Friday, January 30, 2009

Stupid Last Word

I wrote the following to the Last Word:
Shame on the Berkeley Middle School teacher who refused to let his eighth grade class watch the Inauguration on Tuesday. Several students asked him to turn on the TV, and he told them it was "silly." I have to question the competence of a teacher who doesn't understand the educational and historical importance of this event, regardless of their personal political affiliation.
Here's what they actually printed:
Shame on the middle school teacher who refused to let a class watch the inauguration on Tuesday. Several students asked to turn on the TV, and were told it was "silly."
I know they edit for space, and I knew they would remove the name of the school and grade level. They have a rule that any criticism is edited to not include peoples' names, company names, or names of services. I suppose that's fair, to a point. It's the removal of the last sentence that upsets me.

I'm honestly baffled as to how any teacher could ignore the importance of this inauguration. I feel as though the teacher did not allow students to watch the coverage because of his own personal and political beliefs, and that suspicion was basically confirmed by a student in the class. I understand that he may not be a Democrat, or he may not follow politics, or maybe just didn't want to waste time in class. Hell, I even understand if he's racist; not that I understand racism, but I accept that a lot of people in the south are racist. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, a teacher denying their students the opportunity to watch history being made is just plain wrong.

1 comment:

Mom of 7 said...

I'm following your blog now, so you better start posting.