Inanimate penis more important than feeding the hungry - my morning

[CornField]

Our local parent group has been working since October to set up a program that would allow students to have lunch and/or breakfast at school whether they could pay for the food or not. Today was supposed to be the day we made a decision on how it would all work. Instead, we were greeted by our PTO president who had "another pressing matter which needed to be discussed immediately." Take a guess at what is more important than feeding hungry kids... go ahead... guess! A teacher showed an image of Michelangelo's David which was not censored. That's right... 7th grade students were exposed to a graphic of an inanimate penis! The sky is falling!

As if this wasn't enough for the day, on my way out, I was caught by my daughter's social studies teacher and given the "we need to talk" line. I followed her into her classroom where she handed me a copy of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and then sat smugly at her desk.

"Guess where I got that," she said. I shrugged and asked if it was Barnes and Noble. This seemed to piss her off.

She said that she confiscated it from my daughter that morning during breakfast. That my daughter was reading it while she ate. I corrected her because, technically, my daughter is re-reading it.

I requested that she return the book to my daughter and apologize for taking it away. The teacher refused and called the book "pornographic" and "inappropriate for a young girl."

Well, long story made a bit shorter, I appealled to the school principal and the teacher will be returning the book to my daughter. If, in the future, she has any concerns about my child's reading material, she is to send me an e-mail before taking action.

[notadmblnd]

1. for a minute there I thought someone took a dildo to school

nt

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

2. Wow!

Too bad the teacher doesn't understand the her job is not to be the parent. You have that part handled.............

[KurtNYC]

3. Is there anything remotely sexual in Da Vinci Code?

I bought it for my nephew (16) but have never read it.

[CornField]

8. Only one thing that stands out (possible spoilers)

The book's heroine hasn't spoken to a family member in years because she viewed him having sex as a part of a religious ceremony. (Turns out that he was having sex with his wife -- but the heroine doesn't know that.)

[mopinko]

9. yes

there is a pagan sex scene that is sort of central to the plot. not that graphically described, tho. if the kid watches american television, i doubt it will be much of a shock.

[Hugin]

16. It has some mild allusions to sex...

... but, nothing any worse than you'd read in the Bible.

If you dare...
http://www.thebricktestament.com/joshua/the_spies_and_the_prostitute/jos01_01-03p06.html

Or it claims DaVinci had a woman next to Jeeeezus! in his
version of the "Last Supper".

[femmecahors]

4. Where on Earth do you live? n/t

[CornField]

12. Iowa & it typically isn't like this.

That is, it hasn't been like this in the past. We have a very large homeschooling population here. So, most of the families who objected to public school because they felt it interfered with their religious beliefs are no longer a part of the system.

[Zenlitened]

5. You don't by any chance live in...

... a Taliban-controlled region of Afghanistan, do you?

Scary stuff. Good for you for standing up to these bullies. :thumbsup:

[mopinko]

6. do you know how

to make a maltov cocktail? that's the only thing i can think of.
i feel your pain. my kid's school is driving me nuts as well. not as bad as you story, just on the sheer stupidity level. more just your usual incompetence.

[femmecahors]

7. I was in the Louvre . . .

(speaking of the DaVinci Code) with my then 10 year-old son. I pointed out a Greek statue saying, "That penis looks like yours." (He isn't snipped and I wanted to make him feel well, good about himself, and classical) and he replied, "Mine works!."



(Edited my spelling!)

[davidinalameda]

15. LOL

I have a mouth full of tea that I almost spit all over my computer

that wouldn't have been pretty

[Extend a Hand]

24. Good one.

LOL

[seabeyond]

10. wow

wow cornfield. just sittin here in wow.

i loved the way you handled it. what has the world done, gone topsy turvey, just flip..............

on edit: my 3rd grader read "black like me" i wonder the reception from a teacher with that. i think i will play with this. he is in 4th now. find a good book. send a spiritual, like the four agreements see what happens.

really i didnt know it was this bad

7th grade

[ohkay]

11. Is it a Catholic school?

why would ANY teacher be upset about a student reading? Shouldn't she be happy that the kid wasn't paying a video game during class?? :crazy:

[Done]

13. If you simply don't feed the kids

They won't notice the penis on Michelangelo's David, and they won't be reading any pornography. They'll be too hungry. :think:

[tjwash]

14. Iowa....lovely.

I grew up in Tennessee (more years ago than I will admit to), and it was the same shit. Forced classroom prayer, teachers and staff beating the kids, and no discussion of any type of science whatsoever. I joined the military when I was seventeen to get out of that shit-hole, and never looked back.

[Akoto]

17. Good for you.

I'm glad that you stood up for your child and got her book back. I think it's great that she takes an interest in those things!

I'm only twenty, so it might be the youth talking in me, but I just don't see what the big deal is about nakedness. Every dude has a penis, that's just how it is. It's the beauty of life. Now, if students were watching something with a not-so-inanimate penis, then one might take issue.

[Stop_the_War]

18. The Barnes & Noble joke was HILARIOUS!!!

:yourock:

[Stop_the_War]

19. Probably because both Michelangelo and Da Vinci were gay....

I think it's more about homophobia than anything else.

[indigobusiness]

22. There is some serious controversy about that.

But, what does it matter?

[noonwitch]

31. Exactly, it shouldn't matter.

They were great artists, and that's how they'll always be remembered.

[indigobusiness]

20. The human body is a shameful thing.

Drape the boobs of Liberty and shroud the loins of Art...for GOD's sake...someone might see them!

[Lars39]

21. Replace the PTO president.

He sounds like an SOB who deliberately hijacked the meeting.

[Extend a Hand]

23. oh how awful

I would've been really *mad*. I hope the teacher doesn't get mad at the reprimand and take it out on your daughter.

It's really sad, that the public schools would make censoring Michelangelo and popular fiction such a priority when there are many hungry kids in school and recent polls have indicated that so many children do not even have a basic grasp of the first amendment.

[lateo]

25. That teacher is an asshat...

You handled the situation better than I would have...congratulations and kudos to you...

[CBGLuthier]

26. I had a book confiscated by a teacher once

It was called The Rape of the A.P.E. (American Puritan Ethic).

It was probbaly a little inapropriate but it taght me more about this country than any textbook I ever read.

The teacher did return it at the end of the class and just asked me not to bring it into class.

[CatBoreal]

27. Yea Gods!!!

Move to Canada. We're sane up here...

By the way, how goes the movement to rename Iowa as Iowafghanistan?

SHEESH!

[CornField]

28. Hi there!

Between you and me, I just can't wait to hear what Jo has to say about it after school today. LOL!!

[enki23]

29. what part of iowa?

.

[Lorien]

30. So I'm assuming that there's no class trips to

your local art museums? Good Lord-your school is run by the American Taliban!