I had an outstanding conversation with a friend last night on the phone who called to ask my "educational expertise" about something that happened in her daughter's 2nd grade classroom the other day. I've really been reflecting on the subject and I thought I'd throw it out here for maybe something to ponder or to add your two cents, since I'm giving mine.
My friend, we'll call her "Jen" posted on facebook the other night about her daughter needing prayer for the following school day and a comment was made about "kids can be so mean." Jen is a dear dear friend of mine. I was a bride's maid in her wedding, we went to high school and college together and she is probably the best mother I've witnessed in a long time. She has three awesome kids who I love to bits (Not usually a fan of the little ones). Love her husband. They're an awesome family. Jen and her husband have taught their children morals, values, kindness toward others, and the importance of God in their lives. If I have a family someday I hope them to be even half as great as they are. You get my picture.
Jen's daughter (her oldest) was assigned to do a biographical oral presentation of someone. When I heard the assignment I instantly thought of JFK, or Helen Keller or someone significant in history. Aparently Justin Bieber, Kelly Clarkson and Lady GaGa were some of the most popular choices. Go figure. Just as Jen and I had done as kids, her daughter had recently started to read the Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House on the Prairie" books. This clever little 2nd grader got all dressed up in prairie style clothes and did her presentation on Ingalls-Wilder in front of the class.
Let's digress for a moment. This is a very diverse second grade classroom. There are children who are Christian, Jewish, Muslim etc. One of these students is friends with Jen's daughter. He is Muslim and he has stated to her several times that he "doesn't believe in God." Jen's kids are very involved in church and love the Lord. One of the requirements for the presentation was to tell what they learned from this person who they were speaking about. This little girl was so nervous about offending her Muslim friend that when she addressed that requirement she looked at her friend first and said "I know you don't believe in God but..." and then she continued to talk about how she learned from Ingalls Wilder the importance of family and of God in their lives.
As an educator as well as a person who celebrates diversity and feels that we should no hold prejudices against people for religious beliefs, color of their skin or who they love, I thought she handled this beautifully. I have friends who are not Christians and if I reference something from my religion to friends who don't hold the same beliefs as I do, I would probably preface the conversation the same way.
Well, the young teacher in this classroom (maybe 2 years of experience so she's still learning. Heck I'm on year number 12 and I am still learning) was pretty ticked off at my friend's daughter. She sent a scathing e mail to Jen telling her how she needed to "talk to her daughter" about what she talks about in the classroom and to not single kids out and embarrass them in front of her peers.
There is so much of this situation that I don't agree with. First of all, if Jen's daughter were to have done her presentation on the Dali Lama and referenced that some kids in the class aren't Buddhist and may not believe in his teaching I don't think there would have been a problem. Same goes with Gandhi. If a student would have reported about Matisyahu who is a musician that is an Hasidic Jew and references his faith in some songs (If you've never listened to him, he's great. "King Without A Crown" and "One Day" are great songs) I doubt there would have been a problem. My question is this: Was the teacher upset about how she addressed her classmate (even though he had been very open about his beliefs and religion and all the kids knew about it) or was the teacher so worried about being "Politically Correct" and freaked out at the word "Jesus."?
These days we can't even mention the word "Christmas" in our public schools. Some think this is an atrocity considering this country was founded by Christian men. I have a dear friend who is Jewish and she started telling me about how sensitive she was to the whole "Christmas" thing in schools yet Hanukah was never mentioned and how receiving a Christmas card from our superintendent was kind of ignorant on the part of the district considering everyone is a Christian and celebrates Christmas (which she and her family do not). When you hear this argument from the "other side of the table" it makes sense. We're not all alike. We come from different backgrounds, different religious beliefs and one belief isn't "better" than the other. Whether you believe in God, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus etc. the main tie in for all religions is FAITH. My idea of God might not be Jen's idea of God and we're both Christian. We can't talk about the religious significance of Christmas in our public schools BUT the friend of Jen's daughter, his mother came into school in December and taught the kids all about Kwanza and Ramadan etc. I think that's awesome. They only way we are going to get rid of hate is to fight the ignorance that makes people hate in the first place. I grew up with Muslim friends. I remember going over to one friend's house during Ramadan and eating some of the best food I ever had with his family once the sun set. I learned so much from those experiences at his house. My Jewish friend I mentioned earlier. I pick her brain about Passover, Rosh Hashanah etc because I want to understand it. In my opinion, if one religion is presented at a public school to children, all religions have a right to be represented. My friend did not complain about the Muslim mother coming in to educate children on her family's culture and religious beliefs, but if Christianity is brought up it's a big no no and the ACLU gets involved. I just don't get it.
I could go on and on. But I'll save it for a later post. What do you think? Opinions? I'd love to hear them so I can be more knowledgeable because, I believe, the truly educated never graduate~
Peace.
PS. I’m attaching the video of Matisyahu’s song “One Day” I think it really relates to this conversation. Hope you like it as much as I do!
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