Obama's Safe Schools Czar Tied to Lewd Readings for 7th Graders

Now FOXNews.com is picking up this story. Thank God.

MPS approves condom giveaways

Posted today at JSOnline, it appears that there is absolutely NO opposition to the Milwaukee public school system handing out condoms to children.

Without discussion, the Milwaukee School Board voted 7-0 Thursday night to make condoms available at many of the city's high schools, paving the way to make Milwaukee Public Schools one of the relatively few districts in the nation to provide contraception to students.

The communicable disease prevention program, as the district calls it, could be in place as soon as the 2010-'11 school year.

The proposal sparked some opposition after being made public Dec. 2, but the board approved the condom distribution without much dissent. Comments from the public are not allowed at board meetings and a board committee had voted 5-0 on Dec. 9 to recommend adopting the program.

The condoms will be available free of charge, but only to students in high schools that have school nurses and only after students request them at the nurse's office, according to a fact sheet circulated by the school district. Up to two condoms will be distributed at a time.

Handing children condoms because they're having sex anyway is like teaching kids how to aviod getting caught shoplifting since they're going to do it anyway. It's aimed at trying to reduce the impact of the consequences rather than preventing the bad behavior in the first place. One of the major deterrents to immoral behavior besides one's on conscience is the risk of the consequences. Risk is based on two things; severity and likelihood of occurence. Condoms are intended to mitigate the consequences by reducing the likelihood of occurence. They can't do anything about the severity of an STD or teen prenancy. Also, what mitigating the consequences does is make it easier to defy what your own conscience is trying to tell you is wrong. It is equivalent to reducing the enforcement of crime in order to reduce the number of people in jails.

Safe schools chief touts child porn for classrooms

My previous post from Gateway Pundit has gotten the attention of a more mainstream education news website, EducationNews.org. I include a listing of their headlines in my left sidebar. The article also references an article by WorldNetDaily regarding Kevin Jennings.

I intend to find out if any of these books are on file in my local school libraries, and work to have them removed. I also intend to work to see to it that Mr. Jennings is removed from his position as the head of the U.S. Office of Safe Schools for the Obama administration.

I can't imagine for a moment that the president was so unaware of this man's history that he should be surprised by this. This must be a deliberate act to mainstream this type of filth into the nations education system and to destroy the moral fabric of this country as fast as humanly, possible.

Breaking: Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar” Is Promoting Child Porn in the Classroom– Kevin Jennings and the GLSEN Reading List

Posted on Gateway Pundit, this information alone should be more than enough to cause a mass exodus for the door from public schooling regardless of your religious beliefs. Anyone who knows ANYTHING about raising children and what is appropriate and not appropriate for children to be reading should be utterly appalled.

Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings was the founder, and for many years, Executive Director of an organization called the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). GLSEN started essentially as Jennings’ personal project and grew to become the culmination of his life’s work. And he was chosen by President Obama to be the nation’s Safe Schools Czar primarily because he had founded and led GLSEN (scroll for bio).

GLSEN’s stated mission is to empower gay youth in the schools and to stop harassment by other students. It encourages the formation of Gay Student Alliances and condemns the use of hateful words. GLSEN also strives to influence the educational curriculum to include materials which the group believes will increase tolerance of gay students and decrease bullying. To that end, GLSEN maintains a recommended reading list of books that it claims “furthers our mission to ensure safe schools for all students.” In other words, these are the books that GLSEN’s directors think all kids should be reading: gay kids should read them to raise their self-esteem, and straight kids should read them in order to become more aware and tolerant and stop bullying gay kids. Through GLSEN’s online ordering system, called “GLSEN BookLink,” featured prominently on their Web site, teachers can buy the books to use as required classroom assignments, or students can buy them to read on their own.

According to GLSEN’s own press releases from the period during which its recommended reading list was developed, the organization’s three areas of focus were creating “educational resources, public policy agenda, [and] student organizing programs”; in other words, the reading list (chief among its “educational resources”) was of prime importance in GLSEN’s efforts to influence the American educational system.

The list is divided into three main categories: books recommended for grades K-6; books recommended for grades 7-12; and books for teachers. (The books on the list span all genres: fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, even poetry.)

Out of curiosity to see exactly what kind of books Kevin Jennings and his organization think American students should be reading in school, our team chose a handful at random from the over 100 titles on GLSEN’s grades 7-12 list, and began reading through.

What we discovered shocked us. We were flabbergasted. Rendered speechless.

We were unprepared for what we encountered. Book after book after book contained stories and anecdotes that weren’t merely X-rated and pornographic, but which featured explicit descriptions of sex acts between pre-schoolers; stories that seemed to promote and recommend child-adult sexual relationships; stories of public masturbation, anal sex in restrooms, affairs between students and teachers, five-year-olds playing sex games, semen flying through the air. One memoir even praised becoming a prostitute as a way to increase one’s self-esteem. Above all, the books seemed to have less to do with promoting tolerance than with an unabashed attempt to indoctrinate students into a hyper-sexualized worldview.

I'm not going to post the entire article here because of the incredibly harsh graphical nature of the language that is in the book excerpts. I'm not even going to read most of them myself. I must say that I am disgusted at the thought of any school children reading this.

If your curious, follow the link. However, be warned that the content is extremely sexually graphic in nature.

Parents Take a Beating from School District, Court in Anti-Bullying Case

Posted at Pacific Justice Institute.

A judge today slammed parents as “bigots” for seeking to excuse their elementary-age children from controversial pro-homosexual curriculum. The parents are being represented in court by Pacific Justice Institute.

PJI Chief Counsel Kevin Snider argued in Alameda Superior Court today on behalf of parents seeking to enforce a provision of the California Education Code that gives parents the right to opt their kids out of health education. Alameda Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch lambasted the parents, repeatedly insinuating that they are bigots and insisting there can be no homosexual indoctrination because people are born that way. The judge equated a view contrary to his own with creationism and called both false.

The legal battle over Alameda’s anti-bullying curriculum has intensified in recent weeks. Leading up to today’s hearing, attorneys for the school district grilled parents in depositions about their religious beliefs. Parents were asked numerous questions about church attendance, sermons they had heard against homosexuality, and whether they were aware that the Bible had been used to defend racism and oppression.

PJI Chief Counsel Kevin Snider commented on today’s hearing, “We believe that this ruling against parents is inconsistent with the Education Code, and we are looking forward to continuing this battle until opt-out rights are restored on appeal, or the curriculum is changed.” Snider emphasized that the parents who filed suit support comprehensive anti-bullying instruction; however, they oppose the current elementary curriculum that focuses almost exclusively on homosexuality. School records released by Alameda Unified School District show that bullying based on race and gender is far more prevalent in AUSD than sexual orientation harassment.

PJI President Brad Dacus stated, “Most parents do not want their first through fifth graders bombarded with pro-homosexual messages at school. If LGBT advocates really want to stop name-calling and bullying, they should start with themselves.”

These people clearly do not have your child's best interests in mind.

California Junior High Principal Apologizes For Not Warning Parents About Pro-Homosexual Program for 8th Graders

Afterall, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission...

Posted at CNSNews.com:

The principal and a teacher at Goleta Valley Junior High School in Santa Barbara County, California are apologizing to parents for not following school district policy relating to a pro-homosexual workshop given to 8th grade students in a leadership class at the school.

The controversial workshop was presented by “Just Communities Central Coast” in three, 45-minute sessions over three days. It included handouts defining homosexual terminology, including queer and transgender, and listed “heterosexism” as “oppression that ‘pushes down’ people who are LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and questioning) and ‘pushes up’ people who are straight.”

The handout defines sexual orientation this way: “Refers to who we feel romantically and sexually attracted to and who we fall in love with.”

One page featuring cartoon-like figures and entitled “Gender & Sexuality Definitions: A Visual Map,” depicts a person's body with the heart area labeled as “sexual orientation” and the genital area labeled as “sex.”

A page entitled “Heterosexism” asks students to answer a three-part question: “How are LGBTQ people discriminated against or mistreated in the United States, in your local community and in your school?”

You can't tell me that this was accidentally overlooked by the school. This was intentionally covered up. First, it seems that the principal looks for a "loop hole" as to why it was not presented to parents as an "opt out" opportunity.

Cleary told Rogers. “She said because [the workshop] falls under a health heading, they don’t need to do an ‘opt out.’ But if it had gone under a sex education heading, they could have an ‘opt out.’

I say bull. What does their sex education normally fall under if it's not a health heading?

You can expect more of this in the future and you can expect it at your schools if something is not done about it now.

MPS to discuss providing condoms to students

Posted on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today.

Milwaukee Public Schools' health officials want to make condoms freely available to students in many of the district's high schools, as part of an effort to combat the health risks that sexually transmitted infections and other communicable diseases pose to young people.

If the proposal wins the support of the School Board, the new policy could take effect as early as next school year, making MPS one of a few districts in the nation that provide contraception to students.

Kathleen Murphy, the district's health coordinator, said that data continues to show that middle and high school students are engaging in sex frequently and at younger ages, and that youth - especially those of color - are disproportionately affected when it comes to sexually transmitted infections.

"These are life-threatening illnesses for young people, and they're already reporting to us that they're having sex," said Murphy. "The question is, do we have the ability to help delay and deter the lifelong health consequences of the conduct that they're already doing?"

They're trying to mitigate the consequences of the wrong behavior. The consequences are "sexually transmitted infections and other communicable diseases". They are assuming that these consequences are due to the "bad behavior" of not using condoms. However, condoms don't prevent all STDs, and improper condom use does almost nothing at all.

The true "bad behavior" that result in these consequences is the promiscuity of these teenagers, which is considered acceptable and natrual by many of the people who are supposed to know better.

There is also one other fatal flaw in their plan.

Terry Falk, vice chairman of the committee, said the proposal is not about "handing out condoms like candy."

"What we're hoping for is that students who come in for these will walk away with a larger discussion about their sexual activity and, in some cases, we may find out where there are problems in their lives over and above the use of condoms," Falk said.

"We're hoping that the end result will be less sexual activity rather than more if this is done right."

Know that they will be in for a "talk" with school counselors when they go to get their condoms will likely deter them from showing up in the first place. The real end result will be business as usual.

Public school teachers wild on social networks

Posted on World Net Daily:Public school teachers wild on social networks

As part of a disturbing new trend, America's public-school teachers are increasingly posting questionable and even sexually explicit information on video-sharing websites and social networks frequented by youth.

According to several nationwide reports, students often search for their teachers on MySpace and Facebook, and some find more information about their instructors than they ever expected.

The National Education Association listed a number of cases, while news outlets have been consistently reporting similar incidents, including the following:

Virginia – Monacan High School art teacher Stephen Murmer posted pictures of what he called "butt art" on YouTube in January 2007. He painted his buttocks and genitals and pressed them onto canvas. Many students saw his painting before the school fired him. He then contacted the ACLU and sued the district, saying it violated his First Amendment rights. Murmer reached a $65,000 settlement with the district.

A kindergarten teacher from Prince William County, Va., posted a video of a half-nude man having an orgasm in the shower, the Washington Post reported. Another Prince William County substitute teacher used MySpace to post photos of a woman lifting her dress, showing lingerie and flashing breasts.

One of the biggest things that conviced my wife and me that homeschooling was the right choice for us was what we saw when we became involved in our children's education.

My wife missed our sons when they were sent to school every day. My oldest was in 2nd grade and my next oldest was in Kindergarten. Both are boys, and we also had a 2-year old girl at the time. My wife started volunteering at the school to help the teachers in K and 2nd, and also served as a detention aid and playground monitor. The children's behavior was enought raise serious concerns about what these kids knew, how they knew it, and how they acted it out on the playground. Even more concerning was how the teachers acted when we attended their annual staff Christmas party. It was a "White Elephant" party with plenty of gag gifts that would have made a prostitute blush.

Senate panel cuts abstinence funding

Posted at The Washington Times.

A Senate appropriations panel voted this week to cut the funding of a major abstinence program, setting up a battle with House appropriators, who voted recently to increase the funding.

The Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) program, which awards competitive grants directly to organizations that want to teach abstinence education, currently receives $113.4 million.

This week, the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on labor, health and human services, education and related agencies voted to cut CBAE funding by $28.5 million, to $84.9 million.

This contrasts with the House Appropriations subcommittee's vote this month to raise CBAE funding by $27.8 million, to $141.2 million. The full House Appropriations committee has not acted.

The same lies and misrepresentations are littered throughout this article. Statements such as "overwhelming evidence that these [abstinence] programs are ineffective and based on narrow right-wing ideology", and a request to "fund HIV prevention based on science and proven effectiveness", and claiming that studies "conclude that abstinence-only programs do not work".

In order to make statements like these, they have to ignore studies that show just the opposite. There is no "overwhelming evidence" that abstinence-only programs don't work. There has been a great deal of discussion with reports supporting both sides of the debate depending on who conducted the study and compiled the report. Reports that were neutral in nature have been used on both sides of the debate to support their case.

My question is, "what is right?" What do you think that your child should be taught by adults? That premarital sex can be safe and fun or that it is wrong and dangerous? Do you want adults to give your child a false sense of hope that they can avoid the physical and emotional consequences of immoral behavior, and that there are no spiritual consequences? If you think that you are protecting your child from harming themselves by allowing them to be taught the message in these "comprehensive" programs, think again.

Here is a report from the National Abstinence Education Association that shows what is being taught as a part of this curricula. - STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE

Here is a report on a study that was conducted by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the US Senate. This report clearly tells a different story than those who are applauding Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) for being able to see their side of the story while ignoring the truth. - REVIEW OF COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION

Student Says She Was Sexually Assaulted At High School

Story posted at KIRO Seattle.

Just to show how well the government school system is looking out for you and your children, here is a story from Seattle that shows where this school's priorities lie. Basically, a student reported that she was raped on school campus, and the school, taking matters into their own hands, decided that rape was not serious enough to warrant a police investigation, but that a 3-day suspension of the two alleged perpetrators should be adequate punishment. A 3-day vacation from school, after which time they would be allowed to again assimilate themselves with the student body; with your children.

Police are investigating a Rainier Beach High School student's report that she was sexually assaulted on campus by a classmate earlier this month.

According to a police report obtained by KIRO 7 Eyewitness News, the alleged victim said a male student forced her into a restroom and assaulted her while another male student stood guard at the door on June 4.

The girl then told an adult, who told the school officials, according to the police report. Details as to what those officials did next aren't clear. The police report states that the adult who told the school about the incident was not aware of any official calling police.

The adult -- along with the female student -- called Seattle police on June 21 and filed a report, according to the police report.

The report -- much of which is blacked out -- indicates the students were suspended for three days.

School district officials said they cannot comment on an ongoing police investigation.

I don't know why it took 17 days for the student to contact police, but I find it atrocious that the school hadn't contacted police within that time-frame either. If these boys are guilty of the crime of which they have been accused, they are sexual predators who deserve jail time and deserve to be labeled as sex-offenders for the safety of others. If these boys are innocent of the crime, for what reason were they suspended?

Did anyone recommend that this girl get to a hospital? Did anyone suggest that she request a rape kit? Does anyone at the school even know what is supposed to be done immediately following a sexual assault?

I believe that this fumble on the part of the school system is the result of an ever diminishing view of the seriousness of sexual issues as they relate to children. Culture has slowly and steadily ramped up the acceptance level of teen sex and violence by what is portrayed on television and in modern music. Schools are championing the message that kids are going to have sex anyway, so let's just teach them how to do it more safely.

Rape is a serious offense, a felony in the state of Washington.

Rape in the first and second degrees are considered class A felonies punishable under the Washington State Criminal Code by up to life in prison and/or a $50,000 fine. Third degree rape is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.

The school system had no right to mead out a punishment and disregard state law. To have knowledge of a felony and not report it makes the school an accessory after the fact to a felony.

Additional information including the various non-statements and no-comments from the public school are in the story in today's Seattle P-I including the following:

If there is a criminal offense at a school, "normally, the police will be called," according to Seattle Public Schools' policy. But Rainier Beach Principal Robert Gary Jr. would not confirm the suspensions Saturday, citing district privacy rules, and would not comment on whether the school separately had contacted police. Gary was not aware of the police report, but said the incident was handled by the school administration.

"There are things that are in place for discipline," he said. "The situation was investigated and dealt with."

"Normally", why not "always"? If by "dealt with" they mean the affor mentioned 3-day suspension that they refuse to confirm according to the P-I.

Even more interesting is this:

According to the Seattle Public Schools' Standard Discipline for Exceptional Misconduct, the district's guidelines for student punishment, high school students who are first-time sexual assault offenders could receive long-term suspension, monitored attendance and appropriate counseling. A student could be expelled after the third offense.

By the third offense, I would think that this person would qualify as a Level III sex offender.

Major Study Reveals Overwhelming Bias of "Comprehensive" Sex Education

Posted at Lifesite.Net

U.S. Appropriations Committee votes to increase funding to abstinence education

By Elizabeth O'Brien

WASHINGTON, DC, June 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The United States House Appropriations Committee reviewed a report that reveals the overwhelming pro-contraceptive bias within "comprehensive" sex-education programs, reported the Washington Times last week. The Committee read the report on Thursday before voting to increase abstinence-education funding.

The new bill will provide an extra $27.8 million dollars for the Community-Based Abstinence Education Program, raising its total to $141 in funding, says the Times. The same amount will also go towards the Title X family-planning programs, making a total of $311 million.

Earlier in 2005, Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania asked for an official report on sex-education in order to ensure that government dollars were being used wisely. As a result, the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) made a detailed and methodical investigation of nine of the most common "comprehensive" sex-education programs.
According to the National Institute of Health, Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) is defined as "teaching both abstinence and the use of protective methods for sexually active youth." The final HHS report, however, found several vital areas of bias.

The report states, "Of the curricula reviewed, the curriculum with the most balanced discussion of abstinence and safer-sex still discussed condoms and contraception nearly seven times more than abstinence."
The "Reducing the Risk" program, for example, is medically accurate, but fails to point out the high risk of STD infection for condom users.

In "Be Proud! Be Responsible!", there are 495 references to condoms compared to 77 references to "abstinence" or "things that are 100% safe/effective". This program also makes a serious medical error. It states the following inaccuracy: "When they are used in conjunction with a spermicide such as Nooxynol-9, condoms become even more effective in preventing disease transmissions."

"Be Proud! Be Responsible!" gives examples of different ways to enjoy sex with the least possible risk of infection. Referring to these suggestions, the text claims, "In order for a curriculum to effectively reduce adolescent risk of HIV infection, it must dispel beliefs that condoms interfere with sexual pleasure." Similar to many other programs, however, it fails to adequately outline the dangers of condom failure.

In another major American curriculum, "Making Proud Choices," the text makes 650 references to condoms and only 18 to abstinence.

The report concludes that modern curricula seek to "lessen risks" rather than work at "avoiding sexual activity", and this may explain why they are "more effective at increasing condom use than at delaying sexual debut."

The recent study, released by Dr. Weed of the Institute for Research and Evaluation, clearly shows, however, that condoms and other forms of contraception do not protect sexually active adolescents from the serious emotional trauma that is associated with pre-marital sexual activity. Educating young people about abstinence is the most effective method of protecting them from disease, heartbreak, teen pregnancy and sexual violence (See http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07061304.html ).

The consequences of sin cannot be mitigated. "Comprehensive" sex education attempts to arm children with mitigations to reduce the horrible consequences of fornication. What children need is a consistent message from those in authority, from those whom they respect and honor, that abstinence until marriage and monogamy after marriage is the only way to avoid the emotional, physical, and spiritual consequences of premarital sexual relationships. If you are not teaching this to your children, you are leading them on a path to destruction. If you are allowing others to teach your children how to engage in casual sex, and allowing them to lie to your children and teach them that it can be done "safely", you are not doing any better and will ultimately be held responsible.

If you think that there is nothing you can do or that "kids will do it anyway", you are sadly mistaken, and have surrendered to the enemy of your children's soul. If you are thinking that "I did it, so I would be a hypocrite if I told my kids not to", you are very wrong. It is not hypocritical to recognize the error of decisions that were made as a child and to try and pass the knowledge of the consequences of those decisions to your children. Your experience can be a valuable tool in adding the concern and passion that is needed to effectively persuade children to remain on the path of purity.

"Comprehensive" sex education is the current wave of change in public school systems. It's a tsunami to the lives of our children. It's end result will be the death of countless many. If you think that I'm exaggerating, watch the number of abortions that are performed in this country rise, watch the number of suicides among young people in this country rise, watch the number of young people living a moral Christian life plummet over the next several years. However, if you spend too much time watching and don't act soon enough, it may be too late.

Has Maryland School Board Found "Gay Gene"?

Posted at LifesiteNews.com.

New Curriculum Claims Homosexuality Inborn, but Produces No Evidence

By Elizabeth O’Brien

ROCKVILLE, Maryland, June 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Montgomery County School Board has recently approved a new sex education curriculum for public schools. The curriculum teaches that homosexuality is caused by a specific “gay gene.”

In response to the school board’s decision, Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays (PFOX) released the following statement:

“According to the American Psychiatric Association, there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological cause for homosexuality. But now the Montgomery County Board of Education has done what science and medicine could not do by declaring in its newly approved curriculum that homosexuality is ‘innate’ or inborn. The board could not produce any factual evidence for what it will now teach students—only political ‘pledges’ and payoffs for last year's school board elections as claimed by gay rights activists.”

Well, so much for "scientifically accurate" information. The religion of "political correctness" trumps both moral and scientific truth. Parents cannot just roll over and take this. This erosion of the moral fabric of our country must be stopped before it's too late. When these children that are currently being produced by our immoral educational system become parents themselves, they will not be able to correct the immense social problems that are just now being created.

“Comprehensive” Sex Education is Ineffective: Abstinence Works, Major National Study Shows

Posted at LifesiteNews.com.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – One of the largest and most comprehensive studies of teen sex education, conducted by Dr. Stan Weed of the Institute for Research and Evaluation in Salt Lake City, shows why abstinence is the most successful method of preventing physical and emotional complications resulting from pre-marital sexual activity. The study followed the education and behavior of over 400,000 adolescents in 30 different states for 15 years.

The final report, entitled “Abstinence” or “Comprehensive” Sex Education? begins by pointing out the flaws in a national study on abstinence released by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Conducted in April 2007, this previous study examined the progress of teens who participated in four different abstinence education programs. The final report indicated that abstinence education was ineffective and that young adolescents should receive “comprehensive” sex education, that is, sex-education that teaches about various sexual behaviors and “safe-sex” methods.

[snip]

Dr. Stan Weed told LifeSiteNews.com: “Within the United States, sexual activity rates have been going down among teenagers for about the last 12 or 13 years, and that coincides with when the abstinence education started. Abortion, pregnancies and out of wedlock births rates have also been going down among teens during that same time period. However, pregnancy, abortion and out of wedlock births have been rising for the older age group, between 19-25, a group that has not been targeted by abstinence programs.”

Outlining these limitations and the report’s inaccuracies, Dr. Weed highlighted the problems that sexually active teens encounter and the failure of “comprehensive” sex education to remedy such issues. These include teen pregnancy, STD’s and poor emotional health. Sexually active young people are also more often physically assaulted or raped.

“Comprehensive” sex education also fails to explain the limitation of condoms, said the recent study, pointing out that “many consequences of teen sexual activity are not prevented by condom use.” Condoms are never a total guarantee against STD’s, and so there is no kind of truly “safe” sex outside of marriage. Secondly, despite 20 years of sex education, young people even fail to use condoms consistently. Most importantly, however, condoms do nothing to prevent the heartbreak, depression and low self-esteem caused by sexual activity.

It's hard to argue with facts, and impossible to argue with truth. Abstinence until marriage and a truly monogomous relationship in marriage is the only fail-safe method to prevent ALL of the problems associated with fornication and adultry. Problems that are physical, emotional AND spiritual.

New Hampshire School Officials Launch Probe Into Abortion Center Field Trip

Posted at LifeNews.com is an update to a story that I mentioned in an earlier blog post regarding a field trip to Planned Parenthood by a group of 41 7th and 8th grade students.

Members of the Manchester city school board have voted to launch a probe into why students at a middle school there were taken to a Planned Parenthood abortion business on a field trip. Last week, parents in the New Hampshire town learned that the school partnered with the YMCA for the trip under the guise of a program for at risk students.

We'll have to see if there are any consequences for this or if the school even decides to change any of it's policies.

A little bit concerning is this:

Doug Kruse, a member of the school board told the newspaper that he supported the vote for the investigation because the trip violated the trust of local parents. He also advocated canceling the at-risk program because of the abortion center visit.

Kruse was also upset that Parkside Middle School principal Dawn Michaud told the newspaper she was aware of the Planned Parenthood visit but told senior school officials she had no previous knowledge of it.

"Somebody doesn't have their story straight," Kruse said.

Seems like "status quo" for contraversial issues in the public school system.

Boulder students to defend school after sex panel controversy

Posted at the Rocky Mountain News.

About a dozen Boulder High students plan to defend their school at Tuesday's school board meeting, saying it was unfairly attacked after a controversial Conference on World Affairs panel made national news.

Critics say the April panel, held at the school with attendance required by some teachers, encouraged young people to experiment with drugs and sex. Ten Republican state senators have signed a letter calling for the dismissal of Boulder High's principal and the district's outgoing superintendent.

Students planning to speak — and who attended the 90-minute "STDs: Sex, Teens and Drugs" panel in April — said they found the discussion informative, and they think quotes are being taken out of context.

"This whole thing has been misconstrued into this giant, sensationalized practically fabricated news story, and I'd like to go and set the record straight," said Boulder High incoming junior Jesse Lange.

The comments were clearly in appropriate, and as for the comments being taken out of context, the only context in which the statements made would be appropriate would be if the panelists were trying to teach the kids what to do if some pervert started talking to them like that. Even then I'd probably take issue. The comments were taped and the audio recordings were broadcast on the internet, TV, and radio.

Just because the overall presentation of the material was considered "educational" by some of the students, that doesn't make it appropriate. There are many things that a perverted adult could educate a child in that is not considered "appropriate". The issue is with what was said, and that a panel of adults, representing an authoritative figure or body to a group of children, basically gave permission and even encouraged children to engage in drugs and sex "responsibly", as if there were such a thing for children.

And I'm sorry if calling these students "children" has offended them in any way, but if they are below the age of 18, then legally that's exactly what they are. If they are 18 or older, then there are more appropriate places that they may be able to discuss these issues than in the public high school setting where children are present.

School talk about gays, lesbians riles some parents

Posted at The Olympian.

Anti-bullying assemblies that addressed gay and lesbian issues Wednesday at Washington Middle School have angered some parents.

The parents say they should have received better notification that an assembly about a controversial topic was coming up. And some say that if they had known about the assembly, they would have had their child excused from attending.

“They’re undermining parents, and they’re deciding what morals to teach our children,” said Stewart Wood, whose daughter is a Washington eighth-grader. “The school was making a decision to give certain information to sway students a certain way without consulting the parents.”

Olympia School District Superintendent Bill Lahmann said school officials probably could have done more to notify parents beyond announcing the event in a recent newsletter and should do so in the future. However, Olympia schools aren’t going to shy away from teaching students about harassment and bullying issues, he said.

“All kids deserve to be treated fairly and respectfully,” Lahmann said.

“It doesn’t matter what a student’s beliefs are or anything else; harassment is not tolerated.”

Granted, harassment is not to be tolerated. I assume that there are soon going to be anti-bullying assemblies for students with height issues, and speech issues, and hair issues, and weight issues, and faith issues, and... well, you get my point. The issue is not really with harassment, it's not really with tolerance, it's with approval and acceptance of a lifestyle that many parents have taught their children is sinful. It is not the only behavior that is taught as sinful, but it is one that is generating a great deal of attention.

Although speakers asked that personal stories shared during the assembly remain confidential, Leach said that message wasn’t intended to prevent students from talking about the assembly with their families.

“We just wanted to make sure kids out in the classrooms weren’t teasing each other about things they’d heard,” she said.

Some parents said they worried that the confidentiality message might have been confusing to students.

“This is a public school,” Stewart Wood said. “Nothing is confidential that happens in the classroom.”

Mixed messages. Also becoming a common thread in these kinds of issues.

Talk to your children and let them know what is going on. If you don't, someone else will. These are very real issues in the public school system today. There is an agenda that is aggressively being pushed, and if you don't respond to it, you will be responsible for the impact that it has on your child.

Home schooling – A Fighting Chance to Save Our Nation from Itself

Posted at Family Security Matters, is an excellent article on the hope for our nation that is in our children. That is, homeschooling.

As moral relativism, political correctness, revisionist history and overt immorality have insidiously crept into our public school system, more parents have been opting for home schooling for their youngsters. FSM Contributing Editors Mark and Renee Taylor relate their personal odyssey.

I would recommend reading the entire article.

Public School Students in New Hampshire Taken to Abortion Center

Posted at Life News.

Manchester, NH (LifeNews.com) -- Parents in New Hampshire are outraged after learning that the YMCA, in partnership with a local school district, took a group of junior high school students to a Planned Parenthood abortion business. The Manchester school district has come under fire for the trip and promises students will never go there again.
The Manchester school district has partnered with the YMCA to put together a program for at-risk students who are in danger of dropping out of school.

YMCA took the students to various places around town to show them summer programs and places to get involved in positive activities. However, a local Planned Parenthood was also on the list of places.

As a result, the YMCA took 41 seventh and eighth grade students last Wednesday to the abortion facility.

This is outrageous! Who signed the permission slips for this field trip? Although the city Mayor and chairman of the school board agreed that the visit was not appropriate, he went on to say for "that age group"! So, what age group does this honorable Mayor and board chairman think that it is appropriate?

Anne Johnson, the Planned Parenthood staff member who spoke for three minutes to the children at the abortion center, said abortion was never discussed. However, the students encountered pro-life protesters on the way into the center and knew that's what the facility did.

But Joyce Palmer, the YMCA's community outreach director, defended the trip in comments to the newspaper.

"The intent of the day was to provide information to kids who are getting ready for the summer and won't have the support of school or at home," said Palmer. "The intent was not to take kids to an abortion clinic. That word was never said."

As if that makes things better. I wonder what words actually were said. I highly doubt the word "adoption" came up much based on this story which says that according to a new annual report submitted by Planned Parenthood, in the 2005-2006 fiscal year, Planned Parenthood reported no referrals to adoption agencies! If we're not going to be talking about abortions or adoptions at Planned Parenthood, that only leaves the weather and birth control.

Dawn Michaud, principal of Parkside Middle School new(sic) about the trip beforehand and also defended the trip calling it more of a "job fair."

Good idea. Call it a "job fair."

You know, YMCA used to mean "Young Men's Christian Association". I wonder what they're calling it now.

Why Public Schools Can't be Trusted

Posted at News With Views, by Joel Turtel

Here’s another argument that public-school bureaucrats use to “justify” their monopoly control over our children’s minds and lives. They claim that we cannot trust the free-market to educate our children because too many free-market (private) schools are greedy for profits, cheat parents and students, take their money, make wild promises, or go out of business.

Look at the trade-school scandals a few years ago, they say. Phony trade schools cheated students with bad teaching and empty promises. This is typical of the free market, they say.

No, it is not typical — rather, the opposite.

Excellent article. Follow the link to read the entire thing. The hypocracy in the public school system is almost laughable. The way that some teachers and administrators exalt themselves and the public school system despite the overwhelming inadequacies and short-comings that are revealed in standardized testing is amazing. Especially when results are compared to private and homeschooled children.

Joel goes on to point out how powerless parents can be to change things in a compulsory government school system.

You see, government (public) schools are a never-ending education disaster because they have absolutely NO accountability to parents. The schools’ teachers, principals, and administrators are civil-service government workers who are paid by their local State or city government, not directly by parents (as is the case with private-school owners). Yes, there are some good, dedicated teachers in the public schools, but the system breeds mediocrity on a massive scale, and it is the system that parents have to put up with.

Year after year, compulsory taxes prop up these schools, no matter how bad they are. Compulsory school taxes also pay teachers, principals, and administrators’ salaries, no matter how bad or mediocre these tenured government employees are.

So, no matter how bad these schools are, or how miserable the education they give our kids, parents are impotent to make changes in the system. That is also because every state has compulsory attendance laws that force parents to bring their children to these government schools (if they cannot afford a private school), whether they like it or not. In effect, these schools are government-enforced education prisons, both for parents and their children.

The difference between government and free-market schools is this — when government schools are rotten, when they dumb-down our kids with nonsense education theories that fail, 45 million children can suffer for twelve years, without parents having any recourse. If and when an entrepreneur-owned free-market school is bad, only a handful of children suffer for a few months while parents shop for a better school — with parents having full recourse and freedom of choice.

Public-school apologists criticizing private-schools for allegedly not being accountable to parents is a sick joke, but a joke that is tragic for our children. To education bureaucrats who point to alleged bad apples in the “private” education sector, we can only say --- “Doctor, heal thyself.”