When my son came home from school today, he was all fired up about what he had learned in school this morning. I was expecting him to tell me about the results of his geography test we studied for together this past week learning all the European capitals and country locations. But his excitement was for an altogether different reason.
It seems that his teacher inspired him to prevent children from becoming homosexuals! Apparently, during his Greek language lesson, the children read a story about a little boy who had a high fever and the rest of the child's family slept in his room until the fever passed. Now, most of you probably thought what I did...that this was a story about how a family's love can make children feel better and have the strength to fight difficulties. According to my son's teacher, this story was to show the children that 'overprotection' can cause children to become homosexuals!
After a shock which lasted about 5 seconds, I asked my son if he agreed with his teacher. He told me that of course, he agreed with his teacher and that it was society's obligation to prevent people from becoming homosexual so their lives 'could be better' and that he would be doing them a favour since they wouldn't be teased for being 'anomalies'.
I tried a different angle. I asked him if he thought that it might be better if people changed their own attitudes towards homosexuals and just stopped teasing them.
Oh no, Mom...you don't understand what I'm saying. It's better to change a few people than the many. So there are fewer homosexuals and I'm going to make sure kids don't become homosexuals because it's easier to do that than to try to change all the people who aren't.
Brick wall.
"What makes you think homosexuals have to change? Are they evil? Do they hurt you?" I asked.
My son then told me that he didn't think they are evil or do anything really bad like murder anyone. (I breathed a sigh of relief here...at least some things we've talked about in the past sank into his mind.) But he continued..."It's just that they will feel bad if they become homosexuals and I want to make sure they don't feel bad."
"If they don't do anything to you and they're happy, what makes you or your teacher think you have the right to even try to change them? It's not like they're criminals, right?"
"Mom, you're still not listening. I'm not saying they're criminals. I'm just going to make sure they don't end up sad and without friends."
Back to square one. I give it another shot.
"I think it's great that you want people to be happy but how would you like it if someone decided to take it upon themselves to 'fix' you because you're not what they think you should be? Wouldn't it be better if you just decided to like people if they were kind and good to you no matter what religion they were or who they decided to have for boyfriends or girlfriends?"
"Mom, of course I'd still be their friend if they were good to me but you just don't get it, do you? My teacher says that we can prevent some of them from even BEING homosexuals if we just tell parents to stop overprotecting kids." He became frustrated with me and said he wanted to change the subject because I wasn't listening.
"I am listening, I'm just telling you that I don't agree with you or your teacher. And I really don't think it's anyone's place to decide to change people if they haven't done anything wrong and especially if they're already good, kind people. I think the world needs more kind people and it's not our job to make everyone conform to what we think they should be. I'm not saying that you have to agree with everything everyone else believes in or how they behave. Just that you don't have to make them become exactly like you. Wars started that way. How do you think people justified the Crusades?"
"Oh, not the Crusades again Mom. Everyone knows they were wrong. I'm only trying to help people and you refuse to understand that and think I want to start a Crusade."
I must have tried a dozen different approaches with him to try to make him realize that it might just be better if we let good people stay good and focus on trying to change ourselves so that we don't dismiss good people just because they're different from us.
At least he promised me he'd think about what I said and he might talk to me tomorrow about it if I promise not to freak out. Fine by me. I think I'm more upset with his teacher for even having this one-sided sermon with a class full of impressionable young minds based on his own personal opinions and without having any concrete evidence to support it. I've had to deal with a teacher who told his class that Muslims have a gruesome, violent version of our bible. Another teacher told him that all Americans were killers because of the NATO bombing of Serbia. (He was only 5 then and he thought he was an American killer because he spoke English like Americans.) And now I have to contend with this latest 'lesson'. I just wish some teachers would stop trying to use the classroom as a breeding ground for discrimination or at the very least, to think about the repurcussions of their statements before they say them.
It seems that his teacher inspired him to prevent children from becoming homosexuals! Apparently, during his Greek language lesson, the children read a story about a little boy who had a high fever and the rest of the child's family slept in his room until the fever passed. Now, most of you probably thought what I did...that this was a story about how a family's love can make children feel better and have the strength to fight difficulties. According to my son's teacher, this story was to show the children that 'overprotection' can cause children to become homosexuals!
After a shock which lasted about 5 seconds, I asked my son if he agreed with his teacher. He told me that of course, he agreed with his teacher and that it was society's obligation to prevent people from becoming homosexual so their lives 'could be better' and that he would be doing them a favour since they wouldn't be teased for being 'anomalies'.
I tried a different angle. I asked him if he thought that it might be better if people changed their own attitudes towards homosexuals and just stopped teasing them.
Oh no, Mom...you don't understand what I'm saying. It's better to change a few people than the many. So there are fewer homosexuals and I'm going to make sure kids don't become homosexuals because it's easier to do that than to try to change all the people who aren't.
Brick wall.
"What makes you think homosexuals have to change? Are they evil? Do they hurt you?" I asked.
My son then told me that he didn't think they are evil or do anything really bad like murder anyone. (I breathed a sigh of relief here...at least some things we've talked about in the past sank into his mind.) But he continued..."It's just that they will feel bad if they become homosexuals and I want to make sure they don't feel bad."
"If they don't do anything to you and they're happy, what makes you or your teacher think you have the right to even try to change them? It's not like they're criminals, right?"
"Mom, you're still not listening. I'm not saying they're criminals. I'm just going to make sure they don't end up sad and without friends."
Back to square one. I give it another shot.
"I think it's great that you want people to be happy but how would you like it if someone decided to take it upon themselves to 'fix' you because you're not what they think you should be? Wouldn't it be better if you just decided to like people if they were kind and good to you no matter what religion they were or who they decided to have for boyfriends or girlfriends?"
"Mom, of course I'd still be their friend if they were good to me but you just don't get it, do you? My teacher says that we can prevent some of them from even BEING homosexuals if we just tell parents to stop overprotecting kids." He became frustrated with me and said he wanted to change the subject because I wasn't listening.
"I am listening, I'm just telling you that I don't agree with you or your teacher. And I really don't think it's anyone's place to decide to change people if they haven't done anything wrong and especially if they're already good, kind people. I think the world needs more kind people and it's not our job to make everyone conform to what we think they should be. I'm not saying that you have to agree with everything everyone else believes in or how they behave. Just that you don't have to make them become exactly like you. Wars started that way. How do you think people justified the Crusades?"
"Oh, not the Crusades again Mom. Everyone knows they were wrong. I'm only trying to help people and you refuse to understand that and think I want to start a Crusade."
I must have tried a dozen different approaches with him to try to make him realize that it might just be better if we let good people stay good and focus on trying to change ourselves so that we don't dismiss good people just because they're different from us.
At least he promised me he'd think about what I said and he might talk to me tomorrow about it if I promise not to freak out. Fine by me. I think I'm more upset with his teacher for even having this one-sided sermon with a class full of impressionable young minds based on his own personal opinions and without having any concrete evidence to support it. I've had to deal with a teacher who told his class that Muslims have a gruesome, violent version of our bible. Another teacher told him that all Americans were killers because of the NATO bombing of Serbia. (He was only 5 then and he thought he was an American killer because he spoke English like Americans.) And now I have to contend with this latest 'lesson'. I just wish some teachers would stop trying to use the classroom as a breeding ground for discrimination or at the very least, to think about the repurcussions of their statements before they say them.
