Second grader punished for talking about his gay mom

[Barry the Sprout]

Sorry, after re-reading your post I've just noticed thyat you're accusing me of hypocracy in the original post. My intention was not to insult the right but rather to point out that if you made stupid assumptions it was easy to get to stupid conclusions (such as the right being pro institutional bias). The conclusion is stupid and I don't agree with it and thats my point. Sorry i didn't make that clearer.

[Chewbacca]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: I'm gonna side with Cerek here and say I think Lord K was mistaken to call it conservative -- big c or little c. To me over PC-ness is a liberal disease. In my mind, a liberal-minded, i.e. left-leaning, teacher would punish someone for using the word "gay" more readily that a right-leaning, conservative one would. Just my opinion. Here's what we're all missing. It's hard to be a teacher. "Penis" is a perfectly fine word, as is "vagina." Both are on the news daily. We have billboards for "The Vagina Monologues" here. However, if I were a second-grade teacher and little Billy was talking about his "penis," I'd probably get him to stop. Perhaps the same is true for this teacher with "gay." "Gay" is a word that necessarily involves sex to a degree. It is a sexual preference distinction. Therefore, a teacher may punish a student for using it in the same way as "penis." These are second-graders, after all, and how much should they know at that point? Personally, I think the teacher simply MADE A MISTAKE. It happens -- they're human.

Yes being a teacher is hard, especially difficult for those who dont have the mindset to ask the little boy why he was using the word gay. Once it became obvious he was refering to the reality of his family life, it should have been a none issue.

If the word gay was so objectionable, perhaps a conference with the parents would be the next logical step to find an acceptable word to describe the little boys family life.

[LordKathen]

Cerek, I am sorry if I offended you. I really did not intend that. What Barry is saying in my defence is correct. I am refering to this specific case, not conservatives in general. The teacher, then the principal, both punished the boy for using a "bad" word.
IMHO, that is a conservative view of the word. Like has been said, there is still people, or parishes, that have this view. That is what I was refering to.
The unwillingness to conform to the times. That may be a "liberal" way of seeing this situation, but it only makes sense, to me. As far as politicaly, or religously Conservative, Barry has said it spot on. [img]graemlins/awesomework.gif[/img]
Once again Cerek, I am sorry for my vague rant.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by LordKathen: Cerek, I am sorry if I offended you. I really did not intend that. What Barry is saying in my defence is correct. I am refering to this specific case, not conservatives in general. The teacher, then the principal, both punished the boy for using a "bad" word. IMHO, that is a conservative view of the word. Like has been said, there is still people, or parishes, that have this view. That is what I was refering to. The unwillingness to conform to the times. That may be a "liberal" way of seeing this situation, but it only makes sense, to me. As far as politicaly, or religously Conservative, Barry has said it spot on. [img]graemlins/awesomework.gif[/img] Once again Cerek, I am sorry for my vague rant.

Apology accepted, Lord K. And I offer an apology of my in return to you and Barry both. I obviously took your opening comments the wrong way and then couldn't get past that initial reaction.

[LordKathen]

All is well and good Cerek! Have a wonderfull day in your part of the world bro.

Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: sultan - I'm afraid the fact that the student was made to write "I will never use the word "gay" in school again" repeatedly the following week negates the possibility of this just being an "innocent mistake".

indeed. i didnt put that detail together. thanks for the correction.

whatever the motivations (liberal pc-overreaction or conservative kneejerk), this is clearly not just a teacher/principal misunderstanding.

[Chewbacca]

Liars! The school district is claiming that saying gay was not the problem, but if you click this link and have acrobat you can see an exact copy of a student behavior report written for the parents by the teacher and the student. The teacher writes at the top "He explained to another child that you are gay and what being gay means"

You have to see it to beleive it!!!! I found it very sad. He wrote under the part for what he should have done "cep my mouf shut" and for what he did "I sed bad wurds". Poor kid.

More links:
http://www.365gay.com/newscontent/120303laNoApology.htm

http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights...ID=14478&c=104

[Barry the Sprout]

Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: Apology accepted, Lord K. And I offer an apology of my in return to you and Barry both. I obviously took your opening comments the wrong way and then couldn't get past that initial reaction.

Ah, no problem. Its just one of those things everyone gets worked up about, understandably.

[Azred]

Originally posted by Chewbacca: Liars! The school district is claiming that saying gay was not the problem, but if you click this link and have acrobat you can see an exact copy of a student behavior report written for the parents by the teacher and the student. The teacher writes at the top "He explained to another child that you are gay and what being gay means" You have to see it to beleive it!!!! I found it very sad. He wrote under the part for what he should have done "cep my mouf shut" and for what he did "I sed bad wurds". Poor kid.

If this is indeed the actual report given to the student, then the school also needs to be help accountable as to why one of their students cannot spell correctly.

Anyway... [img]graemlins/madhell.gif[/img] I agree that this poor kid is now the object of ridicule. He is probably being called "Heather" (reference to "Heather Has Two Mommies") as well as other insults.

[Spelca]

Originally posted by Azred: If this is indeed the actual report given to the student, then the school also needs to be help accountable as to why one of their students cannot spell correctly.

He's 7 years old. I don't think any of us knew how to spell correctly when we were 7. [img]tongue.gif[/img]