iraq in the classroom

I want my students to understand that i am the one in control and questioning me is like questioning God.

 

lol...ya aren't a teacher are ya?

If any of my future kids had a teacher with the attitude you've got about it, I'd be right there with them taking it above your head .

Heck my mom has done that with my brother, who had an absolutely awful teacher. She didn't like the students questioning her either, but she was a math teacher who had no degree in math, and in fact hated teaching it, and it showed. My brother taught the class more than she did and she hated him for it. She didn't get along with him until he wasn't her student anymore. But while he was, my mom had his back when said teacher was being ridiculous, and grading harshly when my brother was just correcting her mistakes .

 

This is bullshit though. This thread should be titled "Tyrrany in the classroom", its one thing to have a disagreement over politics, but it's quite another to get a zero on an assignment, getting detention over it...

You can't let this stand, man, file a complaint. Schools are supposed to be a place of learning and thought, NOT government indoctrination. Although it's already straddling both (unfortunately), this is an overt case. If we start allowing this to happen, our liberties are going to be trampled, it's going to increase in frequency, and one day kids will grow up to expect it, and there goes the Constitution.

 

If anything good can be said about that teacher, it's that she is of the type that often sparks people to become activists at a young age.

 

What did you write?


If was intelligent dissent, I doubt the teacher would have torn up your paper.

But since you didn't give any clues as to what you even wrote, I would suspect that you wrote a bunch of intentionally offensive and unintelligent drivel.

 

Oh come on Pikachu, that's not necessarily true. Do you really think that ALL teachers keep their own feelings about issues out of the classroom? Please. There are teachers go on immature tirades just as much as the next idiot. We don't know, it could have been a bunch of drivel, or it could have been intelligent dissent. This person's just asking for advice. And anyway, regardless of what kind of paper it was, if the teacher did in fact act that way, it's highly unprofessional and uncalled for in a classroom...who's going to learn with a teacher like that?

 

your rights were violated, but i wouldn't call it "government indoctrination". chances are your teacher was expressing her own beliefs - are you in a "red state" where anti-war sentiments are unpopular. often in their zeal, people in positions of power - especially teachers, who sometimes blur the line between their roles and, say, that of a parent when it comes to "moral instruction - will fail to differentiate between enforcing popularly held views and education. they may even feel it's their "duty" to "correct" the "mistakes" of a parent who "allows" their child to hold unpopular views and exercise freedom of speech. but it is very unlikely that the teacher was instructed to do so by the government. even if the school administration favors certain views its most likely a case of local ignorance rather than government plot.


(well, unless you wrote a story about zombies or something. that might get you arrested for terrorism! )

the constitution has been under assault lately, but it hasn't been abandoned yet. (except of course in the instance of terrorist zombie stories) the law is still on your side, even if school policy is against you. of course, getting your rights recognized can sometimes be a bit of a struggle. you don't have to get the ACLU involved yet. start by complaining politely but firmly through the proper channels. polite support from your parents may also help. if that doesn't work, check the website to learn about your rights and find out what the next step is.

 

first of all, to the ones who questioned if my ideas were inappropraite/offensive/ etc., know that they were not that at all..simply my strong feelings against my supposed "ultra libera" teacher's ideas'.
i would also like all of you in here who support me in this situation know that this is a battle i believe is worth fighting for. which i am... i brought it to the attention of the school dean, along with another member of the class that witnessed it. i then told that teacher (privately and politely) of how i had written a letter to the school board telling about how my rights as an american and as a student were violated. i also let her know how unacceptable i think this situation is. after hearing this, i guess she felt threatened, so decided to redeem herself. the next day, in front of the class she appollogized for being 'a little too rude' to me...and thats it. and that's not enough for me, so im waiting to schedule an appointment with me, my teacher, the dean, and our school districts board leader. i just may win this...HA
<3

 

I would. It's this whole attitude that you either fall in line and be a flag waving idiot, or you're anti-american. With us or against us, part of the solution of part of the problem. In such a system, dissent is no longer a critical part of democracy, it's a threat. This is not good. When it starts happening in schools, although it may not be planned by the government, it's not a good sign.

I don't know why this is happening all of a sudden, where disagreement now means you are anti-american, unpatriotic, and in favor of terrorism. I don't see how intelligent Americans could accept this attitude. Most people understand enough about democracy and American history to know this is not the way to go about it. I don't get it.

 

Without doubt there is no awarness and without awarness there is no intellegnce meaning by preventing your students from doubting your turning them into un-intellegent lifeforms.

 

its actually illegal for a teacher to openly express their political beleifs....and all the teachers in my school strongly follow that.

 

Take it to the district. Seriously. You could get her ass fired and come on, what student hasn't wanted to do that?


When 9-11 happened I remember in class we had to do like a kindergarted quilt type of thing where everyone draws a picture of how they feel and then we put them up outside the classroom. Well... mine was never put up because mine had like a tie-dyed background with a faded, "What happened to peace on earth?" And yeah, apparently I was anti-American. I also painted Venus for a class once and they stapled a piece of black paper to her breast because they said it was inappropriate (IN HIGH SCHOOL!). So I hear your story and I say, fight the man. DO IT DO IT DO IT.

 

[People sure have an odd view of what is unAmerican these days. Dissent is patriotic it is American to speak out and be accepting of others views not hating them because they are different.

 

I don't know if what she did was a violation of your rights. In our school districts, we are taught that we lose our rights once we enter the campus. But nevertheless, that shit was totally unfair, uncalled for, and definitely in violation of something. First, I would talk to the teacher outside of class, and if he/she doesn't comply to your reasonable demands of getting a fair grade, I'd make a big scene about it. That's just me though.

 

Welcome to the return of the 50's. Intellectualism is evil as it leads to questioning of the reality you are presented and worse individuality, now be good drone....opps I mean citizen and focus on conforming to societies delusions of normality, as Jackson's trial is much more important.

Seriously though there is a bit of hope as if your remeber the 60's followed the anti-intellectualism of the 50's.

 

that in itself is a violation of your rights, and a blatant falsehood. your rights cannot be taken away simply because you are in school, unless you are in a private school. but schooling is compulsory, and your rights are simply that, your rights. if you are not in a private school, or your parents are not homeschooling you, then you are required to go to the public school, and taking away your rights for attending a tax-payer funded service that is required is illegal. i can get you some more information on this, but i might have to hunt for it and i just don't have time now.

 

Yeah, stuntdragon, that's bullshit seriously. Man I must have been pretty lucky and just didn't realize it because I'm always hearing about how bad schools are all over SC, but where I went to school (pretty small one in the upstate) may not have been the greatest, but it definitely didn't hold anyone back or tell us we lost our rights when we came to school....that's just really messed up. I would have always thought schools in Columbia would be better than mine in that respect...weird.

 

Good for you, don't let this one go with just an apology from the teacher. You unfairly recieved worse than a failing grade, a zero, and you did your work, you don't deserve that. She tried to humiliate you in front of your class. She displayed an intolerance for freedom of speech and expression. Of course your paper is gone, how will your teacher re-score it now? She needs to be reprimanded for her actions, and you need retribution for the terrible score she gave you.

Keep us informed on how this all plays out.

 

Yea dude I've had a number of teachers in middle school & highschool tell me that...maybe it was just a scare tactic.

 

most likely it was, but it's still a violation of rights.