The state of the world has made it very scary to send our little ones back to school. Honestly the last couple years have been a struggle for everyone with or without children.
There is so much controversy surrounding what should and should not be allowed in schools, who should teach what, what is the parents responsibility vs. what is teachers responsibility and so many more topics that make parents want to pull their hair out and put their children in a box and never let society near them.
As I was helping my kids get ready to go back to school they asked what they should do if their teachers try to teach them stuff that is controversial. I had to stop and think about how I wanted to address this. Because we have chosen to raise our girls with an age appropriate open relationship style we have always taught them to think for themselves. Even when we as their parents have opinions on topics we ask them what they think or feel about things. They are humans and entitled to their own thoughts and feelings.
I told them that the teachers have a job to teach them basic school topics, but teachers are humans too and they may have their own opinions on specific topics. While they should not be teaching you their opinions they should be teaching the facts, but sometimes it doesn’t always go that way. We can’t always control the actions of others.
I told them if a teacher does try to teach them about topics that they know are not something that should be taught in school, or sharing opinions they should listen respectfully, keep their own opinions to themselves and than come home and share what they learned with us. That gives us a chance to clarify what they were exposed too and if we feel its something our kids should or should not be exposed to. It takes the responsibility of dealing with an adult situation out of their young hands and puts it in ours.
As parents it is our job to make sure that our children understand how to objectively consider a topic, consider others feelings on the topic, consider their own feelings, and know how to make EDUCATED decisions for themselves. Teaching them to be mindful of the things they are being taught only helps them to think more independently.
That being said if a teacher is stepping out of line and teaching topics that are out of their scope of practice than it becomes our responsibility to address it with the school rather than making our children have to deal with it. Each parent has to decide for themselves and their families what they feel is appropriate and not appropriate for their children. Each parent as individuals have to decide what battles they want to fight concerning the way their children are being taught.
While we do listen to and respect our children’s thoughts and feelings at the end of the day we are their parents and it is our job to protect them from the negative influences of the world until they are at an age where they can decide those things for themselves. If we don’t teach them how to make those decisions though we are not doing them any favors.
How do you deal with these situation?
Do you feel its right for teachers to be teaching their opinions rather than facts?
Should they be held to a similar standard as healthcare professionals and have a set “Scope of Practice” and if they go beyond what they are qualified and permitted by law to teach or should parents start taking more responsibility for teaching our children and switch to homeschool?
If you would like to share your opinion on this topic feel free to do so but please remember to be kind and respectful while doing it. You can practice respect even when disagreeing on a controversial topic. Any rude or disrespectful comments will be deleted.