Strollerderby

Diversity Video Shown at School; Parents Upset

Posted by Karen Murphy

GLBT flag and triangleThe parents of a 9-year-old female student of a New Jersey school says they are angry about a videotape that school officials says teaches children about families and diversity.  The tape was shown to children late last year and includes footage of children talking about their same-sex parents.  The girl's father reportedly later viewed the video and found it "absolutely appalling".  The school claims that "the video makes no judgment about lifestyles...[the purpose of it] is to teach respect for the diversity of all children".

Personally?  I'm thinking that maybe such a video should be required viewing for parents as well for children.  It's about time that we quit ignoring the fact that we're not in actuality a cookie-cutter society, no matter what lengths we go to pretend that we are.  It's time to more fully embrace the wonderful differences that are all a part of the human experience.

What do you think?  Should schools teach diversity about various kinds of families, including GLBT families, or should those topics be left to the parents to present in their own way?  Would you applaud or be horrified by such a curriculum in your child's school? 


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Posted Jan 24 2007, 03:04 PM
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Comments

 

aaustin said:

I am all for diversity - I've had many, many friends in my lifetime who have been gay, and I have a gay brother, but to be honest, I really wish that the schools would stick with reading, writing, math, and science, and leave the social/religious education to parents.

If we were competitive with other countries on math and science, I might say, "Sure, show all the diversity videos you want!"  But our education system is broken, and we should spend what little instructional time there is on INSTRUCTION, not INDOCTRINATION.  

I think schools could save themselves a lot of time and trouble, AND could do what they're supposed to do better, if they would shut up and teach, already.

If they must teach about diversity, how about doing it within the context of math, science, reading, history, or grammar?  How about reading books about diversity and writing responses to them, instead of watching a video?  Videos are almost useless as an instructional tool.  Kids watch enough TV at home.

January 24, 2007 3:41 PM
 

wksocmom said:

Those are good points aaustin makes, but lets face it, there is not nearly enough diversity or diversity education in our schools.  In a perfect world parents would be teaching it, just like they'd be helping their kids learn everything.  I'm all for teaching about diversity (won't comment on the best way), and parents can either support it at home, or maybe get educated by their kids.

January 24, 2007 4:39 PM
 

Andy said:

I couldn't agree with you more.  Both kids and parents should be exposed to the fact that families come in every size, shape and color.

January 24, 2007 5:10 PM
 

nkygal said:

I agree. I think there are a lot of parents out there that need to watch that video. I think it is great that the school is educating these students and recognizing a growing group of parents.

January 24, 2007 9:30 PM
 

Peter said:

I think both aaustin and wksocmom are right -- there's too much vid-u-cation going on, but there's too little education on subjects of social importance.  It seems like all the fights are about videos these days, like the Washington State fight over showing "An Inconvenient Truth."  From the news reports, it almost seems like school has become little more than video screenings and naptime.

January 25, 2007 2:52 AM

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