This is going a wee bit to far...

[Dredly]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,445865,00.html



A California school system refuses to say what action, if any, it will take after it received complaints about a kindergarten teacher who encouraged her students to sign "pledge cards" in support of gays.

During a celebration of National Ally Week, Tara Miller, a teacher at the Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science in Hayward, Calif., passed out cards produced by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network to her class of kindergartners.

The cards asked signers to be "an ally" and to pledge to "not use anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) language or slurs; intervene, when I feel I can, in situations where others are using anti-LGBT language or harassing other students and actively support safer schools efforts."

The school has acknowledged that the exercise was not appropriate for kindergartners.

Parent Adela Voelker, who declined to be interviewed in depth for this report, said she was furious when she found her child's signature on one of the cards. She said she contacted a non-profit legal defense organization specializing in parents' rights.

Meanwhile, a school board member, Jeff Cook, says some type of action should be taken.

"We have a general rule that all instruction should be age appropriate, and this clearly was not," said Cook, who has served on the school board for five years.

Val Joyner, a school district spokeswoman, told FOXNews.com in an e-mail that when deciding what to teach on this subject matter, educators "gather materials from community agencies and other education groups" and that "the materials have grade level indicators which help determine what is age-appropriate."

The district said the pledge cards were intended for middle school and high school students.

Asked last week if the district planned to take action against Miller, Joyner said she would have to look into the incident. On Thursday she told FOXNews.com that she did not have an answer for the question and that she would no longer be doing any media interviews.

Joyner said in an e-mail that Miller, the teacher, "planned to teach students how to become an ally and conflict-mediation through various activities." She added that the district doesn't advocate for a specific cause and/or lifestyle, and it has "no curriculum for gay, lesbian and transgender lifestyles."

The district employs a "Professional Learning Specialist: Equity," who is in charge of gathering material and helping teachers decide what should be taught on the subject matter.

Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, the group representing Voelker, said parents at the Faith Ringgold School weren't notified of what was going to take place in the classroom.

He said that teaching students as young as pre-school about gay, lesbian and transgender issues is common in California, but that there are "all kinds of material the average parent could find highly objectionable or potentially harmful" to their children.

When asked if the school district did anything wrong, he said, "possibly," but he declined to go into detail or say whether Voelker would sue the district.

Dacus would not comment specifically on whether children who signed the pledge could be held responsible if the school determined that they were not honoring it. He said they are minors and there are certain degrees of limited liability, but from a psychological and emotional perspective, it's a whole different ballgame.

"[There is] tremendous peer pressure put on children to accept a pro-homosexual philosophy and attitude," Dacus said.

Meanwhile, opponents of gay marriage are up in arms over the incident, which occurred as California voters prepare to vote Tuesday on Proposition 8, which would overturn the state Supreme Court's ruling legalizing gay marriage.

"How do you teach a 5-year-old to sign a pledge card for lesbian, gay and transgender issues without explaining what transgender and bisexual is?" asked Sonja Eddings Brown, a spokeswoman for Protect Marriage California.

[Bmarshall91]

"This is going a wee bit to far..."

who do you think is going too far so i can comment....

[jahwarrior72]

i think it's a bit much to be discussing sexuality with 5 year olds, let alone homosexuality.

[Bmarshall91]

agreed. i just wanted to see what side dredly was on...

[Mrs. Pa Patriot]

Did i mention to anyone today how happy I am we homeschool?

[Kimba]

What ever happened to kids being allowed to be kids? Children of that age shouldn't be exposed to or even have the ability to understand things of a sexual nature, let alone one with so much social and political baggage. I say let them go outside and kick a ball around and have some fun. Let them be innocent for as long as you can and quit using them to further a cause.

[jahwarrior72]

What ever happened to kids being allowed to be kids? Children of that age shouldn't be exposed to or even have the ability to understand things of a sexual nature, let alone one with so much social and political baggage. I say let them go outside and kick a ball around and have some fun. Let them be innocent for as long as you can and quit using them to further a cause.

kids these days aren't allowed outside, and they definitely aren't supposed to be kicking anything; that violates the "zero tolerance" policy schools have now.

didn't you get the memo?

[Kimba]

kids these days aren't allowed outside, and they definitely aren't supposed to be kicking anything; that violates the "zero tolerance" policy schools have now.

didn't you get the memo?

All I have to say is that I am so thankful that "zero tolerance" was just becoming popular in the kids last year or so of school. I do not envy any parent that has to put up with all the BS that goes on in todays educational system. I would have home schooled instead of putting the kids through all of this nonsense.

[Dredly]

agreed. i just wanted to see what side dredly was on...

Dredly is on the side of This is fucking retarded, there is no reason a 5 year old should even know what "sex" is. All they should know is "nobody touches my naughty parts" and if someone does go tell daddy so that he can kill whoever did it.

Having 5 year old kids sign "pledge cards" that indicate they are perfectly fine with topics that they shouldn't even know about is just asking for trouble as now those kids are going to want to know what this means and what that means... stuff they shouldn't be asking about

[Kaos]

I have my daughter in private school, if that ever falters we're going charter.

I'm still of the mindset that sometimes kids need their asses beat. This whole movement has basically taught children a few things:

1. The only real punishment they'll get is getting grounded, or suspended or they might lose some "thing" for some period of time.

2. Knowing #1 they'll basically push the limits much further than someone who knows "If I do this, Im going to get spanked, and that hurts"

3. If you spank your child and someone finds out, holy shit call the police and get that guy hauled away. Kids feel they're invulnerable now.

Just a bad idea.

Let me state my point. Spanking is not beating, though it can certainly morph into it. If you're going to punish your child that way you need to tell them why, and what they did and how it was wrong. Don't ever let your anger get the best of you when punishing your children, if you think it could it would be a good time to send them off to their room or the corner etc until you can regain your composure. Children are a blessing but also a responsibility.

Teachers also need to learn their limits and involve the parents!