Comment on this week's Column. I discussed whether a first grade child should limit talk of God in school and how the parent of a junior high student who is failing three classes should respond.
My column is published each Wednesday. Read it at http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/sections/life/education/
Scroll down to see readers' comments and add one of your own.
6 comments:
Hello,
I enjoy reading your column. However, this morning I choked on my coffee when I read your advice to parents to “call in sick” and go to the child’s school.
Last minute call-ins of a fake illness are not the way to treat your employer. Your advice to do so is mildly unethical. Almost any enlightened employer will give an employee enough time to attend to important family matters. Most managers are parents, too. We get it. Indeed, the State of California requires employers of 25+ to provide unpaid leave to eligible employees for the purpose of participating in a child’s school activities.
Keep up the good work, but stay on the higher moral ground by advising your readers to model the behavior they want to see in their children.
Jim Schneiderman
This is in re: to the teacher telling her first grader not to talk about God so much.Let me just start off by saying that I am a Christian.While I agree that the teacher should have been a bit more sensitive to her student when telling him not to talk about God so much,I completely disagree with the mothers' attitude and your reply. If the child was indeed harassing other students with his "passion", he should indeed have been told to stop.The teacher has a responsibility to all of her students, not just one, regardless if the subject was God or football.(And YES a first grader can harass others.) This was not an attack on free speech or oppression of religion.This is a matter of a teacher being allowed to have control of her teaching environment.
Maybe, the mother needs to adopt a better christian attitude of her own.Maybe, if she was a little more forgiving and tried a litle more understanding which she felt she and her son were due, this article would not have even made it to your desk.
I must admit, this week my readers are making me take a second look at both of my columns.
First, the parent of the first grader asked me to omit some details about the incident that would further explain my answer. She has met with the principal, and she agrees we should continue the topic next week. Read next Wed. to hear the details and the result from her conference.
As for the "call in sick" comment, many readers took issue with this line. I meant it more as a term. What I should have said was "take a day off work." I will clarify next week.
I hope you keep reading and posting your comments. I enjoy the feedback. My inbox was full over this week's topics. Popular week.
Re: "limit talk about God".
Can a 1st grader harass anyone?
1. A 1st grader cannot harrass anyone any more than they can be a Christian. His "faith" is based only on what he's been exposed to via his religious education. If he were a Muslim in the middle east, he would beleive in Allah and possibly beleive all non-Muslims (ie Christians) are infidels and should be killed based upon what he has learned from his religious education.
2. If you print a letter and edit it in such a manner that pertinant information causes the reader to not fully understand your answer, why print it to begin with?
I am the mom who wrote in last week. I am sorry I asked Carol to omit some details. I was worried it would help others learn what he did at school and maybe single him out even more. I told her to write my details next week to let others know the story. I appreciated her advice and it helped. My son is still in the class and he is happy. Still talking about God, and happy about that too.
Dear Carol,
How irresponsible of you to give the advice you did to the angry (Christian) mom (that does not know what she will say in anger) that is meeting with the principal regarding her son. As you know, everyone's first grade boy is good. There is no way a first grade Christian child could harass other children. You never once mentioned any behavioral issues with the boy. Equally, you didn't mention what if the boy was harassing the others or being disruptive. You told this parent that the first grade teacher was incorrect. Period. Do you actually think that the principal would be dealing with a reasonable (angry) person during the meeting? You know as well as anyone else (if you are a reasonable person) that no matter what the principal comes back with, he or she will always be wrong in the eyes of an angry Christian woman. And no matter how the first grade teacher explains it, he or she will also be wrong. What you have done is fueled the anger of an unreasonable Christian woman that will probably not accept any explanation from the principal or teacher. Remember, he is a good Christian boy. It is no wonder the hands of teachers are tied and there is a shortage in this profession. A good responsible parent would have listened to all sides and acted accordingly. In addition, a good responsible parent would take immediate action against a child that was being disruptive, disrespectful and downright annoying. I wonder where the child gets it?
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