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Sensitivity 101
http://mensnewsdaily.com/glennsacks/...ers-day-cards/
School Kids in Scotland Prohibited from Making Fathers' Day Cards By Robert Franklin, Esq. | Jun 12, 2009 Isn't sensitivity grand? That's what Scottish school authorities said they were doing when they prohibited little kids from making Father's Day cards in school last year. They were being sensitive to the children of single mothers, or so they claimed. Read about it here (Telegraph, 6/22/09). But about five seconds' thought tells you that's nonsense. In the first place, they felt the need to keep their touching sensitivity a secret. They didn't tell anyone what they were doing. Some dads raised a ruckus when they didn't get their cards, forcing the anti-dad cops to come clean. If sensitivity was what it was all about, why the secrecy? By the way, according to the Office for National Statistics, 75% of Scottish children live with both parents. Of the remaining 25%, who live with single parents, presumably some live with fathers. The mere fact that a child lives in the custody of an unmarried woman doesn't mean he/she doesn't have a father. Unless the guy is dead, the child has a dad somewhere. Now, the mother may have chosen any of a wide variety of options to exclude him from the child's life. Maybe she just moved away and "neglected" to inform him of her pregnancy. Maybe she told him another man was the father. Maybe he's got a visitation order that she routinely violates without consequence. Maybe she got a bogus restraining order against him. Maybe she's had him jailed on trumped up charges of rape or DV. In those cases, the school's new policy can best be seen as promotion of the mother's behavior. And maybe he's not part of the child's life because he's an irresponsible jerk. So that's a reason to prevent all children from honoring their fathers? One dad in a hundred is a bum, so let's punish the kids of all the other dads. This makes sense? In fact, to read some of the many good reasons to celebrate Fathers' Day even for children who don't have involved fathers, read this article (Examiner, 6/9/09). But the most obvious reason why the school policy is nonsense is that they didn't do the same thing on Mother's Day. What, there aren't any custodial fathers in Scotland? There aren't any kids with absent mothers who might feel slighted when the other kids are making out their Mothers' Day cards? Sure there are, but for some reason schools in Scotland are still honoring mothers. For some reason it's the dads who miss out. What surely must be the next step is to do away with Fathers' Day altogether. The argument made by the authorities about school children is equally applicable elsewhere. If children in school without fathers would feel badly on Fathers' Day, wouldn't children elsewhere? So in the interest of the feelings of all children, shouldn't we just scrap the whole idea? Shouldn't we just forget Fathers' Day altogether? Who do these people think they're kidding? This isn't about protecting children, it's about attacking fathers. It's one more message to children that fathers aren't important. If single mothers haven't gotten that message across, school officials are happy to step in and help. And into the bargain they try to pretend it's about sensitivity. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The original article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...h-schools.html Father's Day cards banned in Scottish schools Thousands of primary pupils were prevented from making Father's Day cards at school for fear of embarrassing classmates who live with single mothers and lesbians. By Simon Johnson, Scottish Political Editor Published: 8:44PM BST 22 Jun 2008 The politically correct policy was quietly adopted at schools "in the interests of sensitivity" over the growing number of lone-parent and same-sex households. It only emerged after a large number of fathers failed to receive their traditional cards and handmade gifts. Family rights campaigners last night condemned the policy as "absurd" and argued that it is marginalising fathers, but local authorities said teachers need to react to "the changing pattern of family life". An Office for National Statistics report in April found that one in four British children now lives with a lone parent - double the figure 20 years ago. The Father's Day card ban has been introduced by schools in Glasgow, Edinburgh, East Renfrewshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Clackmannshire. Tina Woolnough, 45, whose son Felix attends Edinburgh's Blackhall primary school, said several teachers there had not allowed children to make Father's Day cards this year. Mrs Woolnough, a member of the school's parent-teacher council, said: "This is something I know they do on a class-by-class basis at my son Felix's school. Some classes send Father's Day cards and some do not. "The teachers are aware of the family circumstances of the children in each class and if a child hasn't got a father living at home, the teacher will avoid getting the children to make a card." The making of Mother's Day cards and crafts, in the run-up to Mothering Sunday, remains generally permitted. But the Father's Day edict follows a series of other politically correct measures introduced in primary schools, including the removal of Christian references from festive greetings cards. Matt O'Connor, founder of campaign group Fathers For Justice, said: "I'm astonished at this. It totally undermines the role and significance of fathers whether they are still with the child's mother or not. "It also sends out a troubling message to young boys that fathers aren't important." Alastair Noble, education officer with the charity Christian Action, Research and Education, said: "This seems to be an extreme and somewhat absurd reaction. "I would have thought that the traditional family and marriage are still the majority lifestyles of people in Scotland. To deny the experience of the majority just does not seem sensible." Local authorities defended the change, saying teachers needed to act "sensitively" at a time when many children were experiencing family breakdown and divorce. A spokesman for East Renfrewshire Council said: "Increasingly, it is the case that there are children who haven't got fathers or haven't got fathers living with them and teachers are having to be sensitive about this. "Teachers have always had to deal with some pupils not having fathers or mothers, but with marital breakdown it is accelerating." Jim Goodall, head of education at Clackmannanshire Council, said teachers are expected to behave with common sense but be sensitive to "the changing pattern of family life." South Ayrshire Council said children should not feel left out or unwanted, while City of Edinburgh Council said the practice on Father's Day cards was a matter for individual schools. |
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