This ticks me off

[Swamphunter]

My daughter and I were talking about the new President, who although I did not vote for, nor do I feel he has my best interests at heart, I am giving the benefit of the doubt even though to date he has been exactly what I suspected he would be. Anyhow, my 7 year old girl tells me that she still wishes John McCain would have been elected even though he was wanted to kill polar bears. I asked her what she meant and she stated that her teacher told her that if John McCain had been elected, he was going to kill polar bears in Alaska and that is why Obama was the better choice for President. Now, instead of me losing it... I calmly stated to my daughter that, that was not the fact and that her teacher should not summarize things like that to them. My daughter said to me, "I know Daddy, I know Mr McCain would really do that, I didn't believe my teacher". I actually feel my daughter has a better sense for what is actually occuring in the world of politics than her 24 year old school teacher.

I have been going back and forth with this as to whether or not to mention it to the teacher or principal, but think that my daughter will be the only one that ends up suffering in the end.

I wish there was a law, or a school policy that prevented teachers from "teaching", their beliefs, instead of the facts.

Your thoughts??

[mossyhorn]

I agree with you 100%. I mean if the no long say the pledge of allegiance or talk about God then shouldn't they also ban politics from schools as well.

[sluggunner]

That makes my blood boil!!

I would document the event and the date it happened, wait until AFTER the school year and submit a formal written complaint against this so called "teacher" who is really nothing more than a political activist. That way she can not take it out on your daughter. If everyone who feels the way we do, (THE MAJORIYT OF THE COUNTRY) would do this and stand up for OUR rights and beliefs the school systems wouldn't get away with being nothing but brainwashing indoctrinating instutions which is all MOST of them are. This is why my wife and I spend the extra money and send our daughter to ptivate school where they still pray in class and say the pledge of allegiance.

[Ravin R10 man]

The name of your thread made me think of "Walter"..(Jeff Dunham)...all I can say is Drill Baby Drill!! I suppose somehow getting oil out of Anwar will kill off all wildlife because a pipeline would cause undue stress....wonder what Walter would say about that??

[m gardner]

I would say something after you calm down. We need to get our schools back on track so that they produce some employable people not brainwashed subjects. We have only one young man where I work and he was educated in Europe. The rest of us are 50 plus. I am semi-retired only because my boss freaked out when I told him I was going to retire.

Mark

[stevebeilgard]

i'd certainly approach the teacher with what your daughter said, and make sure she said it. from there, i'd have a talk with her and file a complaint. politics do not need to be addressed to that age group. especially wrong politics.

[oneshot]

Don't wait!!!!! Nip it in the bud now. Waiting only shows you aren't really concerned enough to take the time and confront/stop this BS. Also if you wait they will not take you seriously. Go get her now!!!! :hammer1: :yes:

[HCO Team]

Swamphunter,

I would go directly to the principle and explain to him what has taken place then ask for a meeting between the three of you. This teacher is out line, period. At that age children are very impressionable and the teachers actions is intolerable, not to mention, brainwashing.

If you are not satisfied by the outcome then I would go to the school board.

Good luck!

Lisa

[wtnhunt]

Swamphunter,

I would go directly to the principle and explain to him what has taken place then ask for a meeting between the three of you. This teacher is out line, period. At that age children are very impressionable and the teachers actions is intolerable, not to mention, brainwashing.

If you are not satisfied by the outcome then I would go to the school board.

Good luck!

Lisa

Yep, gotta agree with Lise here Ken. I would not go directly to the teacher without having the principle involved. If the outcome is not fair take it to the superintendent.

[Swamphunter]

I am giving it a few day cooling off period, and then I think this Thursday I will "stop by", and mention it. Kind of in a non accusing manner, until she admits to it... then I will set the hook. I will fill ya's in after....

[TN Bucknasty]

I'm a 7th grade social studies teacher here in Southwest, TN, and I can truly say that many teachers are idiots. We're no different than the people you work with at the sawmill or in the cubicles. Some need to be taken out back and horse whipped, others need to be given a medal. When I was a student, I thought that most teachers were all unusually smart and decent people. When I began my teaching career, I was shocked to find out that in many cases, the opposite was true. I also found out that the same could be said for parents.

Any teacher with good sense would try to teach about politics from a neutral standpoint. As a parent and a teacher, I try to do that in both situations. I want my kid to make up his own mind, and I sure as heck don't want to plant my ideas into someone's kid.

During election years, I always present the policies of the candidates to the class and ask each class to vote blindly (without knowing which person is which). Its pretty funny to see some of the reactions when the kids find out who they voted for. I had parent who just happened to be a teacher that got pretty upset about it because she was a huge McCain fan, but her kid agreed with the Obama policies. When the parent came in, I let her go through the lesson, and she voted the same way. The same thing happened in reverse with another parent/ teacher.

We live in a world today where people are voted on based on age, appearance, hobbies, accent, and all of the other things that don't amount to anything. The ignorance about policies and politics in general knows no boundaries any more.

Now, I'll get off of my soap box and lend you some practical advice. If you go straight to the principal without talking to the teacher first, you'll start a war. No one wants the boss all over their tail. If you approach her in a reasonable, civil manner, you might get your point across and you may even prevent her from doing something this stupid in the future.

Teachers are put under an insane amount of undue pressure these days so many have adopted the "I'm going to do what I think I should and forget everyone else," attitude. Your boss tells you to teach one way, the government wants you to teach another, the parents want another, and the kids respond to something totally different. Sometimes you get a little lost trying to sort through all of the bull. Sometimes we mess up and need a little reality check. Then again, sometimes some of us need to be taken out behind the woodshed. Point is, teachers in general are endlessly under attack making them very defensive, so a little civility could go a long way. It was a good idea to cool off first.

[Swamphunter]

Thanks Bucknasty, good response. Unfortunately there are bad apples in every profession, mine included. I am cooling off a bit and am intending on only mentioning it to this teacher that my daughter has repeated something she heard from "someone". I am not going to point the blame at her, but will mention that its not right that a child hear stuff like that in school and should it happen again, I may be asking some questions. I just want to make my point to her that I am aware, but not give her concrete knowledge that I know.

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

"He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future." - Adolf Hitler

Beware teachers, schools, or educational organizations with agendas other than teaching your children facts.

BTW - TN Bucknasty nice exercise with the "blind vote." Too bad we can't hold real elections like that. The country would be a much better place if we could.

[johnf]

As a teacher, I can tell you that a lot of things we say is either taken out of context, misinterpreted and sometimes downright false. Sometimes kids hear what they want to hear, sometimes what a kid in class said somehow becomes what the teacher said.

All that being said, I would go to the TEACHER first. Talk to her and get an feel for her and the situation. If you think she's trying to indoctrinate the kids I would make sure she knew that it's unacceptable before I left. One thing to keep in mind is that young teachers do make mistakes and don't always understand a parents point of view. I've been doing it for 17 years and have two kids of my own, so it's easy for me. Not so much for a 24 year old fresh out of a liberal arts college.

If you think she takes your concerns seriously I would let it go for a while, but document the meeting's time, date and everything that was discussed. That way if need be, you have something to take to the principal. Getting the teacher in trouble shouldn't be the goal, but teaching her that what she is doing is wrong.

There are lots of things that I don't talk about in class, even with high school students. When they ask, if it's appropriate, I will answer it with the disclaimer that this is MY OPINION and should be taken as such. There are however some issues that I won't touch. I tell them if they want to discuss those issues they should ask outside the school day when their parents are present, then I'll tell them what I think with no reservations.

If the problem persist don't hesitate to go up the chain of command.

BTW: Schools take the chain of command very seriously. If you've talked to the teacher before the principal, then he'll take you more seriously than if you went straight to him. Same with the superintendent and school board. Parents who go straight to the board are often thought of as stupid or trouble makers. If you start at the bottom and work your way up, you'll be taken a lot more seriously and will more than likely get a pretty good response.

[davetucker]

i agree!! You can take god out of the school pledge and put xmas instead of christmas but when it comes to teaching jewish or muslim they don't leave that out of school!! My kids came home the othe rday and asked me what a karam(however you spell their so-called bible) was cuz they were learnign about it next wk!! I flipped my lid when he told me that!! When i see x-mas i want to run right in and take away their birthdays!!

[Hoosierbuck]

I am, once again, so grateful our church has an excellent grade school (pre-school thru 8th grade) attached. Not that there are never any issues, but there aren't many usually.

Thanks for that check Swampy.

HB

[HCO Team]

Although I would normally agree with going through the proper channels, ie; teacher first, then principle. In this instance I hesitate.

If it were the case that the child were experiencing some emotional concerns such as anxiety or if his/her needs weren't being addressed, then yes, going directly to the teacher should be done first. After all, the teacher and the parent are the ones that spend the majority of the child's growing years with them.

Although this is not the teachers fault, parental rights have been stripped from public schools, therefore, concerns about personal opinion being indoctrinated needs to be voiced to the principle.

The principle is the "manager" of that school. Their job is to make sure that conduct by both the student and teacher are acceptable, period. The principle makes daily, if not hourly rounds to observe the classrooms and the halls. Going to the principle and addressing this concern will enable the principle to have a "heads up" to a possible problem. A meeting between a principle and a parent should be confidential and I would stress that issue. If the teacher is new, then the principle will be able to help better guide said teacher. That is their job after all.

Teachers "talk" among themselves. They form opinions on personalities, child and parent. Not saying that principles don't, but they are set by a much more strict policy given their responsibilities. (I believe the OP had mentioned about possible recourse by the teacher.) Going in and ranting will always get one labeled, but addressing concerns in a civil manner and expressing what is acceptable and expected is our right as a parent and should be exercised.

Lisa

[johnf]

On the other hand some principals are big idiots who do nothing. He/she may look very intently at you, take some notes and tell you how concerned he is and that he'll take care of the situation, and never do a thing. "If" he talks to the teacher about it they will more than likely know it was you that went to him. Some administrators won't address problems with a teacher until there are so many complaints. She may not hear about this meeting for another 5 months in her end of the year evaluation.

Even if you are going to talk to the principal, talk to the teacher.