Cooper Parents Complaining Again

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And students should be given more opportunities to learn about other major historical events too.

There's only so much time to teach in a school year. The state has prioritized the important topics to discuss-including the Holocaust.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why right-wing people are upset about people being able to opt out. I can see why this topic could be upsetting for any student, and anyone should be allowed to opt-out.

If I find slavery upsetting, should I be able to opt out of American history before 1865?
If I find lynch!ngs upsetting, should I be able to opt out of the unit on Civil Rights?

[Anonymous]

I wanted to opt my child out as a form of protest. DC refused - said it would open her to criticism from her friends.

[Anonymous]

I’m a Cooper parent and had no idea one could even opt out — it wasn’t some separate email sent to us or anything (I have had three kids go through Cooper — one is there now). This must be some very specific thing the complainers specifically looked for, to then run to the press.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a Cooper parent and had no idea one could even opt out — it wasn’t some separate email sent to us or anything (I have had three kids go through Cooper — one is there now). This must be some very specific thing the complainers specifically looked for, to then run to the press.

There was an email notification a few days before the presentation. It mentioned that you could opt out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why right-wing people are upset about people being able to opt out. I can see why this topic could be upsetting for any student, and anyone should be allowed to opt-out.

I think they’re annoyed that the school said only Jewish students could opt out.

[Anonymous]

Bring something uplifting to kids.

[Anonymous]

It’s probably time for the School Board to come up with new policies on outside speakers and when student attendance may be compulsory, opt-out, or opt-in. It seems like the Cooper administration was trying to do the right thing, but it’s leaving itself open to accusations of employing a double-standard. Other speakers who might like to share how they or their relatives have been persecuted in the past or are being brutally slaughtered now likely would not be treated so favorably.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s probably time for the School Board to come up with new policies on outside speakers and when student attendance may be compulsory, opt-out, or opt-in. It seems like the Cooper administration was trying to do the right thing, but it’s leaving itself open to accusations of employing a double-standard. Other speakers who might like to share how they or their relatives have been persecuted in the past or are being brutally slaughtered now likely would not be treated so favorably.

Why? The school and the admin are fine. There's no double standard. No policy will prevent ignorant idiots from whining about it.

[Anonymous]

My takeaway from this dumpster fire of a policy is that Cooper has a bullying problem that they don't want to address. Telling kids to just opt-out of a situation where the school knows they have had bullying problems before instead of, you know, addressing the bullying, is the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to opt my child out as a form of protest. DC refused - said it would open her to criticism from her friends.

Same here so we kept them home instead.

[Anonymous]

Former teacher but my understanding was students were always allowed to opt out from outside speakers regardless of topic. We had students opt out of Boosterthon, students opt out of Veterans Day speeches, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The opt-out is a disgrace. Kids shouldn't be able to opt-out of difficult topics.

And if the Jewish students need to opt-out because they're being bullied, then the answer can't be to have the Jewish students remove themselves from education about Jewish history. The answer needs to be better Holocaust and antisemitism education and consequences for bullying and harassment.

11-13 y. o. kids’ minds are not ready to understand and digest such difficult topics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The opt-out is a disgrace. Kids shouldn't be able to opt-out of difficult topics.

And if the Jewish students need to opt-out because they're being bullied, then the answer can't be to have the Jewish students remove themselves from education about Jewish history. The answer needs to be better Holocaust and antisemitism education and consequences for bullying and harassment.

You think parents are opting their Jewish kids out of Holocaust presentations at public school are hiding the Holocaust from their kids? Dumbest comments of the day.

You misunderstood what I said. The school's justification for the opt-out was that it was meant for Jewish students to opt-out in order to avoid bullying, because they have seen an uptick in antisemitic bullying following the Holocaust speakers in past years. My point was that the school should be addressing the bullying issue by doing Holocaust education and antisemitism education better, rather than just telling Jewish kids they can opt-out of a topic that they almost certainly have learned about by middle school in Sunday School and just from Jewish life in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The opt-out is a disgrace. Kids shouldn't be able to opt-out of difficult topics.

And if the Jewish students need to opt-out because they're being bullied, then the answer can't be to have the Jewish students remove themselves from education about Jewish history. The answer needs to be better Holocaust and antisemitism education and consequences for bullying and harassment.

11-13 y. o. kids’ minds are not ready to understand and digest such difficult topics.

Holocaust Education materials are typically designed for grades 6+ and it's recommended to be introduced in middle school. I first read the Diary of Anne Frank in 7th grade with zero prior understanding/knowledge of the Holocaust (I'm not Jewish) and it was definitely disturbing and difficult, but I was able to "understand and digest" it. Kids that age can handle it, especially with appropriate guidance from teachers and/or parents.