Ban Mother's/Father's Day from schools?

[Lynda/WA]

Should Mother's and Father's Day be banned from schools? A school in New York has banned Mother's Day after a complaint from a parent in a two father family. The school said this wasn't the only case involved. Their stated reasons were that Mother's Day and Father's Day may make some students uncomfortable and it serves no academic purpose. (Can't remember the third reason)

Do you think Mother's Day and Father's Day should be banned from schools? In DS's class the students were encouraged to make cards for other *Mom* role models as well. The teacher simply said that every family is unique and you could show others how you appreciated them. She gave examples like a Grandma, aunt, if you have more than one mom or another grown up.

[angie r]

I saw cards tonight that read "Happy Mother's Day Dad" on them. LOL

It seems to me the majority of kids have a mother or a mother figure. For those few children in a dual male/female household send one to Grandma, Aunt whatever. I think it is nice the teachers take the responsiblity to help our children celebrate motherhood/fatherhood. Without mother's and father's there would not be any children.

[RCT]

and to state my opinion clearly, this makes me mad....after all, we have taken so many things out of the schools now, that this is plain silly.....I would really be Ticked off it they took it out of our schools here in Central New York....JMHO....but get real two dads.....suck up....just because you have a beef with something dosen't necessarily make it right for the majority....

[Diane]

Originally posted by RCT
and to state my opinion clearly, this makes me mad....after all, we have taken so many things out of the schools now, that this is plain silly.....I would really be Ticked off it they took it out of our schools here in Central New York....JMHO....but get real two dads.....suck up....just because you have a beef with something dosen't necessarily make it right for the majority....

Suck up??? LOL (too funny Renee... ) LOL I have to agree with Renee though. I think they've already taken enough out of our children's schools and this is really the last straw. What's next? I feel that a teacher should do her homework and if she see's that a student in her classroom doesn't have a mother then she should have he/she make a card to "Dad" (or whoever)... for Mother's day. It's not fair to the rest of the student's who want to make their mommy's something for mothers day and sometimes this is the only thing their mom's GET... (and look forward to) My main problem I guess though is the fact that enough is enough... I'm getting pretty sick and tired of everybody else trying to dictate what our kids can/can't do. Perhaps they should start sending permission slips home to the parent before doing ANYTHING, that way they don't have to worry about offending anyone.

Diane... :wave:

[kat]

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. While we are at it, let's cut out Christmas, Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King Day, the list goes on. One size will never fit all. Get over it. I'm not black but we do special things on Martin Luther King Day, we do Kwanza activities; I'm not Jewish, we do Hanukkah activities.
I'm supposed to be tolerant of alternative lifestyles - how about you being tolerant of the lion's share of the population that do have mothers. Teachers deal every day with kids who don't have mothers. So they make a card for dad, or grandma, or who ever. No big deal. Why should we be forced to stop mother's day activities because these two "fathers" have an agenda?
"News Flash" there are a lot of things that go on in the schools that serve no academic purpose - sports comes to mind.

[Linda/NE]

Originally posted by RCT
and to state my opinion clearly, this makes me mad....after all, we have taken so many things out of the schools now, that this is plain silly.....I would really be Ticked off it they took it out of our schools here in Central New York....JMHO....but get real two dads.....suck up....just because you have a beef with something dosen't necessarily make it right for the majority....

RCT, come on tell us how you really feel! LOL

I agree with you though!! It seems backwards to me to take away the things that encourage kindness and courtesy. I would guess that most of us here, at one point in our schooling career, had classmates without a mother or father for whatever reason. The students I knew never seemed terribly upset about school activities focusing on Mother's Day and Father's Day. Why then should schools be forced to when it comes to an alternative lifestyle? I don't thinkrecognizing these holidays is being prejudice or intolerant of those lifestyles either. It seems to me what it is boiling down to is the traditional /nuclear family (mom, dad, kids) is supposed to give up or put aside what is normal to them so that children from alternative lifestyle familes don't have their feelings hurt. If the risk of hurting feelings of children with out one parent or another is so great than these holidays should have never been started. There have been children of single parents probably since the beginning of time (if for no other reason than death.)

Think it's time some people stop playing the 'victim' and deal with real life! JMO