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.