I'm going to homeschool my kids, if I ever have any
I'm going to homeschool my kids, if I ever have any
Article by Margo WilliamsBoston, Massachusetts - Police arrested the father of a six year old boy after he refused to leave a Lexington, Mass. school where he was protesting against a childrens' book with gay characters.
David Parker became enraged when he discovered his son had brought home the book "Who's in a Family.'
The book by Robert Skutch, and illustrated by Laura Nienhaus is aimed at children between three and seven. It catalogues a variety of multicultural contemporary family units, including those with single parents, lesbian and gay parents, mixed-race couples, grandparents and divorced parents.
But, it was the inclusion of same-sex parents that angered Parker. He confronted officials at the Joseph Estabrook School.
Parker, who is a member of the Article 8 Alliance, which supports the ouster of four judges on the state's Supreme Judicial Court who ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, demanded that the book be removed from the school library and that his son be pulled from discussions about homosexuality whether they are in planned lessons or arise spontaneously.
Lexington Schools Superintendent Bill Hurley rejected both demands.
When Parker refused to leave the meeting police were called and he was charged with trespassing.
In court today Parker pleaded not guilty and was released on $100 cash bail and ordered to stay off school grounds.
This is not about homophobia, this is about a parents right to have their child taught acedemics without having something forced down their throats that may not agree with the parent.
How would you people think if a teacher was reading a book about jesus inside of a public school and whn a parent would try to protest they would be arrested?? Would you be a Christaphobe to not like this? No you just realize that a public school is not about teaching what types of sexuality, religeon, or beliefs to accept rather you are there to learn
If you ask me that story is a outrage
I, too, will probably home teach my kids
Perhaps some of you should re-read the article. The school did not teach anything about homosexuality. It was David Parker's own son who picked out the book, "Who Is a Family" and brought it home. The book "catalogues a variety of multicultural contemporary family units, including those with single parents, lesbian and gay parents, mixed-race couples, grandparents and divorced parents."
Originally posted by FeceMan
Hey, if they can't have Harry Potter or the Chronicles of Narnia on shelves, dump that book, too.
Incidentally, the people who object to Who Is a Family are the same people who object to the Harry Potter series of books.
So instead of banning books, perhaps we should follow the example of Superintendent Bill Hurley, and ban parents like David Parker from school committee meetings.
I don't really see a problem with a book like that, I mean, as a young kid, we are exposed to the understanding there are many different kinds of family, whats wrong if some of them are gay? Or defacto or foster or whatever? And I mean, really pulling his son from discussions about the subject "whether they are in planned lessons or arise spontaneously". I thought freedom of speech was important, I can't see how a teacher could be expected to grab little Jimmy and say "oops, can't have you talking to your friends about something like that young man".
It just seems like overreaction, and really, if there were more books like that, that showed diversity and individuality, the world would probably be a better place..
The problem doesn't lie in the book itself (though it is debatable whether or not children at that age should be reading about such a controversial topic, one that they surely don't understand) but in that the parent of the child had absolutely no say in whether or not what his child read while at school.
As a parent, it is completely his right to decide if he wants his child reading about a topic such as this, just like it's up to the parents whether or not a school teach their child about sex ed, and so on.
Originally posted by BackFire
The problem doesn't lie in the book itself (though it is debatable whether or not children at that age should be reading about such a controversial topic, one that they surely don't understand) but in that the parent of the child had absolutely no say in whether or not what his child read while at school.As a parent, it is completely his right to decide if he wants his child reading about a topic such as this, just like it's up to the parents whether or not a school teach their child about sex ed, and so on.
That's the point, it was not being taught in school. The boy picked out the book at school and brought it home to read. That's how his father learned about it in the first place.
Originally posted by BackFire
I know that, but the problem arises in that the parent has no say in whether or not his child take part in discussions about homosexuallity in class, which is entirely his right as a parent to request.
There were no discussions about homosexuality taking place in the classroom. In fact, the book in question is not even solely about homosexual parents. The father's request was denied because it was unreasonable. He expects the teacher to remove his son from discussions of homosexuality even when they arise spontaneously. That is like a Jehovah's Witness expecting a teacher to remove his child from discussions of holidays even when they arise spontaneously. Teachers are not responsible for monitoring everything one students sees and hears.