That's essentially the message that was sent to parents in this note:
What is the single most depressing aspect of this letter? Is it the idea of labelling eight-year-olds racists? Is it the moronic conflation of religion and ethnicity? Is it the ugly grammar ("As such our expectations are that all children in years 4 to 6 attend school on Wednesday…")? Is it the bullying tone? Is it the unconscionable choice of font? Is it that someone can write that way and yet hold a position of authority in a school?
Or is it this: that how ever many times prime ministers declare multi-culturalism to be a failed ideology, a petty, officious, bossy, self-righteous, self-serving, Leftist chunk of the public sector remains stuck in 1980? link to the original story
6 comments:
I wonder if Christianity was part of the exhibits?
I would say, the most depressing aspects are the assumptions that a) you would need to send the letter at all, and b) that parents would be expected to opt out of a cultural experience field trip. Although yours are depressing too. I thinkit's also depressing that someone would find a field trip well within educational grounds to be something to generate investigative procedures against students who likely had no knowledge of their parent's response, or engaging in a field trip that was expected to be unpopular.
RIGHT THERE that note would make me turn down the trip. Don't you dare tell me my kid has to go any friggin' where. Note would be sent back detailing where the headmaster can stick his cultural and religious icons.
Happy Elf Mom ... that's not totally fair. Any time you go on a field trip, the parent needs to sign a permission slip. And, I think it's fair that the school should expect the child should be expected to attend. Opting out is always an option (unless this is a private school ... and maybe not even then.) The problem is the tone. Why would you schedule a field trip when you suspect that it would cause enough lack of participation to warrant such threats?
Exactly right. The problem was the tone in which the field trip notice was sent. Opting out is always an option for field trips, so the heavy-handedness was not only unwarranted, but an overstep of proper bounds.
If opting out isn't an option, than participation isn't optional (or something like that)!
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