A Tiny Rant....
So,
Today, in my multicultural education class, we were discussing a notion of "teach the truth." This class is about addressing the diversity that is, essentially, our country in the classroom. It's about digging deep and truly celebrating African-American, Indian, Asian, German, Jewish, etc.... families and even the families who are inter-or-tri-racial. My teacher is Jewish, his wife is Indian, and together they adopted an African-American girl.
Anyway, we were talking about respecting kids to know a certain level of professionalism (i.e. expecting them to know the rules, treating them as young professionals).... We watched a movie about teaching what kids really need to know, but most importantly, what we do not teach kids about the history of America. For instance, today I learned that Thomas Jefferson, the man who created the Declaration of Independence, had sex with- and children with his 14-year-old slave. It took me 21 years to learn this? Really? I am almost disgusted with the lies we teach children.
I'm not saying we should show "12 Years A Slave" to third graders, but I am saying we should teach the truth in an appropriate manner for the students.
What else don't we teach kids? Well, pretty much ALL of American History. Why? Because American History is big, messy, confusing, and downright disturbing most of the time. I came up with an idea that what school should do is devote and entire year- maybe two years- for American History. Or maybe a class just about the wars the US has been in.
In other new, the English department, too, has fallen victim to this tragedy of a curriculum. Teachers are not allowed, in most schools. to teach books about sex or the LGBT community. I think it is important for schools to learn to celebrate this community as well as others
Anyway, I just thought you all should know the lies being taught to children in school.