Awesome! The Ramona Unified School District apologized to student Natalie Jones for censoring her report on Harvey Milk. Natalie was allowed to give her full presentation to her entire class last Thursday. The letter to Natalie and her family reads, in part:

As we discussed with you and your mother in mid-April, we were exercising an abundance of caution in examining the facts at hand and were attempting to prevent what we thought might be an awkward situation for your classmates who may or may not have been prepared to participate appropriately as an audience for your research project," the letter stated.<

"When examining our school district's policies and procedures at that time, it appeared to us that the content of your report might have ventured into an instructional area which is often viewed as extremely sensitive and challenging for students, parents and teachers alike."

A letter was also sent to the parents of students in Natalie's class.

The fact that Harvey Milk was the first openly gay person elected to office is part of history, not an agenda.

The idea that the mention of someone's homosexuality is sexual education is ridiculous. Is it sex education to state that someone is married? Or that they have a boyfriend or girlfriend? Sixth graders are dealing just fine with these concepts, and are able to understand what attraction to the same sex means just as well as an attraction to the opposite sex. Presenting it as a fact does not encourage or discourage children one way or another.

Insisting that kids in school avoid mention of homosexuality is unrealistic and archaic. There are responsible and unbiased ways to present homosexuality in the classroom. Discussion of a topic allows for ideas to flourish and thinking to occur. Would we remove all gays in history from the classroom? Is it better to “white wash” history and the truth of their lives?

Parents have every right to be involved in what their kids learn. Take this opportunity to discuss your values with your kids. And to teach them that what they learn in the classroom is a jumping off point for further thought and learning. Not indoctrination into a way - any way - of thinking.

Please take the time to send a positive note of thanks to the Ramona Unified School District Superintendent Robert Graeff at bgraeff@ramonausd.net.

Posted by: Ensie at 12:17 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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