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Stories That Make You Shake Your Head At The World


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1 hour ago, TheWatShot said:

A middle school teacher in my hometown was forced to take down a gay pride flag in her classroom because the school board deemed it "controversial." 

So if another teacher put a Blue Lives Matter flag in their classroom would you be ok with that?

Classrooms are for teaching subjects like reading, science, and math...to me, anything beyond the American and State flag should be avoided...

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14 minutes ago, FKIM01 said:

Most any flag in the classroom would be deemed controversial and offensive to some segment of the population. 

I remember in middle school we learned the flags of the world. Had a test and I think there were over 50 flags from vairous countries on it. Yeah....something tells me if that test was given today it would be a little more controversial in what was being taught lol. Geez...I have several wonderful teachers in my family and I know many on this board....saddens me the state of our educational system (not just in our schools but our homes too). The big problems of our future will be solved by those we educate today. Gosh I hope we learn to do a better job of prioritizing those efforts.

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16 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

Does the school allow teachers to post the 10 Commandments or the Lords Prayer? 

They don't allow religious or political displays in the classroom. They do allow prayer during classes, and they also allow youth pastors to visit during lunch time and encourage students to attend their church programs. 

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2 hours ago, TheWatShot said:

A middle school teacher in my hometown was forced to take down a gay pride flag in her classroom because the school board deemed it "controversial." 

Probably because of stuff like this happening....amongst the other stories of posting antifa flags and encouraging students to join Antifa rallies for extra credit etc. I'm not going to say anything further...just this kind of stuff is likely why this stuff happens when people take things too far and administration want to reel it in before they have a crisis on their hands that could cost them their job.

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12 minutes ago, HoosierFaithful said:

There is a tremendous serious on Netflix called "explained" - they explore deep topics in a fun, informative 20-30 minute segment.  They had one on Flags recently.  Encourage folks to watch.  I learned a lot.

I haven't seen that one...I'll try to give it a watch. The ones I saw were pretty one sided let's say ideologically...Vox I believe produces it I believe which would explain a lot if that is in case true. Not saying all the content is bad or biased...but I think it is fair to let someone know before tuning in. There are of course media on the other extreme as well so I'm not here to discourage/disparage either side...but it's good to know there might be a particular slant to the viewpoint.

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58 minutes ago, TheWatShot said:

They don't allow religious or political displays in the classroom. They do allow prayer during classes, and they also allow youth pastors to visit during lunch time and encourage students to attend their church programs. 

As teachers it is your job to educate and if teachers are not allowed to share their religious beliefs why would they be allowed to display their sexuality.

 Would it be OK as a straight white Christian male to put a flag saying any of the following. 

Proud supporter of Christ

Proud to white

Straight and Proud of it.

Proud to be a MAN

all of those would be blasted with an ist or ism. 

As a teacher be there for the kids and educate them help them to be the best them that they can be.  Not a teachers job to influence certain things. Just like politics, I taught government for years and I can guarantee not 1 student would know my political stance

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30 minutes ago, dgambill said:

I haven't seen that one...I'll try to give it a watch. The ones I saw were pretty one sided let's say ideologically...Vox I believe produces it I believe which would explain a lot if that is in case true. Not saying all the content is bad or biased...but I think it is fair to let someone know before tuning in. There are of course media on the other extreme as well so I'm not here to discourage/disparage either side...but it's good to know there might be a particular slant to the viewpoint.

Yep, Vox definitely skews a bit to the left, but not overwhelmingly so IMO.  I like it because of the production value/cadence in the way they share the information, not as much the content

image.png.cfdbbb6306fe8adc31cc2aab78f25545.png

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34 minutes ago, HoosierFaithful said:

Yep, Vox definitely skews a bit to the left, but not overwhelmingly so IMO.  I like it because of the production value/cadence in the way they share the information, not as much the content

image.png.cfdbbb6306fe8adc31cc2aab78f25545.png

Yeah...hard to say who is rating etc. AP/NPR...neutral lol  https://www.allsides.com/news-source/vox-news-media-bias

I think it is safely left leaning. Doesn't make their info false etc...but the content does typically come off one sided is all. Just like if it was taken from the other side. Not sure there is any purely unbiased opinions and stuff out there much anymore. Like I said I'll still give it a watch when I get home...just remembered I've watched a couple episodes and while the topics were very interesting, and well produced, and I did learn some new info...it was clear I wasn't getting both sides of the story in equal support. Didn't make it bad...but didn't feel like I was given a complete picture either.

 

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4 hours ago, Billingsley99 said:

As teachers it is your job to educate and if teachers are not allowed to share their religious beliefs why would they be allowed to display their sexuality.

 Would it be OK as a straight white Christian male to put a flag saying any of the following. 

Proud supporter of Christ

Proud to white

Straight and Proud of it.

Proud to be a MAN

all of those would be blasted with an ist or ism. 

As a teacher be there for the kids and educate them help them to be the best them that they can be.  Not a teachers job to influence certain things. Just like politics, I taught government for years and I can guarantee not 1 student would know my political stance

I had a government teacher like that in high school and a social studies teacher in jr. high.  The government teacher was a master at neutrality to the point that us students used his elephant bookends as proof of party affiliation (to this day, I'm unsure whether we were right or not).  My jr. high teacher from the early 80's was only outed when #45 was elected...and I had guessed him totally wrong.😂

(...and I agree with you that a flag promoting a sexual lifestyle is a bad idea in a classroom of young impressionable minds.  I want teachers to teach the objective stuff...not lecture kids on how they are supposed to think and feel.)

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56 minutes ago, FKIM01 said:

(...and I agree with you that a flag promoting a sexual lifestyle is a bad idea in a classroom of young impressionable minds.  I want teachers to teach the objective stuff...not lecture kids on how they are supposed to think and feel.)

Ok, I wasn't going to comment any further, but this post made me feel it was necessary. 

The teacher is NOT gay. She's straight and has two children. She's not "promoting a sexual lifestyle". She had the flag in her classroom to show that she is accepting of others, regardless of how they identify, and those students will always be welcome there, no matter what anyone else tells them. 

 

She was one of my favorite teachers growing up, and I don't remember ever hearing anyone complain about her. She always encouraged discussion and debate in her lessons, and always reminded everyone it was ok to disagree, as long as you could support your stance. 

 

The flag came to the school board's attention when a student's parents complained about it. The student was actually defending the flag because a few other students thought it was stupid. This student was then teased for supporting it, shared that with mom and dad, and here we are. Mom and dad said the flag was the reason their child was bullied, not the kids actually doing the bullying. 

 

Bluffton has always been a homophobic community with a bullying problem that's only getting worse. And it's probably going to get worse before it gets better, because this teacher has now decided to call it a career. 

 

So that's why I'm shaking my head at the world. It's 2021 and a rainbow-colored piece of fabric is the scapegoat for a bullying problem. Rather than confront the issue of bullying and what needs to be done about it, the school board is predictably doing what it's more comfortable doing and blaming a flag, rather than doing what's right and seriously trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with some of these kids and how they got to be this way. 

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2 minutes ago, TheWatShot said:

Ok, I wasn't going to comment any further, but this post made me feel it was necessary. 

The teacher is NOT gay. She's straight and has two children. She's not "promoting a sexual lifestyle". She had the flag in her classroom to show that she is accepting of others, regardless of how they identify, and those students will always be welcome there, no matter what anyone else tells them. 

 

She was one of my favorite teachers growing up, and I don't remember ever hearing anyone complain about her. She always encouraged discussion and debate in her lessons, and always reminded everyone it was ok to disagree, as long as you could support your stance. 

 

The flag came to the school board's attention when a student's parents complained about it. The student was actually defending the flag because a few other students thought it was stupid. This student was then teased for supporting it, shared that with mom and dad, and here we are. Mom and dad said the flag was the reason their child was bullied, not the kids actually doing the bullying. 

 

Bluffton has always been a homophobic community with a bullying problem that's only getting worse. And it's probably going to get worse before it gets better, because this teacher has now decided to call it a career. 

I understand but when you are in that position you have to protect you self and do everything you can to protect those students. I feel you have to pick and choose your battles and if that's the sword she was willing to go down on. She sounds like a great teacher but I personally don't think she made a good decision.  There are lots of ways to let people know how you feel or stand on topics. This is just mu opinion. Coming from a guy that lost a teaching job for having a team prayer in which all members of the team wanted. I was willing to lose it for what I believe.  

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16 minutes ago, TheWatShot said:

Ok, I wasn't going to comment any further, but this post made me feel it was necessary. 

The teacher is NOT gay. She's straight and has two children. She's not "promoting a sexual lifestyle". She had the flag in her classroom to show that she is accepting of others, regardless of how they identify, and those students will always be welcome there, no matter what anyone else tells them. 

 

She was one of my favorite teachers growing up, and I don't remember ever hearing anyone complain about her. She always encouraged discussion and debate in her lessons, and always reminded everyone it was ok to disagree, as long as you could support your stance. 

 

The flag came to the school board's attention when a student's parents complained about it. The student was actually defending the flag because a few other students thought it was stupid. This student was then teased for supporting it, shared that with mom and dad, and here we are. Mom and dad said the flag was the reason their child was bullied, not the kids actually doing the bullying. 

 

Bluffton has always been a homophobic community with a bullying problem that's only getting worse. And it's probably going to get worse before it gets better, because this teacher has now decided to call it a career. 

 

So that's why I'm shaking my head at the world. It's 2021 and a rainbow-colored piece of fabric is the scapegoat for a bullying problem. Rather than confront the issue of bullying and what needs to be done about it, the school board is predictably doing what it's more comfortable doing and blaming a flag, rather than doing what's right and seriously trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with some of these kids and how they got to be this way. 

What subject did she teach?

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Just now, TheWatShot said:

8th grade science. 

Then stick to science...we lag behind in that subject anyway (24th in the world) One of the things that inhibits learning are distractions.

Look, you can make a difference by treating each student equally and with respect. That's the way we should treat each other anyway, regardless of sexual orientation, skin color, politics, or religion. Respect each other's beliefs even if they conflict with your own. 

Kids bully for many reasons. I was always the youngest in my class, so I fielded my share. If you fight back, they stop...

When you inject anything controversial into the classroom, your distracting from the job at hand, and giving kids a reason for conflict. 

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27 minutes ago, TheWatShot said:

Ok, I wasn't going to comment any further, but this post made me feel it was necessary. 

The teacher is NOT gay. She's straight and has two children. She's not "promoting a sexual lifestyle". She had the flag in her classroom to show that she is accepting of others, regardless of how they identify, and those students will always be welcome there, no matter what anyone else tells them. 

 

She was one of my favorite teachers growing up, and I don't remember ever hearing anyone complain about her. She always encouraged discussion and debate in her lessons, and always reminded everyone it was ok to disagree, as long as you could support your stance. 

 

The flag came to the school board's attention when a student's parents complained about it. The student was actually defending the flag because a few other students thought it was stupid. This student was then teased for supporting it, shared that with mom and dad, and here we are. Mom and dad said the flag was the reason their child was bullied, not the kids actually doing the bullying. 

 

Bluffton has always been a homophobic community with a bullying problem that's only getting worse. And it's probably going to get worse before it gets better, because this teacher has now decided to call it a career. 

 

So that's why I'm shaking my head at the world. It's 2021 and a rainbow-colored piece of fabric is the scapegoat for a bullying problem. Rather than confront the issue of bullying and what needs to be done about it, the school board is predictably doing what it's more comfortable doing and blaming a flag, rather than doing what's right and seriously trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with some of these kids and how they got to be this way. 

In a perfect world, I completely agree. Unfortunately, there are always those people who take things too far.

I kept my classroom decorations content related, and used my words and actions to get across the points I wanted to. I always talked about loving your unique traits, and I would always be on the lookout for kids who might be different and feel like they don't fit in. Some for sure slip through the cracks though. I found that it was much safer to say things to certain students who need the message than to put them on a wall for all to see.

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I'm not saying kids should have to deal with all the crap I did, but I will say I was well equipped to handle myself.  

I think today's kids are so shielded from hardship by their parents, that when they are away from them they don't know what to do.  

Then it's up to teachers to be babysitters. 

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I know Bluffton. Small town, ultra conservative. The people there are going to run all over anything that goes against the mainstream. I have a gay 18 year old granddaughter and a bi grandchild who is 10, so I know the struggle. However maybe this teacher could have picked her battles a little more wisely. She’s not going to convince that school board or that community otherwise. 
I hope that this becomes a learning experience for students to figure out how the system works and how they can work within the parameters to facilitate change without creating animosity 

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Sounds like the problem started with the introduction of a flag that didn't belong in a science classroom.  I guess my frustration comes from my experience that you'll have less bullying and bad behavior if you don't make a big deal of being different.  Prior to the introduction of that flag, were students taught to bully others who are different than them?  Were they told such behavior was acceptable?

Kids will make fun of any difference. When I was young, I was ridiculed for wearing glasses.  It happens and I didn't make a big deal over it.  Not getting a big reaction from me, the kids ridiculing my specs eventually moved on to other targets.  The adults in any school situation should make it clear that bullying is unacceptable.  The idea that we accept all people, regardless of their differences should be understood and reinforced as needed.  There should be no need to display a flag that says we accept all people and when it is introduced, it feels to many like the promotion and celebration of certain differences, which then draws attention to those differences and creates the potential for bullying when it may not have otherwise happened.

Most people have heard the advice about not waving a red flag in front of a bull or not running from a bear.  I don't see this decision any differently.  Be gay, be bisexual...be whatever. I don't see the wisdom in making a big deal of it unless you are looking to attract attention.  Unfortunately, that attention will not always be positive.  The vast, vast majority of LGBTQ people I know don't fly a rainbow flag or dress in a manner that makes it obvious what their sexual orientation is.  They are satisfied to live in a society that accepts their right to choose how they live their lives without the "look at me" stuff.

My opinion...this teacher made a well-intentioned, if ill-advised decision introduce a red flag in front of the bull.  Surprise, surprise...it didn't end well.  I'm not faulting her for being compassionate, but I do question her judgment in this situation.  It happens.  I've been guilty of bad judgment calls many times.  Learn and move on.

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2 hours ago, Steubenhoosier said:

I know Bluffton. Small town, ultra conservative. The people there are going to run all over anything that goes against the mainstream. I have a gay 18 year old granddaughter and a bi grandchild who is 10, so I know the struggle. However maybe this teacher could have picked her battles a little more wisely. She’s not going to convince that school board or that community otherwise. 
I hope that this becomes a learning experience for students to figure out how the system works and how they can work within the parameters to facilitate change without creating animosity 

People should be able to figure out who they are on their own.  Doesnt belong in a classroom.

Sex education should be left up to the parents. 

It should not be taught by childless teachers in gradeschool. 

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