It's funny. I drove in to work this morning and didn't see any houses repainted in rainbow colors. No children being forcibly removed from their parents. No gay people having naked parades in the streets. I didn't get a notice from my son's school that they would henceforth be teaching the kids how to have the gay sex, nor did I see any churches burning down.
You'd almost think that Minnesota's marriage equality law didn't pass yesterday. I mean, things just seem so "normal." I don't get it.
I guess the bill doesn't actually get signed until tonight, and the law won't go into effect until this August, so maybe the sky will start falling this summer instead.
Of course, this is really going to change things for my family. Now that "gay marriage" is the law of the land, my own hetero-marriage no longer means anything, so I guess we'll be getting a divorce. He will instead marry a man, and I will marry a woman. It won't be long before our son comes home and tells us his teacher has picked out a boyfriend for him in his third-grade classroom.
And now that I have to actually explain the gays to the kids, they are going to be so confused and wonder why they even need a mom or dad. After all, the only reason we got married and had a family in the first place is because Jesus told us to. Now I just don't understand what it all meant.
I suppose now my best friend's wedding this summer will be cancelled so she can find a suitable woman to marry instead. I hope she keeps the same bridesmaid dresses though, because I already put a down payment on mine.
Yes, many, many changes are coming. It's going to be insane. You'll see. Just wait until the gays start taking over. It's going to be mass chaos on every level. Just you wait. . . .
Showing posts with label schools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label schools. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Ms. vs Mrs.
I have somehow managed to get myself roped into a weekly volunteering gig in my son's 3rd grade class. It's every Thursday morning, and my job is to help out with the class store, where the kids can purchase second-hand crap (the stuff parents clean out of their kids' rooms and donate instead of throwing away) with their fake money that they earn by doing their homework and being nice to each other. I think it's a brilliant idea, because even with kids, money really is the best motivator.
The other mom who volunteers at the same time insists that that the kids address her as "Mrs. X." (X is not her real last name - I'm just trying to maintain a certain level of anonymity here). The teacher similarly goes by "Mrs. S" (again, not her real name), as do most of the female teachers in the school. I told everyone to just call me "Amy," but I can see how the school would want kids to maintain a certain level of respect for the adults by addressing them all by their title.
However, the use of "Miss" and Mrs." is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, especially when it involves children. We're teaching our kids that women are to be identified by whether or not they're married, but men are just men, married or not. I prefer to be addressed by "Ms." and I wish that were simply the standard for all women, as "Mr." is for all men. But apparently that sentiment has not reached our small town yet. In the recent class newsletter, Mrs. S thanked both Mrs. X, and me, Mrs. H, for our help in the classroom.
So here's my "dilemma." Do I ask the teacher, who seems like a very reasonable woman, to please henceforth use "Ms. H" instead of "Mrs. H" when referring to me, or do I just play it cool and maintain the status quo so as not to look like a jerk.
One more tidbit to throw into this situation: Mrs. X lives just down the street from me, and is a very conservative Catholic who only recently put her son in public school after having some sort of falling out with the local Catholic school. Since our sons have come to be friends and spend a lot of time together lately, she has seen the "Vote No on the Marriage Amendment" sign in my yard and probably already finds me to be a little questionable, and getting into the Ms. debate might turn me into a total commie leftist in her eyes, which could affect our sons' friendship I suppose.
So what should I do people? Leave it alone? Speak up? What would you do? I realize this is a really inconsequential "problem" that will not affect the state of the union, but I really would like some advice.
The other mom who volunteers at the same time insists that that the kids address her as "Mrs. X." (X is not her real last name - I'm just trying to maintain a certain level of anonymity here). The teacher similarly goes by "Mrs. S" (again, not her real name), as do most of the female teachers in the school. I told everyone to just call me "Amy," but I can see how the school would want kids to maintain a certain level of respect for the adults by addressing them all by their title.
However, the use of "Miss" and Mrs." is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, especially when it involves children. We're teaching our kids that women are to be identified by whether or not they're married, but men are just men, married or not. I prefer to be addressed by "Ms." and I wish that were simply the standard for all women, as "Mr." is for all men. But apparently that sentiment has not reached our small town yet. In the recent class newsletter, Mrs. S thanked both Mrs. X, and me, Mrs. H, for our help in the classroom.
So here's my "dilemma." Do I ask the teacher, who seems like a very reasonable woman, to please henceforth use "Ms. H" instead of "Mrs. H" when referring to me, or do I just play it cool and maintain the status quo so as not to look like a jerk.
One more tidbit to throw into this situation: Mrs. X lives just down the street from me, and is a very conservative Catholic who only recently put her son in public school after having some sort of falling out with the local Catholic school. Since our sons have come to be friends and spend a lot of time together lately, she has seen the "Vote No on the Marriage Amendment" sign in my yard and probably already finds me to be a little questionable, and getting into the Ms. debate might turn me into a total commie leftist in her eyes, which could affect our sons' friendship I suppose.
So what should I do people? Leave it alone? Speak up? What would you do? I realize this is a really inconsequential "problem" that will not affect the state of the union, but I really would like some advice.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
School Vouchers and Homeschooling
Our local paper has an article in it today about the local school board launching an initiative to find out why students have been either leaving the district or not enrolling at all. After skimming the article, I scrolled down to the comments section. You'd think I would have learned by now to quit reading the comments in this paper, since they're populated by trolls, but I let my curiosity get the better of me.
Some of the comments are as follows:
"If you really want the best education you should give vouchers for those that believe another school or homeschool provides a better work environment. Competition is ALWAYS the best for education and business/ thats why walmart rules the world because it has no real competition and its stuff is junk and workers underpaid."
"Ahh, but liberal teachings are so important to the Democrat agenda. What gives parents the right to want their children to learn anything else? Much less, not pay for it (liberal agenda)."
"We choose to homeschool, and I could go on and on about about the reasons: Smaller . . . no negative peer pressure, moral absolutes, less wasted time,. . ."
Personally, I think we have an above-average public school system here. I have many complaints about my time as a student here, but overall, as a parent I've been happy with the level of education my son is getting. He had some problems with reading in Kindergarten and 1st grade, and was quickly enrolled into a one-on-one teaching program that brought him up to grade level. The teachers have been wonderful, and my son loves going to school.
However, year after year our school district asks for more money from the community, and year after year they are denied. Then we have the nerve to complain about the quality of our schools.
I do not understand how anyone can claim that school vouchers are the answer to our public school problems. In case you're unfamiliar with the concept of school vouchers, here's the gist of it: I think my local public school sucks, so the government should give me tuition money to enroll my kids in a private or religious school. How does that solve anything? Our public school system is decaying, so instead of focusing money on them, let's funnel it to private schools? And I won't even get into the problems with using public money to send kids to religious schools. I'm sure you can figure out where I stand on that one.
As for home-schooling, I can understand the impulse to want to provide a better education for your children by providing it at home, but I think home-schooling brings it own set of problems. For one thing, most home-schooling these days seems to be going on for religious reasons, which again, I probably don't have to explain my problem with.
But to me, the biggest issue is the damage that can be done by keeping your children from going through the struggles associated with school. Learning how to survive and thrive and in the social setting of school is an important part of development. Kids need to figure out how to navigate the world full of other people who don't necessarily think or act like them. Kids who are sheltered from that may have problems transitioning into the world of work as an adult.
Anyway, my point is, public schools are important. They educate the next generation of people who will be taking care of us in our old age. Even if you don't have a child in school, don't you want the people who will be your future doctors, business owners and insurance salesmen to be properly educated? Why don't we value our public education system a little more?
Some of the comments are as follows:
"If you really want the best education you should give vouchers for those that believe another school or homeschool provides a better work environment. Competition is ALWAYS the best for education and business/ thats why walmart rules the world because it has no real competition and its stuff is junk and workers underpaid."
"Ahh, but liberal teachings are so important to the Democrat agenda. What gives parents the right to want their children to learn anything else? Much less, not pay for it (liberal agenda)."
"We choose to homeschool, and I could go on and on about about the reasons: Smaller . . . no negative peer pressure, moral absolutes, less wasted time,. . ."
Personally, I think we have an above-average public school system here. I have many complaints about my time as a student here, but overall, as a parent I've been happy with the level of education my son is getting. He had some problems with reading in Kindergarten and 1st grade, and was quickly enrolled into a one-on-one teaching program that brought him up to grade level. The teachers have been wonderful, and my son loves going to school.
However, year after year our school district asks for more money from the community, and year after year they are denied. Then we have the nerve to complain about the quality of our schools.
I do not understand how anyone can claim that school vouchers are the answer to our public school problems. In case you're unfamiliar with the concept of school vouchers, here's the gist of it: I think my local public school sucks, so the government should give me tuition money to enroll my kids in a private or religious school. How does that solve anything? Our public school system is decaying, so instead of focusing money on them, let's funnel it to private schools? And I won't even get into the problems with using public money to send kids to religious schools. I'm sure you can figure out where I stand on that one.
As for home-schooling, I can understand the impulse to want to provide a better education for your children by providing it at home, but I think home-schooling brings it own set of problems. For one thing, most home-schooling these days seems to be going on for religious reasons, which again, I probably don't have to explain my problem with.
But to me, the biggest issue is the damage that can be done by keeping your children from going through the struggles associated with school. Learning how to survive and thrive and in the social setting of school is an important part of development. Kids need to figure out how to navigate the world full of other people who don't necessarily think or act like them. Kids who are sheltered from that may have problems transitioning into the world of work as an adult.
Anyway, my point is, public schools are important. They educate the next generation of people who will be taking care of us in our old age. Even if you don't have a child in school, don't you want the people who will be your future doctors, business owners and insurance salesmen to be properly educated? Why don't we value our public education system a little more?
Friday, May 20, 2011
Bible Thumping
While going through my son's backpack last week (on May 10th to be specific), I found a letter telling me that the Gideons would be at my son's PUBLIC elementary school on May 10th handing out bibles. The letter was dated May 6th but somehow didn't make it into his backpack until the 10th (I check it every day). So even if I had wanted to do something to prevent it, I wouldn't have been able to.
This also happened last year, while he was in kindergarten. I was outraged by it then, but didn't do anything. I just had a talk with my son telling him he didn't need to take a book if it was offered to him because we already have one at home and it was wasteful. Never mind that we all teach our kids to avoid strange men in the street handing them free things.
My problem now is, what exactly am I supposed to do about this? The letter specifically says the guy is on the street, which I'm sure makes it legal somehow. And since they do it at every school then it's not really something the principal has control over. If I go to the superintendent he'll just tell me they're not doing anything illegal.
This really pisses me off.
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