Last night, I spent a wonderful night with my family, celebrating two birthdays. As we were sitting at the table, my aunt tells us a story about her parent teacher interviews that week. Something hit me as she was speaking. Maybe it was the initial anger after hearing what she had told us but it was more than that. I actually got scared. Scared of what our future holds in terms of the generation of today. Scared of my inability to raise a child the way my parents could when I was young.
The story revolved around Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper visiting Israel recently. As my aunt is a teacher in a Hebrew Day School, she along with her colleagues collected the kids together and created a beautiful thank you card to send to Ottawa for Mr. Harper. I thought it was a nice gesture. One parent did not. Apparently, she didn't feel right that her child was so "politically involved". I don't know, call me crazy, but it's just a card. At the end of the day, it doesn't really mean anything. I know this is already a controversial topic but just taking a step back and thinking about the bigger picture tells me what is wrong with sending a thank you? We are teaching our kids to be involved and to be proud of who we are and where we live. If this was a child in the States, would my aunt have had to encounter this situation? Probably not. It's because of people like Mr. Harper that let you live in this country and take advantage of all that is handed to you.
So the Principal made the final decision to remove the child's name and artwork on the card. Poor kid. He/she probably worked hard and was proud of their work. They weren't thinking this was a political statement. They were thinking they were famous because the Prime Minister himself would read that card and know who they are.
Why are we always trying to make drama out of a situation that is so innocent? And this brings me back to my fear of this generation. Parents nowadays are putting more and more blame onto our teachers for not doing the "right" thing. But what is even "right" anymore? We are all human and we all make mistakes. It just seems we don't have much freedom to do anything because there is always going to be that one person who has to make a big deal. And, this time around, the child isn't to blame. It's the teacher.
The story revolved around Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper visiting Israel recently. As my aunt is a teacher in a Hebrew Day School, she along with her colleagues collected the kids together and created a beautiful thank you card to send to Ottawa for Mr. Harper. I thought it was a nice gesture. One parent did not. Apparently, she didn't feel right that her child was so "politically involved". I don't know, call me crazy, but it's just a card. At the end of the day, it doesn't really mean anything. I know this is already a controversial topic but just taking a step back and thinking about the bigger picture tells me what is wrong with sending a thank you? We are teaching our kids to be involved and to be proud of who we are and where we live. If this was a child in the States, would my aunt have had to encounter this situation? Probably not. It's because of people like Mr. Harper that let you live in this country and take advantage of all that is handed to you.
So the Principal made the final decision to remove the child's name and artwork on the card. Poor kid. He/she probably worked hard and was proud of their work. They weren't thinking this was a political statement. They were thinking they were famous because the Prime Minister himself would read that card and know who they are.
Why are we always trying to make drama out of a situation that is so innocent? And this brings me back to my fear of this generation. Parents nowadays are putting more and more blame onto our teachers for not doing the "right" thing. But what is even "right" anymore? We are all human and we all make mistakes. It just seems we don't have much freedom to do anything because there is always going to be that one person who has to make a big deal. And, this time around, the child isn't to blame. It's the teacher.