Censorship in the Schools (merged)

My wife thinks the banning is silly also BUT she does bring up a valid point as it relates to the hullabaloo it is causing.

Is it appropriate to expose elementary school aged kids to alternate lifestyles (as some people portray that it may be in the book)? And shouldn't it be the parents responsibility, not a teacher who MAY, repeat MAY have an agenda of their own.

Does little 6-7 year old Timmy or Susie need to know that same-sex relationships exist?????

Just thoughts...

 

YES- Timmy and Susie need to know at 6 and 7 years old because if Susie goes to Emily's house and she has 2 mommies. if susie doesn't know any better, she'll ask emily where her daddy is, Emily will say she only has 2 mommies. the conversation could stop there- OR- one of Emily's mommies could over hear the conversation and explain it her way which may go against what Susie's mommy would have said had she told her daughter. NOW Susie and Emily can't play anymore b/c Susie's mommy is mad at one of emily's mommies.

the don't have to be told the details like they are listening to Howard Stern- a simple conversation REMOVES the mystery and stops a "stigma" from developing in Susie or Timmy's heads. Divorce, interracial, raised by grandma b/c mommy and daddy are crack heads-
the term "nuclear family" may as well be obselete since in a room of any 10 given children they don't "fit" that mold.

lastly, how many parents DON'T bother to educate their kids and it does end up falling on someone else's shoulders? did i WANT to tell my son at 5 why 2 men kiss? no. but the world- the TODAY SHOW- put it on me and so i did. Tango is the LAST place a 6 or 7 year old will discover homosexuality- look around- there are innocent non-copulation examples of homosexuality EVERYWHERE in every day life.

so educate them yourself with your own beliefs instead of keeping it from them, and you won't have to WORRY about what the world throws at them.

 

I also think that children should know about "differences" but isn't it the parents responsibility AND shouldn't it be their choice when to tell their child?

Many of us control what our children watch on TV, what books we read to them at night, what foods they eat. It is our jobs to determine when our children are of appropriate age to experience certain aspects of life.

Our son will be 5 this April and we are already discussing when WE want to tell him about Santa Claus, so he finds out from us and not another child during play.

On a side note, I doubt parents who make an issue of "penguin mates" would allow their child to play with Emily

 

zll valid points t8. some parents just don't do their jobs though. if homosexuality wasn;t so publcily prevalent these days, we COULD choose as parents not to bring it up until we'reready. but it is, so we can't. my son has no idea about many things in the world because they won't be pushed into his face otherwise. but the ones that are out there- I make sure MY word is the first word.

santa claus- mine is NINE and still believes. at HH I'll tell you the drama this christmas over it, but i say let them stop believing on their own.

and on the parents who wouldn't let their kid play with Emily- THAT'S almost why Tango neds to exist, so the kid isn;t just indoctrinated by their parent's prejudice- they see the other side too...

 

So just because it is prevalent in society our children should know about it? I disagree with some of this darlin. There are many TV shows dipicting, sex (VERY prevalent in society), graphic crime and medical scenes that I do not want my son exposed to for quite some time, Not to forget the nightly news too.

I don't necessarily like it in the extreme cases (race, gender...), but it is a parents right to raise their child prejudiced if they choose to do so.

Who am I to tell a parent how to raise their own child? If they want to be devoutly religious, so be it. If they want to teach Darwinism, go for it. Republican or Democrat?

 

I'm not sure the book should have been pulled... we're talking about penguins, here. But granted, I haven't seen it, so I'm not voting for or against pulling the book. But to respond to your comment, Renee', I just think elementary is too young. I don't think a child of 6 or 7 yet has the congnitive ability to realize their parents are narrow minded and decide that they should open themselves up to new ideas. I think that ability comes later in a child's life. 6 or 7 year olds think that what their parents say is gospel for the most part. That's not always a good thing as is pointed out in this thread, but it's not for you or me to say what's good for other people's kids. I know you agree with me on that!

 

I didn't know that it was a book about homsexuality. I thought that it was about caring for your young, no matter the circumstances. If it had been a story about a dog nurturing a kitten, I wouldn't assume that it was a book on interracial relationships.

Now I am reviewing all of my animal movie favorites for hidden agendas. You can draw your own conclusions about what the story REALLY ( ) is about
Charlottes Web - First a single mother female spider raises an orphan pig, and then the single male pig raises her baby spiders.
Milo & Otis - Dog and Cat best friends from birth cross the country to be re-united against the social norms and obstacles put up to keep them apart.
Fox & The Hound - Fox and Dog pups have an inappropriate relationship until they are forced apart by societal pressure. But then they are reunited.
Babe - Porker decides he is a dog, breaking the traditional roles of pigs as food. Dogs refuse to accept him as a peer, sheep refuse to accept him as a leader. Other animals and humans ridicule him. Only a nearly mute human male accepts him initially, as he wins over everyone with his diplomacy.
Homeward Bound - Can you say "menage-a-pet"? A golden retreiver, a pug, and a CAT all hook up for a crazy cross-country adventure.

[sarcasm]I don't think that I will ever let my children read another book or see another movie. This is obviously the liberal entertainment media forcing alternative lifestyles down the throats of our children! It is so rampant and well disguised as entertainment, that we probably will not see another generation of normal Americans.[/sarcasm]

Oh and by the way, the story is based on true events that occured in a NY Zoo. [sarcasm] REMOVE ALL OF THE GENDER_BENDING PENGUINS FROM THE ZOO!!![/sarcasm]

 

i AM in agreement with you t8- as parents it is our choise when we expose them to whatever the world has to offer. BUT- i had no choice when my 5 yr old son saw those 2 men kissing, i had no choice. when he came at 3 and asked me why his buddy had 2 houses and 2 bedrooms, i had no choice but to explain divorce. the explanations were age appropriate of course, but still- LIFE made me give him info i thought i could wait to expose him to. all i'm saying is, as parents, sometimes we get to make the choice, sometime WE get chosen.

and yes- it is someone's right to raise a bigot or a hateful child, but boy am i glad that school confused some of them enough that they thought their parents moight be wrong and they decided against calling me the n- word or throwing rocks at me just for being black, like their parents generation did to MINE.

i absolutely agree we have the right to raise our kids to be as informed or as ignorant, and kind or as hateful as we choose. but to the point of the smaller issue- the book itself- it's harmless and shouldn't be restricted. you are next mr. rogers...

 

As for the book, we are in total agreement. As I stated before, I sent an e-mail stating my displeasure.

 

you are right sharse- i DO agree with you there. My boy hasn't had another question about homsexuality since that day- although when he was watching Phenomenon- that magician reality show, last year, and that guy Ross- i don't know WHy he's famous except for being very gay and very sweet, when my boy saw him he said "HE must have been born liking boys..." cracked us UP!

and they DO believe everything we say to a point at that age- and what sticks comes out later when it is questionable. santa is a good example- can't WAIT to share this story at HH!!!

i know homosexuality flies in the face of most religions and is considered a sin by those religions, therefore they feel justified in insisting that things dealing with this "sin" be removed. that's why to T8's point THOSE parents can tell their kids themselves what their God thinks about the idea of 2 males who love each other rasining a baby, but they can't tell the REST of us our kid can't see that book either.

 

for the first time EVER sir- your post made my day! lol I was trying to think of books that would be considered inappropriate or controversial if the subject as polarizing as homsexuality is today, and you did my work for me! I have nothing to disagree with you about... this is wtwilight zone WIERD....

 

Do you really think this book's purpose is to expose 4 year olds to alternative lifestyles?
Do you think, maybe, just maybe, it's a sweet children's book based on a true story that demonstrates the loving and caring nature of penguins?
Do you think some people ARE TRYING to make it an issue about alternative lifestyles due to their narrow-minded, bigoted view of the world?
My answers to my three questions are No, Yes, Yes.

 

And my answers are also No, Yes and Yes.

 

UGH! It is currently on the front page for Foxnews.

http://www.foxnews.com/

 

i think the funniest part is that now on eof the male penguins now has a FEMALE partner! Guess the sequel will be "and Jennie makes 4"!

 

They are all going to end up in a commune in Cali. I just know it!

Proabably with white rocks too!

 

I guess what I don't understand is that only ONE parent complained and when the decision was made NOT to pull it off the shelves, this ONE parent then took the matter further up the ladder and complained to Hatrick. Why would he make a decision based on ONE parent's objection???? Doesn't sound right to me, why would Hatrick listen to ONE parent who complained and bow to that ONE person's demands? My gosh - it's a book about two loving penguins...I doubt the little ones would even question they were two males.

 

Hey! My mom has white rocks in her front yard. (I told Lurch about that too!)

 

Come on, I'm a pretty friggin' funny person!

 

IT'S THE POWAR UV ONE!!!!!