Saturday, June 07, 2008

I'd Have Canceled The Play

I'm all about giving parents some say over how schools educate their children, and while I'm not sure exactly where the "too far" line is, this situation is so far beyond that line that the line is a dot:

The stage was set, the lights went down and in a suburban Japanese primary school everyone prepared to enjoy a performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The only snag was that the entire cast was playing the part of Snow White.

For the audience of menacing mothers and feisty fathers, though, the sight of 25 Snow Whites, no dwarfs and no wicked witch was a triumph: a clear victory for Japan's emerging new class of “Monster Parents”.


I hope they loved the play.
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5 comments:

  1. Mrs. Bluebird2:47 PM

    Kind of makes our helicopter parents seem a bit, well, tame...I'm with you. I'd cancel the play.

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  2. Law and Order Teacher5:47 PM

    We're moving in that direction. For example, multiple valedictorians, no trophies in sports, not keeping score at games, everybody plays the same amount of time, promoting kids who don't deserve it, and the ultimate affirmative action.

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  3. Anonymous11:39 PM

    Going to the absolute extreme like this makes its own point.

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  4. Ellen K8:58 AM

    I think we are headed that way as well. Our district already has made the call to only count certain subjects towards GPA because parents whined that the kids in band and art-who also took AP classes-were ending up as valedictorians. Trophies for participation, high school art shows avoiding judging...it's all part and parcel of the "everyone is a winner just for existing" mentality.

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  5. Happy Elf Mom (Christine)12:20 PM

    I was hoping to see a picture!

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