I didn't want to hijack gopguy's thread. I'd like to share possible evidence of this mentality as illustrated in a notice sent home by my kids' elementary school last week.
I won't reproduce the entire memo, as it is too long, but here are the highlights:
Recess was ended early due to a playground incident between a few students and a local resident whose property borders the school playground. (sub-urban setting)
The kids were brought to the main office, separated, and asked to give individual accounts of the occurance. The kids admitted to playing on the man's property. (there is no fence seperating the playground from his backyard). The kids said the man came out and told them to get out of his yard and threatened them with a "dangerous object" in his hand, but their stories all varied on what that object was. Some said a knife, others said a gun.
The school immediately called the police, who responded to the man's house. The "man" turned out to be a college kid living in his parent's house. The police "searched the house, but found no weapons." The man claimed that he asked the kids to leave his yard, at which point the kids got smart with him. He then threatened to bring the matter up with their teacher, and they ran away. The officers said "The man was very pleasant and helpful, and deemed not to be a threat to anyone. The case is closed."
The notice was summed up with:
- Outdoor recess is canceled tmw to "let the situation cool down"
- A fence will be erected between the playground and the neighboring yards.
- A counselor will be on hand for kids who feel the need to talk about what happened.
This whole thing rubbed me the wrong way. I am drafting a response to the memo. I'm uncomfortable with the fact that the kids left school property while "under supervision," and am concerned about what would have happened had the man had malicious intent. I understand that the principal probably felt compelled to call the police as a precaution, but I don't like hearing that a man's house was searched as a result of weak, ambiguous accounts given by a handful smart-mouthed 3rd graders. Of course, if the guy had turned out to be a bad apple, and was arrested on solid grounds, my opinion might be different.
I was really just disappointed by the letter more than anything else. In my honest opnion, the school really isn't a liberal indoctrination center like many other schools in the news. They sing Christmas carols at Christmas time, they have "evil" Halloween parades, they do not have "progressive" sex ed, etc... We keep informed of what the kids are learning, and it hasn't been anti-freedom or "socially progressive" propoganda. We have had a very positive experience with the school over the past 5 years, right up to this letter.
Any reasonable suggestions for the content of my letter would be welcomed.
I won't reproduce the entire memo, as it is too long, but here are the highlights:
Recess was ended early due to a playground incident between a few students and a local resident whose property borders the school playground. (sub-urban setting)
The kids were brought to the main office, separated, and asked to give individual accounts of the occurance. The kids admitted to playing on the man's property. (there is no fence seperating the playground from his backyard). The kids said the man came out and told them to get out of his yard and threatened them with a "dangerous object" in his hand, but their stories all varied on what that object was. Some said a knife, others said a gun.
The school immediately called the police, who responded to the man's house. The "man" turned out to be a college kid living in his parent's house. The police "searched the house, but found no weapons." The man claimed that he asked the kids to leave his yard, at which point the kids got smart with him. He then threatened to bring the matter up with their teacher, and they ran away. The officers said "The man was very pleasant and helpful, and deemed not to be a threat to anyone. The case is closed."
The notice was summed up with:
- Outdoor recess is canceled tmw to "let the situation cool down"
- A fence will be erected between the playground and the neighboring yards.
- A counselor will be on hand for kids who feel the need to talk about what happened.
This whole thing rubbed me the wrong way. I am drafting a response to the memo. I'm uncomfortable with the fact that the kids left school property while "under supervision," and am concerned about what would have happened had the man had malicious intent. I understand that the principal probably felt compelled to call the police as a precaution, but I don't like hearing that a man's house was searched as a result of weak, ambiguous accounts given by a handful smart-mouthed 3rd graders. Of course, if the guy had turned out to be a bad apple, and was arrested on solid grounds, my opinion might be different.
I was really just disappointed by the letter more than anything else. In my honest opnion, the school really isn't a liberal indoctrination center like many other schools in the news. They sing Christmas carols at Christmas time, they have "evil" Halloween parades, they do not have "progressive" sex ed, etc... We keep informed of what the kids are learning, and it hasn't been anti-freedom or "socially progressive" propoganda. We have had a very positive experience with the school over the past 5 years, right up to this letter.
Any reasonable suggestions for the content of my letter would be welcomed.
