View Full Version : 7th graders asked to write POTUS to bring Troops home
More education dollars at work? This has me beyond steamed...in the grade schools no less. What about the three R's...what about History? Methinks the teachers are politically motivated at the expense of young minds. :mad: Kudos to the Superintendent though, hopefully he'll take these teachers to task.
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=2946153
A homework assignment for 7th Graders at an Elizabeth City, N.C., middle school offended some parents last week.
The letter writing assignment concerned a topic straight from the headlines - the war in Iraq.
However, what offended some parents was the purpose of the letter - convincing President Bush to bring the U.S. troops there home.
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A concerned parent e-mailed WAVY News 10 the homework assignment.
At the top it makes a statement, saying "President Bush is steadily sending troops to Iraq to fight. Many families are losing precious loved ones because of Bush's determination to set up democracy in Iraq."
Then the assignment instructs students to "write a letter to the President convincing him to please send our troops home."
It also offers guidance to the students, suggesting:
"Focus on the problem of how sending U.S. soldiers over to fight in Iraq is too risky and clearly present your solution."
"Support your solution to the problem of risking innocent men and women's lives to fight for another country."
The suggestions also include:
"Organize the letter so that your ideas progress logically."
"Use correct grammar."
"Choose words that are well suited to the purpose, audience, and context of your letter."
Kalin Knight is a 7th Grader who got the homework.
"It was crazy," he told WAVY News 10. "I think it was kind of stupid for the kids."
Kalin's father is a retired Navy man. His mother thinks the assignment was one-sided and too much for young teens to comprehend.
"How can he understand what's going on?" asks Mylissa Knight "He watches cartoons, not the news. I don't like this at all."
Dr. Tony Stewart. the Superintendent of the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public School District, told WAVY News 10:
"This assignment was a writing prompt made by 7th grade teachers with only one point of view. I don't think that was right and I apologize to anyone it may have offended."
Steward declined further comment.
WAVY News 10 is told the assignments were collected and thrown away.
Swindleous
02-15-2005, 20:23
"Support your solution to the problem of risking innocent men and women's lives to fight for another country."
I don't know how comfortable I am with 7th graders proposing foreign policy, but I did have an interesting image of Edmund Burke swooping down from the sky spouting famous quotations and smacking these teachers around.
Indeed. What these short-minded individuals consistently fail to realize is it is OUR safety and freedom ultimately being defended.
Kalin's father is a retired Navy man. His mother thinks the assignment was one-sided and too much for young teens to comprehend.
"How can he understand what's going on?" asks Mylissa Knight "He watches cartoons, not the news. I don't like this at all." .
Amazing what people get away with these days in our schools. Put your soapbox down and teach my kids how to think, not what to think.
Roycroft201
02-16-2005, 00:38
"How can he understand what's going on?" asks Mylissa Knight "He watches cartoons, not the news. I don't like this at all."
Dr. Tony Stewart. the Superintendent of the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public School District, told WAVY News 10:
"This assignment was a writing prompt made by 7th grade teachers with only one point of view. I don't think that was right and I apologize to anyone it may have offended."
Framing the questions as they did, the teachers were, of course, way out of bounds.
Sadly, the Superintendent's response: I don't think that was right was wimpy.........He doesn't think it was right ???? . Gee, Dr. Stewart, I hope you administer better than you speak in public. Perhaps It was not right would have expressed it better, as it was more than just a personal opinion of right or wrong....it was whether teachers should use their position in the classroom to further personal agendas.
Teachers such as these drag every educator down with them when they pull
stunts like this.
And since I seem to be on a roll and expressing my opinion, I'd also like to take it one step further and respond to the remarks made by Mylissa Knight, the parent, who was quoted in the article.
A 7th grader is not too young to have a basic understanding of current events. If his TV time is limited to cartoons, then obviously the child will have a more difficult time keeping up with Social Studies lessons. Are kids today interested in what is happening in Afghanistan and Iraq and our nation's fight in the GWOT ? Absolutely. Do they understand all of it ? No. Are they capable of understanding the facts ? Certainly. TIME magazine publishes a children's version called TIME for Kids that many teachers subscribe to (also available online at www.timeforkids.com). Another teacher asked if I would give my Social Studies lesson to her 4th grade class based on the 2/4/05 issue of the magazine, with the headline, " Iraq's Choice: Will elections bring peace or more violence ? " The two page article included pictures, a geographic map of Iraq, and pie charts showing the percentages of Ethnic Groups (Arab 80%, Kurdish 15%, other 5%) and Religious Groups (Shiite Muslim 65%, Sunni Muslim 32%, Christian and other 3%). These 4th graders were overflowing with questions, which ranged from, "Mrs. K. Are there too many 'i's in that one kind of Muslim?" "No, Jonathan, It's not a typo...it is pronounced 'She - ite'," and another boy who wanted to know, " If we know the bad things Saddam Hussein did when he was the ruler, then why is he being given a trial if everyone knows he's guilty?" Questions about women getting the chance to vote, why were the insurgents (new vocabulary word) doing violent things, and on and on. They are curious, they are interested, they are like sponges soaking up information. We definitely do NOT have to dumb down their education.
My response to Mrs. Knight's question about her 7th grade son, "How can he understand what is going on ?"
It is really quite simple, Mrs. Knight. Turn off the cartoon's, and talk to your son about what is going on in the world today.
My response to Mrs. Knight's question about her 7th grade son, "How can he understand what is going on ?"
It is really quite simple, Mrs. Knight. Turn off the cartoon's, and talk to your son about what is going on in the world today.
Exactly. She didn't like the assignment because it was above his ability?
I liked this part of the assignment -
"Organize the letter so that your ideas progress logically."
"Use correct grammar."
"Choose words that are well suited to the purpose, audience, and context of your letter."
However, the teacher was wrong in deciding that there was only one side to be presented.
"Focus on the problem of how sending U.S. soldiers over to fight in Iraq is too risky and clearly present your solution."
"Support your solution to the problem of risking innocent men and women's lives to fight for another country."
She easily could have had them write an essay about the risks involved and asked for alternative solutions. She might have pointed out that there is a danger in not being involved in some world affairs.
very scary. this was a class assignment? We're weak. this teacher probably thought she is doing a good thing. Reminds of A few good men. "All you did was weaken a nation today, cappy".
Typical.
IMHO our country's teachers are liberal and thus hate President Bush.
My buddy called me the other day. His wife is a teacher not far from N.C. teaching in S.C. with the same type of rethoric. She told me via the phone that "the students don't have fun anymore in school with President Bush in the White House". I told her since when does the POTUS dictate fun in your classroom?
How much blame do these assholes want to put on circumstances totally within their own control.
I told her to quit and move to Canada.
I don't get bothered with them calling anymore.
Forget them.
Doc
Goggles Pizano
02-21-2005, 12:46
Typical.
IMHO our country's teachers are liberal and thus hate President Bush.
My buddy called me the other day. His wife is a teacher not far from N.C. teaching in S.C. with the same type of rethoric. She told me via the phone that "the students don't have fun anymore in school with President Bush in the White House". I told her since when does the POTUS dictate fun in your classroom?
How much blame do these assholes want to put on circumstances totally within their own control.
I told her to quit and move to Canada.
I don't get bothered with them calling anymore.
Forget them.
Doc
On that note Doc my oldest daughter (5) wished to participate in a play at her pre school. NP right, it's pre school how bad can it be? Fast forward to the wife and I watching this Hippie (complete with tie died shirt, pants, hat and peace medal hanging from her neck) lead the children through a storytelling session. While that got my attention the content of the play was not political...then I wandered into the Kindergarten secion of the school where I find anti Bush, Republican, America hate literature lying on a shelf within reach of the children. This five page document was downloaded from the net (not sure which site) but it was VERY angry and anti American toward both domestic and foreign policy. Needless to say I went nuts but the wife restrained me as our child will be in a different school next year and she did not want me to create a scene. I still expressed my opinion to the owner of the pre school.
Liberal indoctrination knows no bounds and has no leash. It makes me sick.
GP
Good for you and your family. I would have done the same thing. It sends a clear message that people won't tolerate that type of "instruction". I hope more people take a stand against this.
I can't understand the warped sense of perversion that would motivate a "teacher" to want to indoctrinate someone else's child with this garbage. Children are sacred IMO.
I wish you and your family the very best.
Regards,
Doc
My daughter is majoring in primary education and will be a wonderful teacher. This type of stuff drives her crazy. I told her she may end up teaching in a private school because she will not put up with this type of crap from other teachers or administrators.
There are some good teachers out there.
Goggles Pizano
02-21-2005, 16:41
My daughter is majoring in primary education and will be a wonderful teacher. This type of stuff drives her crazy. I told her she may end up teaching in a private school because she will not put up with this type of crap from other teachers or administrators.
There are some good teachers out there.
Your right lrd there are good teachers out there. Unfortunately they are beating their heads against the wall with the NEA (just my opinion).
Doc, thanks for the sentiments. Kids are headed to Catholic school.
NousDefionsDoc
02-21-2005, 19:15
http://nypost.com/news/worldnews/40259.htm
February 21, 2005 -- An American soldier overseas is fuming over letters he received from Brooklyn middle-school children accusing GIs of destroying mosques and killing civilians in Iraq.
Pfc. Rob Jacobs of New Jersey said he was initially ecstatic to get a package of letters from sixth-graders at JHS 51 in Park Slope last month at his base 10 miles from the North Korea border.
That changed when he opened the envelope and found missives strewn with politically charged rhetoric, vicious accusations and demoralizing predictions that only a handful of soldiers would leave the Iraq war alive.