HIV Prevention in Kindergarten. Yep, You Read Correctly....Kindergarten.

Upon receiving the Murfreesboro City School Policy Handbook for Parents, I came across an interesting aspect of my child's education.  I was reading the entire handbook, which I can imagine not all parents do, when I learned that my 5 year old child would be learning about HIV prevention in KINDERGARTEN.  The first words out of my mouth are not repeatable, but after calming myself down I went to the link provided in the handbook to read more about the "universal precautions through the k-8 Healthy Living and Lifetime Wellness curricula and through the Board's HIV prevention education program." Please go the website yourself and check out what it says about the program. 

Before anyone accuses me of not being realistic or trying to shelter my daughter too much, let's consider what the education system's role should be in educating our children.  As I read through the standards for Health Education, I was floored.  When I was in Kindergarten, we learned how to read, our ABCs, how to add simple things, how to play and interact with other children, how to follow instructions. Since when did it become our education system's job to do the following:

"1.5 explain how media influences thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

related to personal health and community;

1.6 evaluate the influence of media on the decision-making process

related to healthy living."

AND

"identify and describe common communicable diseases (e.g. HIV,
hepatitis, flu, pink eye and head lice)."

When did HIV and flu make it into the same category as a common communicable disease?  As a parent, I believe that it is my responsibility to teach my children about HIV prevention.  I also do not wish for her school to put such an importance on what the media says about anything.  Why should my daughter care about how the media influences thoughts and feelings of the community?  She needs to learn about those things from her parents.  What do these things have to do with learning to write sentences and learning to read? 

This made me start probing further.  I eventually had to stop when I got to the Social Studies standards for Kindergarten, because I really thought my head may explode.  Apparently, my Kindergartner needs to learn Economics, and in that area of study she needs to learn about the "globalization of the economy (Economics

Content Standard: 2.0)."  

Parents, it is time that we wake up from our daydreaming state and start educating ourselves on what our children are really learning in school.  I really appreciate the hard-working teachers that truly love our children, and I am not blaming them for the content for which they are held accountable.  The problem began with the overstepping of government in our schools. Why is it that the federal government should tell us what our curriculum should be in Murfreesboro or Tennessee?  Why should Rutherford County and Davidson County have the same standards? We are the ones funding these schools, and we should have the last word on textbook selection and curriculum.  Let me play devil's advocate: "We have the last say in who we elect to our school boards, and they are our voice in these decisions."  I don't find a shred of evidence in this at all.  The school boards' hands are tied to the puppet strings of the state government and the state government's hands are tied by the federal government who is calling all the shots. 

Get off the couch and join PTO, attend board meetings, run for school board, call the legislative education committee and hold them accountable.  Please, just do something.  If you don't know where to start, email me, and I will get you going.

Reading the Constitution Party

We are going to be a participating site for the National push to read the Constitutiona with our friends and neighbors! This will be a joint show of unity between the 912 Project Rutherford County, Campaign for Liberty and the Rutherford County Tea Party!




Join us on the Murfreesboro Courthouse steps for a one hour reading.

Maple Street Grill has wonderfully agreed to prepare $5 box dinners for those reserved.

Menu choice is a Cuban, chips and water bottle or Turkey Cuban, chips and water. Dinners will be ready for pick up at 4:30.



We will start gathering at 4:30 and read from 5 - 6 pm.

Please bring a copy of your Constitution, a kid or two....anyone! Let's make this a true community effort to educate all as to the beauty, strength and vision of the Constitution.

RSVP Today!




www.wereadtheconstitution.com





Mishelle Perkins and Katherine Hudgins

 

National Testing Shunned in the Past in Favor of State's Rights

The operative word in the above title is "past."  I read this article in today's The Tennessean, and I thought my head just may explode.  Apparently, our state leadership has decided to "team up" with other states like Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island to develop math and english tests for national use in third grade through high school.

Why would our state do such a thing you may ask?  Well, because the golden calf of grant money from the federal government cannot be resisted apparently.  States are receiving "$170 million in grant money from the US Department of Education for their effort" (The Tennessean, p.1). Are you kidding me?  Our state leadership is bowing at the alter of more money in exchange for our state's rights.  Have we not given enough of our school system to the federal government?  No, because now we need to focus on teaching all students in the whole country the same thing at the same time with the same result. 

Oh, and they are also wanting this to lead to national curriculum development.....really?  So our children who are going to school in a conservative district are going to be exposed to all the things that the more liberal districts in other states are learning in the spirit of "sameness."  We cannot even get things right in our own state's school systems, but we are going to participate at the national level and expect better results.  I really do feel like I am living in the twilight zone.

The article also said that they haven't been able to get this far with the process because of "limited federal involvement and very strong state leadership."  I guess now we see what can happen when the federal government gets bigger and our state leadership gets weaker.  I wonder if Mr. Haslam has the wherewithal to stand in the gap for the state of Tennessee.  You be the judge.

So here we are facing yet another giant in the government's intrusion of our children's education.  What do we do?  Do we pull our children out of school?  Do we just adopt the attitude of "if you can't beat them, join them?" Do we fight?  Our children are counting on us to take their education system back!  Call all of the members of the state legislative education committees about this issue.  Your voices need to be heard!

Angie Sexton
Education Coordinator

*Source: The Tennesean