"We believe that our students' education is well-served by exploration
and engagement about issues, not by refusing to even hear opposing views."
This is why we live in the United States and not in a dictatorship---
Maybe some of your parents would prefer to live
under...say...Franco?or better yet...Mussolini?
I think not!
Good luck...
Susan Ferris Rights
On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 4:58 PM, Bassett, Patrick<bassett@nais.org> wrote:
> Many schools are struggling with the decision about whether to broadcast =
President Obama's address to school children next week and how to communica=
te that decision to parents.
>
> Below the signature line of this email. is a message that one of our memb=
er schools in Florida sent to families.
>
> Cheers.
>
> PFB
>
> Patrick F. Bassett, President
> N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F I N D E P E N D E N T S C H=
O O L S
> 1620 L St., NW, Washington, DC 20036
> 202.973.9710 (Office)
> 202.746.5444 (Cell)
> 202-247-9667 (Fax)
> bassett@nais.org<mailto:bassett@nais.org> www.nais.org<http://www.nais.=
org>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=
~~~
>
>
> September 4, 2009
>
> Dear Academy Families:
>
> A small number of our families this week inquired about whether we intend=
to show our students President Obama's upcoming speech to our nation's sch=
ool children. Some families have requested that their children be removed =
from such a presentation; others have requested that we show the speech. We=
do not intend to show a live broadcast of the speech. Our reason is that =
we don't think it's really intended for students like ours, as it is design=
ed to be a message about staying in school, about taking responsibility to =
do your homework and encouraging all students to accept the value system of=
school and the idea that being a good student will lead to improvement in =
your life. Almost all of our students have internalized this message long =
ago. Still, I feel a need to comment about the idea of viewing a presidenti=
al speech and requests for children to opt out of viewing a speech.
>
> We very much want to engage our students about the world around them and =
about taking part in our democratic system. We feel that they ought to lea=
rn about our national issues and hear perspectives on those issues regardle=
ss of which party's philosophy they might endorse. As an administration, w=
e see a big problem in our country today - that, as a nation, we are not ve=
ry good right now at engaging in civil discussion and disagreement about th=
e policies and political philosophies that are being "debated" in the publi=
c square. We very much want our school to be a place where our students le=
arn to listen to all sides of a debate and engage in questioning, answering=
, and exploring, but always in a polite and civil tone. We do not want our=
students to become liberals. We do not want our students to become conser=
vatives. We want them to learn how to listen respectfully, how to question=
respectfully, and how to come to their own opinions and votes while respec=
ting those who may come to different conclusions. We want them to learn how=
to be citizens. In order to do that, they have to be exposed to different=
points of view. We would like them to study those points of view.
>
> If we were to show the President's speech, we would hope that those famil=
ies who disagree with the President's comments would engage their children =
in discussion about what the President says, and that they will in turn pro=
vide (and teach) their own countervailing views. When you do so, please al=
so reinforce rules of respect and polite civil discourse. ("We disagree wit=
h the President because . . ." )
>
> We want our students to learn that patriots can disagree about policy cho=
ices in a democracy while still loving their country and wanting the best f=
or all of her people. Opting out of hearing a speech by the President or a=
member of the clergy from a different religion or any opinionated speaker =
does not serve the goal of learning about others and, eventually, yourself.=
We believe that our students' education is well-served by exploration and=
engagement about issues, not by refusing to even hear opposing views.
>
> As a school, we are absolutely fine with our students disagreeing with wh=
omever is President and voicing that disagreement, even publicly, as long a=
s every student shows respect to every speaker and every event that they at=
tend. We want all of our students to know that they have the right to disa=
gree with the President or their Congressman or the Governor, and that they=
have many appropriate avenues in which to voice that disagreement, includi=
ng their vote.
>
> Our democracy needs its young people. But before they turn 18 they ought=
to learn how to be better citizens and better participants than the models=
they see in their daily swim through our culture's waters. The Academy at=
the Lakes educational experience will help them learn how to participate w=
ith respect for others, respect for ideas, and respect for our country, the=
greatest nation on Earth.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> Mark Heller
>
> Head of School
>
>
>
>
>
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>
--=20
Susan Ferris Rights
susanferris123@gmail.com
908-568-1884
[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
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