Saturday, October 10, 2009

Another Reason to Home-School

It seems odd, but I have trouble working up some righteous anger over this - it has gone so far that it is now in the realm of being ridiculous.

You may have seen the classroom video (since removed from YouTube) of children singing (chanting) their praises of our President. Well, really, they are singing what the instructors taught, as I truly doubt these young children would sing songs about equal work for equal pay.

The religious imagery used is just silly. Taken from the children's hymn ("Jesus Loves the Little Children"), the verse is changed from:
Red and yellow
Black and white
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children
Of the world.


To:
Red and yellow
Black and white
They are equal in His sight.
Barack Hussein Obama.


The Principal of the school, on learning of this controversy, was justifiably outraged. Outraged, that is, that the video was leaked without permission. The indoctrination and pseudo-religious motif were not, evidently, problematic.

Let us forget the political aspect of this event; we can only laugh at the religious implications of these teachers using slightly altered Christian hymns to make obeisance to any political figure. But we can ask ourselves these questions: What did the teachers think they were going to accomplish? What did the teachers think the students would gain from the exercise? After all, isn't school about the kids, not the teachers? Why did they think this was in any way appropriate in a public school setting?

Of course, if we lack a Masters Degree in Education, we are told we are not qualified to second guess these educational experts. As parents, however, we are qualified to make decisions on whether this type of activity, rare as it may be, truly meets the educational needs of our children. That is why we home school.

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