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lisamariewillbe

9/11 education in the public schools.

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I was not sure where I should post this but thought this might at least give me ideas on how I should write the letter I plan to write to the school system. Basically I have a son in second grade who learned on 9/11 the story of 9/11 from his teacher. The problem is, he was pretty much told just the following points

1. 2 planes attacked the world trade centers
2. A few thousand people died
3. Bad people did it for no reason.
4. It cant happen again.

I have problems with the education aspect as there were 4 planes, 4 crash sites, and granted we do not like the reason behind the attack (well some of us) but there was a reason. Im confused on why the school wouldnt bring up the pentagon or flight 83 the most, and the fact that it cant happen again. I explained everything in more detail to my son but still wish to express disappointment.

Would you have a problem with a study that included those 4 points?
Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

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Doesn't that depend on what the scope of the subject is. It is indeed a very minimal curriculum and should be followed up upon intensively, but as the beginning of an explanation on what all the fuzz is about is it all that wrong?

How old is your son?
HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

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My son is 7, and granted I do think they need to tone down the event to not completley freak them out but if they want to talk about 9/11 they could touch on all the events that shaped that day.

On the other note, my son is also the type as was I that does not go by school text books. Last year he got in trouble for telling the teacher she was lying about Columbus discovering america.

My kids used to be homeschooled, but also their hobby is history and sciences so they since they started reading have been into books that are on these subjects and often are different then what they would be taught in a school. Its a blessing and a curse.

I feel to say there were 2 planes versus 4 is lying. Thats like saying there was a WW11 and not a WW1
Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

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Well, I agree with you that it probably is too simplified a curriculum but imagine the hell that would ensue if the teacher tried to explain the motivations of these "bad men". I think 2001 is still too close to comfort.

The factual omissions seem strange, though. Maybe the teacher doesn't believe in the Pentagon plane. ;)
HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

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Maybe the teacher doesn't believe in the Pentagon plane.



Thats what I was thinking. Also I just dont like her and find alot of faults in how she teaches so I wasnt sure if its me being me, education being restrictive, or a combination. I think its a combination.

Im a pain in the ass to her and the school, but her more so. She teaches alot of things that just have me going "WTF?"

9/11 is a big thing to me, I was a firefighter up until around then and so theres many facets of that day that still rip my heart out. I dont want our children to only know part of that event, I want the truth for them.
Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

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... I dont want our children to only know part of that event, I want the truth for them.



Luckily you sound like you are perfectly capable of expanding on what your children are told in school. :)
HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

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Luckily you sound like you are perfectly capable of expanding on what your children are told in school.



Well at least what my thoughts are, yes, and I do that often. I want to NOT have to do all the time. Id rather they get a un-biased education and then come home so I can say "okay thats what such and such (science world, historians, ect) believe but this is what I believe and why. This is the first REAL time thing I have found in the schools that I KNOW is wrong and feel I have to say something. This part of our history is in my lifetime so well I dont know. I do appreciate your comments. I doubt the school will be responsive to my letter but it cant hurt to try.
Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

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Makes you wonder about the history you were taught in school that were half-truths.

All history taught in school is only half truths, it the nature of of not wanting to paint a bad picture of yourself
out of curiosity how many kids in the states are taught about Timmothy McVie or the Mei Lei Massacre?
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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Its hard to prove many of the half truths when it is all you have learned from school without pro-actively seeking other explanations. 9/11 is different in the fact that I sat in front of the tv and watched people jump to their deaths, I watched the news on the pentagon and PA. History is a long time and I understand that they wont teach it all. [:/]
Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

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... Id rather they get a un-biased education and then come home so I can say "okay thats what such and such (science world, historians, ect) believe but this is what I believe and why.



I'm sorry but first of all I don't think that any such thing exists. Second I am not sure most parents really want it. Are you sure you don't want your children's school education to reflect your values in some way?
HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

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Schools cant reflect my values. Im a Christian but I do want my children to learn about theories I dont believe in, I want them to see ALL sides. That way they are more well balanced and open minded then I am.

Could you maybe point out other reasons you believe it can not be un-biased?
Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

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Neatly sidestepping evolution I would have to say that any teaching in history and social studies will always try to analyse why things happen. In that "why" there will necessarily be a choice of "angle".

Why did WWI start? Why did the UK join? Why did the US join? Why did the war end? Trying to answer these questions to children will require a teacher to select an angle or two and present them. Is that not bias?
HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

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Could you maybe point out other reasons you believe it can not be un-biased?



From what I'cve seen of your school system, the broadness of curiculum is dictated by the local communities, this can not be amenable to giviing an unbiased, world view of things.
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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Yes it is I guess, and I guess a lesson cant be taught without trying to teach the why. Its going to be a long 11 years of school :|

What are parents supposed to do then? How can our children have the best of all the world if they cant even learn about it without pissing people off.

BTW I taught my children evolution, and adaptation then I taught them what I believe. The schools teach adaptation and evolution and that just gives me more chances to talk to the boys about what I agree with and what I dont. Gives them a chance to start thinking for themselves and hopefully one day they will tell me "well this is what I believe".

I want them in college one day. Want free thinkers who dont always conform to society or the thought process that society places on them. Right now they follow my thought process because they still are in the "mom knows everything phase" but one day that will change.

So is it worth the time to approach the 9/11 talk with the school , and if I do then I am well lets just say I dont know enough to fight all the battles of wrong teaching by the school so I am now not sure if I should battle it.
Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

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So is it worth the time to approach the 9/11 talk with the school , and if I do then I am well lets just say I dont know enough to fight all the battles of wrong teaching by the school so I am now not sure if I should battle it.

When you accept the fact that these are government schools run by, as a whole, socialistically minded teachers with a hate America, blame America mentality, then you will understand their teaching procedures.

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What are parents supposed to do then? ...



Think of it this way: School can supply the foundation for a solid education. Nothing more. The educated person is always someone who has taken the time to work actively with this foundation and who has built something upon it.

I suppose you should just teach your children all you can. Help them exploit the foundation they are given at school. The more they know the better they will be at asking questions. The great thinker is the one who knows which questions to pose. They can then leave to the rest of us to try and look for the answers. ;)
HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

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So is it worth the time to approach the 9/11 talk with the school , and if I do then I am well lets just say I dont know enough to fight all the battles of wrong teaching by the school so I am now not sure if I should battle it.

When you accept the fact that these are government schools run by, as a whole, socialistically minded teachers with a hate America, blame America mentality, then you will understand their teaching procedures.



You mean teachers hired (directly or indirectly) by locally elected school boards and maybe given tenure by those same elected school boards. Yes, that makes sense. I can certainly see that all across the USA elected school boards would prefer to hire America hating socialists.
...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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<> - so 100% then? Bit of a stretch to suggest that all of the kids in the US are being taught by lefties.... WOW.

The largest portion.

There are teachers, and this can be proven, who confiscate a child's personal supplies on the first day of school, and then doles them back out as the teacher sees fit.

personal property= bad
community property= good.

Didn't Karl Marx say,"Give me one generation..."

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Makes you wonder about the history you were taught in school that were half-truths.



Did you happen to contribute to any of that? :P
So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

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being 7 & in second grade, i would guess this is more appropriate than the teacher stating the same points to a 13+ year old.

not that kids @ 7 are stupid, but they are more malleable. probably the teacher was simplifying things just to avoid any one viewpoint because, as a teacher,

1) you don't want to piss off parents when a child repeats/misinterprets what the teacher said
2) those are emotional, complex issues that should be discussed w/ family.

basically, the teacher might have been trying to move on to another topic. i HOPE that's why the teacher summed it up the way s/he did....

~hollywood

see the world! http://gorocketdog.blogspot.com

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Makes you wonder about the history you were taught in school that were half-truths.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Did you happen to contribute to any of that?



What would ever give you that idea, Max?:P

Chris



_________________________________________
Chris






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Makes you wonder about the history you were taught in school that were half-truths.



Did you happen to contribute to any of that? :P



He he.. I can already see John writing a book about Newton's two laws and Maxwell's three equations. :D
HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

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That's what I was thinking. As a teacher myself...and no I am not an america hating socialist :o...I would guess she simplified it to fit the age group. Maybe not right but also I can see parents being pissed off that she did tell them more details. I understand you don't agree with some of your her methods of teaching but just remember that this teacher has to not only try and please you but 30 other sets of parents, an administration staff, her team members...the list goes on and on. I applaud you for being active in your sons education and for wanting them to reach higher standards. Just think about the fact that not all of the kids will be up to your kids level of academics and learning. And not all parents want their kids to know it all. I don't know the teacher but my best guess is she is doing the best she can to try and keep everyone happy while also doing her responsibility which is teaching 20+ kids on all different levels everything she is required by the state to teach. It is not as easy or simple as it sounds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A life without a cause
is a life without an effect

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