Better Not Read the Bible During "Read to Yourself Time" in Second Grade

A second grader is alleging that her teacher took away her bible during the classroom "read to yourself time".  After all why would you want a child reading something as dangerous as a bible?  She may learn a few things about values.  We wouldn't want that now would we?  

One parent feels it was the right thing to do.  After all it is "pushing" religion on her child.  Really, how so?  This is quite time.  The little girl pulls her bible out of her backpack, sits quietly at her own desk and reads it.  How is this pushing this onto someone else?  Now if her child was forced to read it against their will, then an argument can be made, but that isn't what happened.  

The parents have decided to not be identified and went to The Liberty Council to address the issue with the school system.  It is very possible that they should have gone to the principal first before involving an outside organization, but sadly many people are attacked for their religious views in this country and called bigots and haters for espousing biblical based beliefs, such as traditional marriage.  

In any event no teacher has the right to tell a child that during a free reading time that the bible isn't appropriate reading material.  That is something for a parent to decide.  

Sorry I am unable to embed video, but you can see the news report here.  

Middle School Children Assigned a Writing Assignment - Write a Good-Bye Letter to One Loved One from Twin Towers on 9/11

A middle school teacher asked the students to pretend that they were on one of the hi-jacked planes or in the Twin Towers on 9/11 and to write one letter to say good-bye as a homework assignment to mark the anniversary of 9/11.   These kids are in the seventh grade, that would roughly put them about 11 or 12.  9/11 happened before most of these children were born.  

There is an uproar about the assignment.  Many feel that this is very inappropriate and outright ghoulish.  I happen to disagree.  I think this is a good assignment.  One of the things that I feel is vital in education is teaching how to think, not what to think.  This is a way to bring the finality of that tragic event to the people who were killed that day.  As a person who is lets just say older than these kids, I remember clearly that day.  I remember hearing the recordings of calls made from inside the building as well as the planes.  Betty Ong calling the airline emergency number talking about the hijackers and how low the plane was flying.  Simply heartbreaking.  Or the calls from flight 93, ending with "Lets Roll" as the passengers tried to stop the plane from hitting another building, likely the U.S. Capitol or an attempt at the White House.  Simply heroic.  

I also believe that empathy is sincerely lacking in our society today.  We don't put as much value on human life as we should.  I think this teaches these kids to think about that.  To look at their loved ones and come to the realization that on that day, thousands of people knew they were never going to see those people again.  One of the most indelible images of 9/11 are those of the jumpers.  Imagine what those people were thinking while falling to their deaths.  

Now, I have spent the majority of my life living outside of NYC and Washington D.C., so 9/11 is very personal to me.  I know people who were first responders, who made it out of those buildings, and sadly I knew someone who died, and I know others who lost a close loved one that fateful day.  But, these kids don't have that connection.  This assignment may help bring those feelings alive to these students.  The further we get away from that day, the harder it will be to really understand what happened and the shock that people in this country felt.  

Again, since I have lived in the areas most directly affected by that day, I look at from that perspective.  These are children from Texas.  Now, as strange as this sounds, I remember having a conversation with a work colleague shortly after the event.  He worked in outside of Las Vegas, and I remember him saying something all the lines of he could only imagine how hard it was for people like me who lived in the D.C. area.  His connection to the event wasn't what mine was.  I found it to be an odd comment at the time and obviously it really struck me since I remember that conversation all these years later.  

Not all parents are upset about this assignment.  One mother read the letter after her daughter went to bed.  The letter was addressed to her.  She said that she cried and cried after reading it and brought her daughter into her bed to sleep with her that night.  Her words "mission accomplished".  

I don't think this would be assignment that would go over well in the New York City area as it way too fresh for most of the people who live in this area.  The museum isn't open, the new tower is not yet finished, New Yorker's still live with the idea that being in that city automatically puts a target on their backs.  But do people who live in smaller towns in more rural areas think about that in the same way?  I don't think that they do.  So trying to get that to come alive for younger students in those areas must be a very difficult task.  I think this teacher did that.  These children had to really think about what it would be like to be in a building that was on fire from jet fuel knowing that they were never going home again.  They were never going to see their loved ones again.  Of course you can never fully accomplish that, but it at least got them thinking about it.  

That is what I expect from teachers, get these kids to think.  Not what they should be thinking.  

No, Abortion Isn't Used as Birth Control - Male Blogger Worries Casual Sex in Texas Will Be Harder to Come By

Yes, someone really made the claim that men in Texas need to care about the abortion bill in Texas because of casual sex. 

Your sex life is at stake. Can you think of anything that kills the vibe faster than a woman fearing a back-alley abortion? Making abortion essentially inaccessible in Texas will add an anxiety to sex that will drastically undercut its joys. And don't be surprised if casual sex outside of relationships becomes far more difficult to come by.

Well if that isn't a reason to keep abortions beyond five months legal, I don't know what is.  I suppose that he can continue to make the argument that wanting abortions to be safe and being against basic safety procedures such as doctors having hospital privileges in a hospital within a 30 mile radius is also keep him from getting some.  

You want to decide when and if to have kids. This bill will force thousands of Texas men into unplanned fatherhood by making it impossible for women to access an abortion in the event of an unplanned pregnancy. Even if you want to have kids, you probably don't want an accident to make you a father before you're psychologically ready and able to care for a child. If you don't want kids, you don't want the narrow, personal views of politicians in the state government to force you to have them.

I guess it is impossible to ask someone to show a little self control or may be wear a condom.  That wouldn't help him from getting a little somethin' somethin' when the mood strikes.  Heaven forbid men actually realize that their actions have consequences.  We wouldn't want that to happen now would we?  

Again, no mention of the life created, just about what is easy and convenient for adults involved.  Why should the risk of creating another human life get in the way of having a good time.  

Almost half of all pregnancies are unplanned and unintended. Of those, over 40% currently end in abortion. What happens to those 40% if this law passes? Are you willing to roll the dice with your girlfriend's health and safety?

Again, let me get this straight, ensuring that all abortion clinics in Texas are close to hospital and have standards of cleanliness is risking their health and safety?  

The world is just plum crazy, up is down, and black is white.