Posted on 09/21/2003 11:47:53 AM PDT by UnklGene
Educator lauds teacher's use of 'explicit' material in class
Article read on bestiality and incest. Without education department guidelines schools depend on instructors' judgment
ALLISON LAMPERT The Gazette
Saturday, September 20, 2003
A teacher who had his Grade 10 students read about bestiality and incest during class should be lauded, a veteran school board commissioner said.
Having 15-year-olds read about "sex with dogs and stallions" in class isn't any more shocking than the "trash" they see every day in the media, commissioner Robert Cadotte said.
At least a teacher could hold a classroom discussion on why such behaviour is wrong.
"When a teacher discusses this kind of thing in class, I say 'thank you,' " said Cadotte, a member of the Commission Scolaire de Montréal.
Cadotte was thanking a high- school teacher from Terrebonne who reportedly had his students read a graphic article from the Journal de Montréal in class.
A news account was published yesterday about the teacher and the controversial article, which described a child having sex with his mother, among other taboo acts. It was used during an ethics and religious culture class, which doesn't have specific guidelines because they are under review by the Department of Education.
The principal at the school, École Léopold-Gravel, couldn't be reached for comment.
One Montreal principal said his school would rather not expose its students to any more sex and violence than what they already see outside the classroom.
"We try to counteract what they're seeing everyday," said Wayne Commeford, principal of James Lyng High School in Saint Henri.
At James Lyng, teachers avoid discussing graphic violence or pornography in class because students would have no choice but to listen to the material, Commeford said. It's not like a violent television program teenagers could simply turn off.
"Most principals in most schools rely on the good judgment of teachers," he said. "But there isn't a bible out there ... that tells them (teachers) what is right and what is wrong."
Cadotte said critics should first judge the morality of the media and popular culture before judging a teacher's decision to use offensive material in class.
"What the teacher did was to use a newspaper that's in the hands of every student," he said. "Our Secondary Four and Five students don't come from the planet Mars.
"When it's a question of ethics we first have to ask, what do we put in the hands of our kids?"
Of course there's not a Bible out there! It's classified as being full of "hate" speech, and much is "outlawed" in Canada.
Um, yes there is. They just don't want to get burned when they touch it.
Yeah, and he subscribes to Playboy for the stimulating 'articles'.
Typical liberal response.
Actually, there is, but you Canadians have banned it.
Well that's awfully judgmental, isn't it? Instead of trying to impose a value judgment on the children, the teacher should hold a classroom discussion on alternate lifestyles and the value of tolerance and diversity. [/sarchasm]
A fascinating bit of logic, eh? The point seems to be that trash in the classroom isn't as bad - or is at least as good - as trash on TV.
In other words, kids and parents should get used to the idea that the classroom has nothing more to offer than Jerry Springer.
Wait ... don't tell me ... lemme guess ... if that type of holding needs help (e.g., the kid's too short) ... the teacher should hold the kid up high enough so s/he can fiddle with the horse's gonads ... right???
Sheeesh ... ain't Publik edjakayshun wonnerfulll ??? (PUKE!!!)
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