Some Frederick County parents are upset over a third-grade textbook that they say promotes such ideas as government-sponsored child care and universal health care.
The county’s Board of Education met Wednesday to discuss “Social Studies Alive! Our Community and Beyond,” a book the county has used since 2004 but has come under fire in recent months.
The book examines culture, government and public service in the U.S. and other countries, but some parents have pointed to passages in the text they believe subtly promote foreign political systems while disparaging the U.S.
“The entire slant of the book is you're getting used to the idea of government running your life,” said Cindy Rose, a parent who requested that the book be removed from the county's curriculum.
“Government is setting the rules. We're all going to live by it and we're all a collective society,” she said.
Board members chose Wednesday not to eliminate the book from the county curriculum, instead allowing it to come up for review next school year as part of a mandatory eight-year review cycle for all books.
Mrs. Rose was the lone parent to testify during the public comment portion of Wednesdays meeting, after which board members discussed the text for more than an hour.
Mrs. Rose has taken issue with several chapters in the book, including one that explains how many Americans struggle to pay for health care while countries such as Canada and Sweden provide care free of charge or for a small fee.
The book states that those countries’ “communities pay the rest of the bill,” and asks the reader whether he or she believes health care should be a public service.
Critics have argued the text endorses expanded government but fails to fully explain that its public services are paid for by taxpayers.
“Do you get much pushback from an 8- or 9-year-old?” said board member James C. Reeder Jr. “It seems to me either we're leading them in a certain direction or we're trying to get them to evoke a certain response.”
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5 comments:
Even more reason to help your child with their homework and have a discussion instead of complaining every 5 minutes. Textbooks are always going to have a political stance. It is our job as parents to teach them the values we uphold, instead of relying on the schools.
And the union teachers keep quiet like good little kool aid drinking tax fleecers.
Well, I agree with 8:07 about helping with home work. I myself think you need to listen to the childs point of view also. They may have there own, and as parents we should listen for inaccurate tings that people influence them with. There is a great movie floating around about government control starting with children in school, it's called "War on Kids" a little extreme for our city, but does bring up good points!
Have a great Day!
I do agree, 9:07. Children are entitled to their own opinions. I guess I should have clarified my above comment. I think that parents should teach their children values they uphold, while encouraging open thinking. That way the child will be educated and knowledgeable in both perspectives. Although I do hope my child grows up with my point of view ;-)
train up a child the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.
children have mush minds and it's up to us a "good parents" to pour into them good morals, values and critical thinking. yes; he can see the other side but there is still a wrong way and a right way. this doesn't change over time.
open thinking; not a term i like. more like as he grows older let him make more and more choices and hope he has heard and seen how we as parents have handled our lives. all we can do is hope and pray he doesn't make "huge" mistakes and "really bad" choices. just try to remember; everything is NOT relative as some would have you believe today. there is absolute truth.
as far as books in school are concerned; i highly suggest ALL parents read everyword because more likely than not there is subject matter on every topic that you will totally disagree with and there is alot of mis-information in these books. this area is just as bad as other areas of the country regarding books.
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