re: Think of the Children! sigint: You made me interested in the book.
>. The Zoarastrians (or Parsis, as they are called in India) are a well off, quaint and peaceful community who have been in India for nearly 13 centuries. I thought parsis originally came from Persia and settled in Northern India but they don't follow Islam.
I think parents should review and approve everything in their child's curriculum, and if they reasonably find something objectionable, the teacher should find an alternative for that child. Actually, the teacher should have anticipated it. Idiot with an attitude.
I think there are limits to this right of course, meaning it has to be something the "average person" would find objectionable.
In this case, I think most parents would find the passage gratuitous pornography. The author could have left it out and the message of the book would not have been diminished.
I think the passage is appropriate for a college age person, not high school.
All I said was there were plenty of books involving no sexual activity that could be used in High Schools. Many are fine books. Like (for example) many of the works of Shakespeare. There is no need to select books with sexual content for use in a public high school.
Does that mean such books should not exist? No. It just means I think this is a valid complaint.
I think we would both agree that many parts of the "old culture" in India are dying away, and none too soon.
It's driven by echoes of a class based society and a lot of poverty and a long history of both. And those problems are not fixed overnight.
Like I said, just be glad you and your children made it to the US of A. We are far from perfect too: witness the (relative) poverty in New Orleans. Driven by old racial issues supposedly settled in 1865, re-settled in the 60's, yet still persisting.
It's why we have to get our hands busy and really help our neighbors with the Golden rule fixed firmly in our heads and hearts, instead of holding up our favorite gospel (Bible, Torah, Koran, etc) and using it as a weapon against our neighbors.
re: Think of the Children!My father used to say You sleep with dogs the next day You'll wake in the bed scratching Those inevitable fleas At ten years old You listen to what you are told But I never felt the itch I never would My mother had forbidden me To waste away my life I want you to have all the things I could never buy you So don't stop what I'd begun You're my one, my only son Follow what I say not what I've done Follow what I say not what I've done Shower, scrub, and shave Cleanly boys don't misbehave Follow what I say not what I've done
She should spend her time teaching junior or cupcake about the effectiveness of oral sex as a method of birth control. I think it would be more productive. Then she can talk to them about the choice to use that method being one of free will. She can talk about her beliefs on the subject with her child one on one and also provide guidance on masturbation as a method that some people use for birth control or just to stay in sexual shape. I'm sure some of the folks I've met in my life are virtual athletes in this department. Tell the children to stay away from the guys with a firm handshake and stained t-shirts. I hear BTK was working on his handshake in similiar fashion.
Hello? Anyboy Home? The breeze you feel now is Einstein and Darwin rolling over in their coughins.
re: Think of the Children! Sorry Why...it just there has been so much outrageous stuff lately.
Larry's blog is bad. Red Panda's is unbelievable.
I did think Light Reading was attempting to get some mainstream attention through opening up more websites, having conferences and analysis, and being bought by a larger company. The blogs can be funny, but some of this stuff is over the top.
re: Think of the Children!why: I think parents should review and approve everything in their child's curriculum, and if they reasonably find something objectionable, the teacher should find an alternative for that child. Actually, the teacher should have anticipated it. Idiot with an attitude. _________________________________________________
There's the risk of throwing out the baby with the bath-water. An easier option would be to teach an abridged version with the author's consent and approval. And, the students should be informed that they are being taught an abridged version, and the reasons thereof and they could read the original with the consent of their parents. The school-curriculum PG-13, if you will.
While opposed to censorship in principle, I think almost everyone would agree that not every reading material is appropriate for all ages.
Heck, even these boards would need to be occassionally abridged, before a child can be encouraged to look them up.
re: Think of the Children!why: 1. Like I said, just be glad you and your children made it to the US of A. We are far from perfect too: witness the (relative) poverty in New Orleans. Driven by old racial issues supposedly settled in 1865, re-settled in the 60's, yet still persisting.
1. Why, we are on the same page. 3 of the 4 times I have been in LA, I have made small payments to donations seekers outside LAX towards the cause of battered hispanic women. I guess it's easy to confuse a north indian for a hispanic, which must be the reason I was asked. But that won't lead me to believe that the condition of women everywhere in the US sucks, and you are right in stating that they are pretty well of, compared to most of the third world.
I have never encountered discrimination against women in my family, but I do know it exists elsewhere in India. How I can intervene in someone else's business to solve the problem of "their" women, is a very difficult and potentially provocative question. There are laws galore, a man in India can be held without bail for battering a woman and then jailed for 10 years. More than the laws, I think, it would be education and consequent financial empowerment that shall help.
As an aside, I do not have children and never quite left the Indian shores. Hoping to make a difference. I am more skeptical of my ability to do so now, but I can still hope.
re: Think of the Children!"Like I said, just be glad you and your children made it to the US of A. We are far from perfect too: witness the (relative) poverty in New Orleans. Driven by old racial issues supposedly settled in 1865, re-settled in the 60's, yet still persisting." ---------------------------------------------------
The relative poverty in New Orleans has far more to do with a culture that views being educated as selling out, living off of welfare as a life choice while accepting single moms as the preferred family structure (approximately 80% of the children in New Orleans live in homes headed by single moms) than it has to do with racism. All of this has been fostered by the great nanny state (welfare) that began with the idealistic "war on poverty" in the 60s but has devolved into a complete mess that has left more people dependent on the government than ever.
sigint:
You made me interested in the book.
>. The Zoarastrians (or Parsis, as they are called in India) are a well off, quaint and peaceful community who have been in India for nearly 13 centuries.
I thought parsis originally came from Persia and settled in Northern India but they don't follow Islam.