How liberal are public schools? This liberal.

I learned from my 9th grade son that we no longer have BC and AD, in favor of BCE and CE (Before Common Era and Common Era). Anything to take Christ out of schools, right? So I told him that as far as we are concerned the new acronyms stand for Before Christ Existed and Christ Exists. :mm:

The same teacher has opined that Howard Zinn (A People's History of the United States) is the most important historian that ever walked the earth.

The BCE/CE designation has been in use by many Egyptologists and historians for about 10 years now.... it's kind of sad, actually.

I also find it odd that schools can have a moment of silence for the express purpose of reflecting on gay pride, but cannot allow students to have a moment of silence to pray....

Of course, SOME kids were probably sneaky about it.... they probably PRAYED when they should have been thinking about gay pride!!!!!
 
The BCE/CE designation has been in use by many Egyptologists and historians for about 10 years now.... it's kind of sad, actually.

I also find it odd that schools can have a moment of silence for the express purpose of reflecting on gay pride, but cannot allow students to have a moment of silence to pray....

Of course, SOME kids were probably sneaky about it.... they probably PRAYED when they should have been thinking about gay pride!!!!!

It's more than 10 years for BCE and CE., but not widely used, yet. I tell the kids about it, but only for reference.
 
I don't need to research it objectively.

Gym should be outlawed. Schools should teach, period.

It's a pretty sorry world when a kid has science once a week but gym twice a week, don't you think?

Gym traumatized me for life. I admit it. And I didn't even have it that bad. I shudder to think about what some of the kids that really got targeted feel like today.

I'm 47 years old and just thinking about gym class 35 years ago makes me cringe.

And I would say that my experience is much more common than yours. Just the fact that you did attend so many different schools is an indication that your school experience is not typical.

In all actuality, for you to take such a stance on PE, you didn't "have it easy." Being traumatized by something as everyday normal as PE is hardly "having it easy."

Physical Education -- emphasis on education -- IS teaching. I think you just missed that part being too busy being miserable.

I can understand you not liking PE. To each his own. I was a gym rat and a jock, and I'm still a gym rat to this day. I spend about 90 minutes a day working out.

We're the fattest nation in the world. I personally think PE should be harder and actually focus on health rather than general grabass games/sports, and twice a week is NOT enough for physical conditioning above the "slovenly" level. Minimum 3 times a week for 60 minutes would meet the bare necessities.

I also think that for you to make a statement that PE should be banned and PE teachers imprisoned, and make blind statements like "nobody liked it" that you should research the subject. Your individual dislike does not translate into "everybody."
 
In all actuality, for you to take such a stance on PE, you didn't "have it easy." Being traumatized by something as everyday normal as PE is hardly "having it easy."

Physical Education -- emphasis on education -- IS teaching. I think you just missed that part being too busy being miserable.

I can understand you not liking PE. To each his own. I was a gym rat and a jock, and I'm still a gym rat to this day. I spend about 90 minutes a day working out.

We're the fattest nation in the world. I personally think PE should be harder and actually focus on health rather than general grabass games/sports, and twice a week is NOT enough for physical conditioning above the "slovenly" level. Minimum 3 times a week for 60 minutes would meet the bare necessities.

I also think that for you to make a statement that PE should be banned and PE teachers imprisoned, and make blind statements like "nobody liked it" that you should research the subject. Your individual dislike does not translate into "everybody."
Despite the fact I hate P.E. with a passion, I'm glad to have had it and I think it should be kept in school. It helped me stay in some semblence of shape and gave me inspiration to go walking on a daily basis.
 
I know this sounds horrible and this will no doubt bother some people? But the world has grown. Abet a bit nastier tasting; the 21st century is not for the faint of heart. Sadly the pendulum of the Conservative movement, which was left over from the era of me, i.e., the 1980s and 1990s is falling by the wayside. It is time to smarten up or be left behind. Like it or not there are gay and lesbian people in the world and there are people with liberal ideals who are going to push their agenda. Much in the same bent Neocons pushed their addenda for, since the days of President Reagan. All I can say to people in general is grow up. If it takes the Supreme Court to make people go screaming in the next century. Then, so be it. Rant and rave all you want for it is not going to change anything. As a famous 1960s poet and songwriter once said – The Times Are A Changing.
Don’t be bytching at people because you wish to remain a dying elephant. If you really want to do something constructive, revamp the Republican Party and get with the program. Otherwise remain as you are and worry about what is being taught in school.
Shut up and bite your tongues when your child comes homes to tell you what they have learned in their class today. If you don’t like what is being taught. Do something about it.
Take your child or children out of school and do without one more Bible or gun and put them into a system that teaches your kids what you think they should learn. If you want your future to have the brain of a one-room schoolhouse from the early 1920s, go for it.
But please just do the rest of us, the other three fourth of this Nation, a big favor. Leave us alone. After all, you had your time in the sun making up all the rules and telling the rest of us how we are suppose to live our lives. Live with it, those days are over. The world is changing and we have to make the necessary changes to keep up as a proper world power. If you want your offspring to be as dumb as dirt and incapable of living in the future while acting like they came from a third world country, go for it. No one is stopping you from doing such. But remember this, at this moment in time there are youngsters in third would countries smarter than little Billy Bob and Mary Bob, because they have parents who care more for their child’s education than they care for their party ties. Think about that the next time you agree with Fox News or Rush Limbaugh or when you go to buy your American flag at Wal-Mart, that was made in China?

I was just kidding...:eek:
 
Today, my daughter came home from school (10th grade, public) and told me about two things that happened recently. Gee, do ya think that liberal social views are being made part of her education? It's not just transsexuals in NY schools, folks.

First, the school recently observed a moment of silence "in honor of gay pride". This non-educational activity was part of the morning announcements.

Second, when we discusssed her classes (which we do every day), she told me that they read and discussed a short story in English class about Viet Nam. Okay so far, so good, on that one, but here's the gist of the story:

A young man of that era decides he doesn't believe in the war, and wants to be a conscientous objector. But he feels that would be embarassing to admit to in front of his friends and family, so off he goes to Viet Nam anyway. He eventually comes to the conclusion that it would have been "more courageous" to be an objector, than to actually fight and risk his life in Viet Nam.

What is supposed to be liberal about beeing gay? My liberalism means that I dont care about your or anyones sexual preferences, provided you dont force your preferences on anyone else.

Considering the Vietnam thing: What is more corageous depends on the individual. There are people who fear "shame" more than they fear "death".
 
On top of which I thought a moment of silence was prohibited due to it being too similar to school led prayer?

So government sanctioned prayer for Gays is now the accepted practice??????

I don't know Bonnie. My youngest is now nearly 3 years out of high school, but they did have 'gay/lesbian tolerance day'. They also had a day to respect 'all religions', with the emphasis on Islam, no, I'm not kidding. There was a 'recognize Hispanic contributions day.' Needless to say, there were also 'Black Pride Day' and 'Diversity Makes Us Stronger Day'. To the best of my knowledge, these 'days' were sponsored by Student Government, not the administration.

Could it be that, by annoying students with such days, the gouverment is pushing the completely opposite agenda by using reverse psychology? I mean, we are talking about teenagers here, EVERYONE knows that, after telling a teenager what he should do, what he will do will propably be the polar opposite.
Its a bit like sticking "Parental advisory needed, explicit content" Stickers on the Bible (concerning the Old Testament they acutally have a place there), a great way to get kids interested in it again.
 
Phys Ed is an extremely important part of the education process. We are not minds in tanks of broth. It has been known for some time that a fit body sharpens the mind. If anything I think we spend too little effort of phys ed.

Are you aware that Harvard U. requires all freshmen to participate in some form of athletics?

No it isn't. Phys Ed is nothing more than a way to torture kids who are different and it should be outlawed. Only a masochist likes phys ed, and all gym teachers pass that test.

I don't give a flying fuck what Harvard requires. If a university that charges 60 grand a year has to force it's students to run around in a circle, then there is something very wrong with that place.

I have no idea what tuition is at Harvard. I pulled 60 grand out of my ass.

There is a bunch of good science that doing work outs regularly consistently and significantly improves you quality of life.
I was "different" too when I was a bit younger, do you know how much time it took me from beeing the "dude who gets picked last at soccer" to someone with an A-? About 7 months, and I didnt even train that hard.
Keep in mind that you do PE for yourself, not for you teachers, and you should do fine.

Simply put, there is nearly no situation where having a well trained body is disadventageous.
 
Edit: nvm, just noticed how old this thread is.

:gives:
 
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are you active in the school? have you considerred running for the board of education or anything like that...or do you just want to piss and moan?
 
I'm all for Day of Silence stuff, but there is little reason in my mind as to why you would announce it in the morning announcements / create a 'moment of silence,' especially in a public school. DoS is supposed to be a personal thing that the kids participate in because they want to, not because its a school activity.

And in regards to the VN story... I don't really see what is wrong with reading it; I'm sure there will be a student who wants to talk about 'both sides of the story.' Now if the teacher just ignored the 'other side' and wouldn't let students talk about it, then that's obviously biased against 'the other side.' But the simple act of reading a book in an English class that details a certain aspect of a Vietnam vet's service doesn't raise any red flags in my mind, no matter the book's content.

The point is, only one, biased point of view was taught as the "official history." History is supposed to be fact-based, not one person's internal struggle and opinion of war.

As beneficial to students the improved methods of collection and analysis of historic artifacts are, memory passed down through generations under the older, “Heroic” narrative persists and continues to influence society in and beyond academia. The conflict felt by conservative factions faced with information contradictory to beliefs enforced through generations, mass media, state propaganda, politics, and education has produced a political backlash against intellectualism that has been disruptive to campus curriculum, retardant to social progress, and seeks to prevent hindsight from being instructive use to foreign policy.
One reason the epic narrative of our nation’s beginning is so hard to dislodge from our national memory has to do with the way the narrative tied conquest to religion, religion to virtue, virtue to democracy, democracy to patriotism, patriotism to nationalism, nationalism to capitalism, and capitalism back to conquest. Disbelief in one precept of that all encompassing account, brings into question one’s fitness for citizenship in this, the greatest nation on earth, one blessed by providence and charged by God to spread the benefits of democracy to all the heathens and pigmented peoples of the world. Besides structural entrapment, the nostalgic version was an easy read and enjoyed a superior system of public broadcasting even before the introduction of mass media.
 
Maybe it was to remember all the poor souls languishing in Hell.

Since hell is typically a Christian concept, and it's a public school, I highly doubt that was the reason. Though of course I also wouldn't have expected a public school to officially have a moment of silence for gay pride, either. Contradictions abound, it seems.

If I'd been there, I'd have talked through it. "Gay pride"? I thought it was just sexual orientation, no different from heterosexuality, and something you were just born with, not a conscious choice. How many of us are "proud" of being heterosexual, or any other quality we were born with? Aren't people usually proud of things they choose to do and work at?
 
Today, my daughter came home from school (10th grade, public) and told me about two things that happened recently. Gee, do ya think that liberal social views are being made part of her education? It's not just transsexuals in NY schools, folks.

First, the school recently observed a moment of silence "in honor of gay pride". This non-educational activity was part of the morning announcements.

Second, when we discusssed her classes (which we do every day), she told me that they read and discussed a short story in English class about Viet Nam. Okay so far, so good, on that one, but here's the gist of the story:

A young man of that era decides he doesn't believe in the war, and wants to be a conscientous objector. But he feels that would be embarassing to admit to in front of his friends and family, so off he goes to Viet Nam anyway. He eventually comes to the conclusion that it would have been "more courageous" to be an objector, than to actually fight and risk his life in Viet Nam.

Do students have to attend this school during Christmas or Easter? I think that each day should start the day with a brief moment of silence regardless of the occasion.

As for the discussion about the ethics of being a conscious objector and being true to yourself, I think that students in the 10th grade should be encouraged in the practice of philosophical thought and discussion.

What do Christmas or Easter have to do with anything? Jewish kids get Chanukah and other religious holidays off. Muslim kids get to take their holidays. Hell, in my state, kids get a long weekend for rodeo!

Seems sensible to ME to have holiday breaks around days that the kids would have just stayed home, anyway.
 
It's not clear what made gym class torture. Was it the clothing? The competitive games? The calisthenics? Something else?

I enjoyed gym class, even though we wore maroon suits with snaps. It was a nice change from listening to teachers drone on about algebra. Perhaps being with all girls made it easier?

My elementary school had basic gymnastics in its PE class. Do you know what happens when a second grader who's afraid of heights starts to lose her balance and accidentally puts both feet next to each other on a balance beam? I certainly considered urinating to be torture for the next month, and I'm sure the school district considered my parents' lawsuit to be pretty torturous. They don't do gymnastics in PE class now.

In my opinion, if a break is needed from class, recess suffices nicely, and allows the child to choose his own way of relaxing and unwinding, rather than forcing him to play games he may not be interested in or have any aptitude for. Myself, I enjoyed reading and learning, and never felt the need for a break, except to eat lunch.
 
Phys Ed is an extremely important part of the education process. We are not minds in tanks of broth. It has been known for some time that a fit body sharpens the mind. If anything I think we spend too little effort of phys ed.

Are you aware that Harvard U. requires all freshmen to participate in some form of athletics?

No it isn't. Phys Ed is nothing more than a way to torture kids who are different and it should be outlawed. Only a masochist likes phys ed, and all gym teachers pass that test.

I don't give a flying fuck what Harvard requires. If a university that charges 60 grand a year has to force it's students to run around in a circle, then there is something very wrong with that place.

I have no idea what tuition is at Harvard. I pulled 60 grand out of my ass.

There is a bunch of good science that doing work outs regularly consistently and significantly improves you quality of life.
I was "different" too when I was a bit younger, do you know how much time it took me from beeing the "dude who gets picked last at soccer" to someone with an A-? About 7 months, and I didnt even train that hard.
Keep in mind that you do PE for yourself, not for you teachers, and you should do fine.

Simply put, there is nearly no situation where having a well trained body is disadventageous.

Yeah, except that PE in school accomplished nothing except making me avoid every activity that I even vaguely associated with it. To this day, I'd rather be tortured with red-hot pliers than have anything to do with organized sports in any way.
 
WOW! Home school, private school time?

I think it's too late for that, since she has a large group of school friends she loves, and she is in a pretty terrific music program. In my next life, though...

Who's to say she couldn't still keep those friends? Schooling isn't about socialization. It's about learning. She can have her social time outside of school.
 

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