In a momentous backslide into the 1950's , Alberta has sent to final reading (for International cats , this means it's going to pass) a Bill under the guise of parental rights . And very few people even know about it . Alberta refuses to add sexual orientation into their Human Rights Code despite being ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada to do so OVER 10 YEARS AGO , so , they have packaged it essentially with a "notwithstanding" clause which will essentially give all parents the right to pull kids from PUBLIC schools if something offends their (presumably) christian faith . Yes , if in your interpretation learning about other cultures is wrong , you can exclude your kid from learning - other hot topics - sex , religion , and sexual orientation . The Conservative politicians of alberta are spreading filth about a "secret homosexual agenda" (their words , not mine) in order to scare redneck parents into letting hatred slide . Yes , folks , if you are offended because a teacher wants to teach evolution , birth control , gender equality , religious equality , you can use your paranoia and hatred to remove your kids from education . This could open a giant Pandora's box from hell where parents can pull their kids from classes taught by teachers who have a different religion or lifestyle . In extreme cases , ultra-Conservatives could be permitted to pull their kids from classes taught by women or racially-different folks . And kids whose parents cannot afford to send them to religious schools will have their right to an educational experience removed completely , potentially setting them up for a lifetime of failure.
Who suffers for this , ultimately , will be the children who are already growing up in an increasingly bigoted and illiterate province . I am all for parents rights as long as they do not damage children . Teaching your children to hate others is an extreme form of psychological abuse , and now it's going to be legislated .
Here in the US we have alot of ppl who homeschool. My parents pulled me out of class the day they taught sex education. They pulled me out and never talked about it. All my friends thought it was weird I was absent and all the girls thought it was funny I knew nothing about my period. Once my mom gave me a book to read about the facts of life, but it was handed to me in such shame I nearly threw up reading it. It was of course far less educational to me than all my friends or my mom's cosmo magazine which I stared at in the bathroom because of all the beautiful women in it. I remember how my cheeks flushed looking at this hispanic woman in a yellow dress. I didn't know what was going on. I could probably talk at length about this, but I think everybody's parents screwed up, but I am woefully divided on this issue, because it boils down to a parent being free to parent.
ReplyDeleteOf course parents shouldn't be able to abuse their kids, and obviously raising kids in a bigoted environment is abuse, but I know that there are also schools that teach bigoted things that parents should have the right to remove their children from. I wrote a blog quite a while back titled "The 2x Mr. Irresistable" it was about this stupid contest we were forced to participate in. The girls were all given a 4 leaf clover and were not allowed to talk to any boys lest they give up their clover. The guy with the most clovers at the end of the day was given the title "Mr. Irresistable" Guys would push, threaten and otherwise harass girls to get their clovers while the administration gleefully chuckled, oh how cute..I learned alot in public school, and most of it was how not to be.
Regardless of what anyone thinks of the issue , the Bill was passed today
ReplyDelete'There are thousands and thousands of parents, the silent majority, severely normal Albertans that are extremely happy with this legislation.'—Rob Anderson, Conservative MLA
the conservative party which runs the province came up with this law to force students and parents into a right-wing Christian ideal and sugar-coated it .
Sugar coated bullshit might taste a little better , but do you want to eat it?