... schools here focus on math, science, Chinese, history and English along with a smattering of other subjects that are of academic relevance... which is the way it SHOULD be...
 
And it isn't taught in schools here either... schools here focus on math, science, Chinese, history and English along with a smattering of other subjects that are of academic relevance... which is the way it SHOULD be...

:shock: that's horrible. surely your students are all catching HIV and getting pregnant by the 5th Grade?
 
Generally speaking you're not going to get Civil Rights History in High School - that's a collegiate elective. And I don't really see it happening at the K-8 level.


I remember learning about Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Native Americans, etc. But you might be right these days since some people are trying to influence education from a right wing view:

Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change

AUSTIN, Tex. — After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light.



Texas Conservatives Win Vote on Textbook Standards - NYTimes.com

But still you did not answer my question:

Okay so in a course that involves issues of civil rights can the Stonewall riots be mentioned?
 
I remember learning about Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Native Americans, etc.

:shrug: i guess I thought you meant a specific Civil Rights History course, not a history course that included the civil rights movement

But still you did not answer my question:

I won't pretend to know enough about them - it seems off the top of my head to be a pretty basic thing, you don't exactly have a constituency in favor of violence or criminalizing homosexuality. :shrug: since it's at the high school level I don't really see a problem with mentioning their impact, so long as it doesn't become a front for activism.
 
but in general this is (again, I plug) why we should enact school choice. The Texas case wouldn't have been nearly as big a deal if all that was necessary was for parents to send their kids to the school down the street if they didn't approve of the new curriculum.
 
:shrug: i guess I thought you meant a specific Civil Rights History course, not a history course that included the civil rights movement

I don't see how that effects what I asked.

I won't pretend to know enough about them - it seems off the top of my head to be a pretty basic thing, you don't exactly have a constituency in favor of violence or criminalizing homosexuality. :shrug:

I'm not so sure about the criminalizing part after all the State of Texas did go to the SCOTUS in Lawrence vs. Texas.

since it's at the high school level I don't really see a problem with mentioning their impact, so long as it doesn't become a front for activism.

That's up to the student IMHO. After all it is a free country right?
 
Generally speaking you're not going to get Civil Rights History in High School - that's a collegiate elective. And I don't really see it happening at the K-8 level.

It is part of the high school curriculum in Fulton County, Georgia... can't speak for other places, but had I taught U.S. history (I taught political science and world history during my tenure there), I would have been required to teach it...
 
When do kids usually start to realize they are sexual? 11-14? Thats middle school is it not?
 
And people wonder why U.S. schoolkids are behind Taiwanese and others in math...

My daughter is a High School teacher...she has to include so much crap into her lesson plans theres not enough time in the day to teach the kids the 4rs...
Im gonna take the heat again for this but...im with digsbe homosexuality should not be a subject in school
 
My daughter is a High School teacher...she has to include so much crap into her lesson plans theres not enough time in the day to teach the kids the 4rs...
Im gonna take the heat again for this but...im with digsbe homosexuality should not be a subject in school


I don't think anyone is saying it should be class. But it is in our history and as of late it has been a fairly prominent topic. And it is a part of human sexuality as well.
 
My daughter is a High School teacher...she has to include so much crap into her lesson plans theres not enough time in the day to teach the kids the 4rs...
Im gonna take the heat again for this but...im with digsbe homosexuality should not be a subject in school

I totally understand this... I also did not have enough time to cover the entire curriculum that was presented to me, especially in the area of World History, which under ideal circumstances can't be taught in a year anyway... and all of this other crap that resulted in lost teaching days due to seminars that the students had to attend and speeches about tolerance and what not... yeah, pathetic... While there are faults with the education system in Taiwan, at least the primary focus is on making sure the kids learn basic skills in math, science, history, Chinese and English...
 
I totally understand this... I also did not have enough time to cover the entire curriculum that was presented to me, especially in the area of World History, which under ideal circumstances can't be taught in a year anyway... and all of this other crap that resulted in lost teaching days due to seminars that the students had to attend and speeches about tolerance and what not... yeah, pathetic... While there are faults with the education system in Taiwan, at least the primary focus is on making sure the kids learn basic skills in math, science, history, Chinese and English...


Do they have art classes?
 
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