Teacher get's death threats and racist hate mail for banning God Bless America.

Wow. The longest thread title I've ever written. It says "teacher" because there are character restrictions.


Aaaaanyways...

http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-god-bl...,7467477.story


This is just absurd. I don't understand the hate. The principal decided not to play God Bless America. What's wrong with that? And if someone has a problem, no need to insult the person. Don't hate the criminal, hate the crime. But this isn't even a crime.


Thoughts?

So a few letters were written. She probably wrote them herself so she could look like more of a vicitm.

FYI, it wasnt God Bless America, is was God Bless the USA. A pretty popualr song. She said they couldn't sing it. In America. In a school full of immigrants who are happy to be in America. Yet she allows a teen love song to remain.

Maybe had she contemplated her actions a little more before making her stupid decision, there would not be such an outcry.

The reason people are mad is because its stupid. It's dumb. WTF is up with all these people who get offended by patriotic songs and symbols of the country they immigrated to and the PC Police trying to keep feelings from getting hurt? I seem to recall a kid getting in trouble at a predominantly Latino school in the USA for wearing flag shirt on Cinco De Mayo. I seem to recall some schools during the failed "dont-go-to-work-on-immigration-protest-day" flying the mexican flag over the US flag.

Dumb crap like this just polarizes people further

This topic is very hot in Sweden, where principals are banning anything from psalms to the national anthem because our dear MENA citizens might get upset.

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Originally Posted by Major Robert Dump

So a few letters were written. She probably wrote them herself so she could look like more of a vicitm.

FYI, it wasnt God Bless America, is was God Bless the USA. A pretty popualr song. She said they couldn't sing it. In America. In a school full of immigrants who are happy to be in America. Yet she allows a teen love song to remain.

Maybe had she contemplated her actions a little more before making her stupid decision, there would not be such an outcry.

The reason people are mad is because its stupid. It's dumb. WTF is up with all these people who get offended by patriotic songs and symbols of the country they immigrated to and the PC Police trying to keep feelings from getting hurt? I seem to recall a kid getting in trouble at a predominantly Latino school in the USA for wearing flag shirt on Cinco De Mayo. I seem to recall some schools during the failed "dont-go-to-work-on-immigration-protest-day" flying the mexican flag over the US flag.

Dumb crap like this just polarizes people further

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Word.

There is no singing of patriotic songs or psalms in my classroom. No way.



Justin Bieber is fine though.

I don't see it as my job to "promote values and culture". You lazy-ass parents can do that yourself.

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Originally Posted by HoreTore

There is no singing of patriotic songs or psalms in my classroom. No way.



Justin Bieber is fine though.

I don't see it as my job to "promote values and culture". You lazy-ass parents can do that yourself.

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I... I... I don't know what to say.

That post is so full of fail I don't even know where to begin.

EDIT: No really, I am speechless. I for the first time in my life encountered a post where I think the gap between what I believe in in what the person believes in, is so wide that all form of communication would be about as effective as a whisper between mountain tops.

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Originally Posted by Kadagar_AV

I... I... I don't know what to say.

That post is so full of fail I don't even know where to begin.

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The only values I care about are those who contribute to a better learning enviroment, like "we let others speak without interupting", "when someone else is doing a presentation, we behave respectfully as an audience", etc.

If you want your kid raised with specific set of morals, I suggest you do it yourself. My job is to introduce your kid to all the other sets of morals in existance, not strenghten a specific set.

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Originally Posted by HoreTore

The only values I care about are those who contribute to a better learning enviroment, like "we let others speak without interupting", "when someone else is doing a presentation, we behave respectfully as an audience", etc.

If you want your kid raised with specific set of morals, I suggest you do it yourself. My job is to introduce your kid to all the other sets of morals in existance, not strenghten a specific set.

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How do you introduce, say, South African blacks morals to stick their ... inside a baby to cure AIDS?

I thought your job was to strengthen the Norwegian set of morals in the kids?

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Originally Posted by HoreTore

The only values I care about are those who contribute to a better learning enviroment, like "we let others speak without interupting", "when someone else is doing a presentation, we behave respectfully as an audience", etc.

If you want your kid raised with specific set of morals, I suggest you do it yourself. My job is to introduce your kid to all the other sets of morals in existance, not strenghten a specific set.

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This, I agree with. It's the parent's job to choose the right set of morals for their children to follow. It is inevitable that people will see other people with different morals. So, children should be taught about acceptance. And as long as your morals don't conflict with anyone else's, everything should be somewhat alright.

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Justin Bieber is fine though.

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Justin Bieber contributes to a learning environment?

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And as long as your morals don't conflict with anyone else's, everything should be somewhat alright.

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Eternal war, then.

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Originally Posted by HoreTore

My job is to introduce your kid to all the other sets of morals in existance, not strenghten a specific set.

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I thought your job was to teach them algebra.

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Originally Posted by Montmorency

Eternal war, then.

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War? With me? Count me out.

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Originally Posted by Kadagar_AV

I thought your job was to strengthen the Norwegian set of morals in the kids?

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It is not.

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Originally Posted by Montmorency

Justin Bieber contributes to a learning environment?

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Most definitely! Keyword: motivation.

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Originally Posted by a completely inoffensive name

I thought your job was to teach them algebra.

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Actually, I only have social science classes right now.

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Originally Posted by HoreTore

It is not.



Most definitely! Keyword: motivation.



Actually, I only have social science classes right now.

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For some reason that scares me.

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Originally Posted by HoreTore

There is no singing of patriotic songs or psalms in my classroom. No way.

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What if, say, 20 out of 25 kids want to sing a patriotic song in your classroom. (Or say their parents want them to sing it...?)

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

What if, say, 20 out of 25 kids want to sing a patriotic song in your classroom. (Or say their parents want them to sing it...?)

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Get out, go home, find a different school. I wouldn't do it anything different. Patrionism is not something to be teached in schools, politics should stay out completely.

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Originally Posted by Fragony

Get out, go home, find a different school. I wouldn't do it anything different. Patrionism is not something to be teached in schools, politics should stay out completely.

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But what if a kid wants to sing a song about a country he loves?
Since when is patriotism synonymous with politics? Is it so hard to be simply proud of ones country, all politics put aside?

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

But what if a kid wants to sing a song about a country he loves?
Since when is patriotism synonymous with politics? Is it so hard to be simply proud of ones country, all politics put aside?

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I'm a bit torn on this.

A) I don't want schools to be propaganda machines.
B) I don't want schools to bend forwards whenever it comes to immigration.

The truth is somewhere in between.

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

But what if a kid wants to sing a song about a country he loves?
Since when is patriotism synonymous with politics? Is it so hard to be simply proud of ones country, all politics put aside?

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Love something else. I am a nationalist but that is my own choice. It should't be encouraged at schools, schools should just do their job and teach the basics. Plenty of time to form an opinion of their own

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Originally Posted by Fragony

Love something else. I am a nationalist but that is my own choice. It should't be encouraged at schools, schools should just do their job and teach the basics. Plenty of time to form an opinion of their own

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That argument only holds true if the school only teach the kids to read, write and calculate.

But now we have things like history and social science. Those are topics impossible to keep neutral, and thus I prefer if the state is the one swaying the neutrality, not the individual teachers.

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

But what if a kid wants to sing a song about a country he loves?
Since when is patriotism synonymous with politics? Is it so hard to be simply proud of ones country, all politics put aside?

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National pride is meaningless. Pride is something you feel when you accomplish something. You don't choose what country you're born in. Nationality is not an achievement. So, why should one feel proud about a country? And if a country does something good, why do random people, who had nothing to do with it, feel proud?

Aren't there any music classes or what? Let them sing there. Why do you have to bring something like that(patriotic songs etc) into a class that should teach kids something different?

See I don't completely agree with this. Young children will get enough dirt on their own country (no matter what country it is) when they read the newspaper or watch the television. No kid should grow up feeling that his country isn't good enough.
I'm not saying that children should be taught in such a manner that they grow up to be hardcore nationalists, but some degree of pride in their own country is important. For if they are not proud of their own country and it's people, how do you expect them to work for its betterment?
The way I see it, one cannot really control all the things that influence a kid. But one can ensure that the few places that can be controlled (like schools) have a positive influence.


Edit:

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Originally Posted by spankythehippo

National pride is meaningless. Pride is something you feel when you accomplish something. You don't choose what country you're born in. Nationality is not an achievement. So, why should one feel proud about a country? And if a country does something good, why do random people, who had nothing to do with it, feel proud?

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Because the person born in that country is a part of it, and eventually he can either work so that it becomes a better place or he can be a jerk....
Do you feel proud about your favourite sports team? Do feel happy when they win?


Furthermore I think it must be clarified that the children in question are kindergarten kids and the song wasn't being taught to them. They were planning to sing it when they passed out of kindergarten.

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Originally Posted by Kadagar_AV

That argument only holds true if the school only teach the kids to read, write and calculate.

But now we have things like history and social science. Those are topics impossible to keep neutral, and thus I prefer if the state is the one swaying the neutrality, not the individual teachers.

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I don't know what social science is up there in vikingland but I doubt it makes me very happy. Scrapping it in an instant would be the first thing I would do anyhow, Scandinavians are too crazy in their leftism for their own good, they get peeled like an onion by forces that mean them harm

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Originally Posted by Fragony

I don't know what social science is up there in vikingland but I doubt it makes me very happy.

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Over here social science comprised of history, geography and civics studies.
Just for the record I used to enjoy it a lot. The history bit. Got bored to death by civic studies.

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

Over here social science comprised of history, geography and civics studies.
Just for the record I used to enjoy it a lot. The history bit. Got bored to death by civic studies.

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But you live in India, scandi countries have this stubborn wllingness to put the boundaries of what is reasonable for their countries to the test, a great part of it is moulding young minds into being what they like to call 'world citizins'. And they have no trouble whatsoever to start their campaign of submission at a very young age, they are truly idiots there.

Shouldn't you be arguing for patriotic songs then? :tongue:

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

Shouldn't you be arguing for patriotic songs then? :tongue:

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Nope, not at all really, I am radically moderate

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Originally Posted by Fragony

radically moderate

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Noun: oxymoron
1. Conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence')

:clown:

Who are you calling a moron I don't even like oxy all that much