Helicopter parents need to fly away

0

To the Editor:

I recently saw a mother on television reading a statement criticizing her child’s teacher. The teacher had told her class (elementary) how important it is to be kind to one another. The mother viewed this as indoctrination.

Yes, I, too, am scratching my head.

Hovering helicopter parents have been replaced by Kamikaze-like parents, some now demanding cameras in classrooms. Will they protest when physics teachers present new theories that challenge older theories? Will they protest when health and biology teachers talk about sexual reproduction? Will they challenge the portrayal of those noble conquistadores who brutally conquered the Aztecs in Mexico? Ditto the white settlers who did a good job of nearly decimating the native American Indians. If anyone had legitimate claims to this land it was the Indians, not the whites.

Moving out of the classroom, should we have cameras in pediatricians’ offices to make sure children aren’t abused? What about Boy and Girl Scout meetings, camps for kids and athletic locker rooms?

What about Sunday School classes? Watch out for the word smite which is rampant in the Old Testament. There are accounts of rape (Dinah in Genesis 34), genocide, dismembering of a concubine in Judges 19, murders, child abuse, stoning of humans and crucifixions used by the Romans. Do we sweep this under the rug and pretend it didn’t happen? Where do you draw the line?

If you want to go after a few bad apples (every profession has its share), do so. But stop behaving like pesky gnats waging a carte blanche diatribe against all teachers. Get out of our hair. Let us teach facts and truth and we will let you do what you do.

And if you do challenge a teacher, make sure it is for something more serious than teaching kindness.

Home schooling is always an option if you don’t like the curricula approved by the state boards of education.

Rose Hess

Retired teacher

Bowling Green

No posts to display