Why can't I teach my child...

Last night on the way home from a meeting I listened to a local talk show program amazed and stunned at what I was hearing. The Charlotte Mecklenburg schools want to implement an anti-bullying policy to include specifics such as: race, religion, gender indentity/expression and sexual orientation. Honestly, when I first heard that I thought-- no big deal. Having taught school and witnessing the bullying that can go on first hand I don't think anyone should be bullied for any reason. I have often taught Hannah to go to the aid of the less popular and often picked on students in her class and offer them the hand of love and friendship. I was, however, more concerned when the host went on to describe the current situation in California because policies similiar to the one they are trying to implement in Mecklenburg County were implemented. The policies implemented in school districts in California went on to change state law. To quote from Bob Unruh on WorldNetDaily.com, "The new law demands, 'No teacher shall give instruction nor shall any school district sponsor any activity that promotes a discriminatory bias because of a characteristic [including perceived gender.]' " The article goes on to explain that teachers will not be able to use the terms "mom" and "dad" exclusively when discussing family relationships, because that would be discrimination for children who live with 2 parents of the same sex. (Check out the full article at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59033.)

This policy in Mecklenburg County could produce the same results. In the current copy of The Rhino Times (available at any Harris Teeter) the front page article more fully explains the future repercussions of this anti-bullying policy. There is currently anti-bullying policy in CMS schools that does not give specifics, but according to the Rhino article, "The national watch-dog group Bully Police USA...gives low grades to anti-bullying policies, rules and laws that are crafted along those lines (meaning naming specific groups)..." So, our current policy is not only sufficient, but better than the new policy that would name specific groups. This is a little alarming considering that if you read on in the WorldNet Daily article you see that parents in record numbers are taking their children out of public schools to homeschool. I don't want to go off on a tangent about that, but California is also brewing about homeschoolers while the uproar from this new law goes on... You can read about a California court's ruling on no homeschooling without credentials at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/07/MNJDVF0F1.DTL. I am glad not to live in California, but how far behind them are we with our current board of education and local school leaders? I don't want a homosexual/transgender agenda taught to my children-- especially my little children. Frankly, I don't want sex taught to my children at all in the schools, because that is my responsibilty and I plan to do a thorough job. To quote from the Proclaimation on the Family that was read in an address by the late prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley, "All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." I think that just about sums it up.