High School Health teacher says vaccines cause autism

[Anonymous]

I consider myself to be fairly laidback, at least relatively speaking, for the area. We rarely contact teachers or the school about anything, preferring our kid to work things out herself.

BUT, this is the type of thing I'd lose my sh%t over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child's MCPS high school 10th grade health teacher has told her class that vaccines are ineffective, and can cause autism. (She has also told her class about her infant daughter born last year.)

My first thought is to report this to the principal, but I don't want to stifle her free speech. (I am not certain if the topic came up as part of the course, or whether it was incidental. But my daughter did say she lost points on a test by arguing with her.)

Any suggestions on how to handle this?

FREE SPEECH?

You have got to be kidding me. She's a wacko - please bring it up to the principal.

This is as bad as a geography teacher telling the kids that the world is flat. No, it’s not free speech and that needs to be reported to the principal ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Please tell me this isn't real. How can she not be fired for espousing such nonsense? Would you tolerate a history teaching saying the Holocaust was a hoax? That we didn't actually land on the moon?

Vaccines don't cause autism, we (well, those of us with a brain) all know that's nonsense. She needs to be fired so she can go spout that crap from the safety of her tin hat brigade.

[Anonymous]

I'd encourage your child to report it, especially if points are being taken away. I think this is a good type of learning opportunity in going against authority when they are wrong and you have proof. A 10th grader is definitely old enough to handle this on their own, especially one brave enough to argue in class against a teacher (I admire that)!

My daughter had a teacher who did the curve after 95% of the class bombed a hard test, which lowered my daughter's grade from an A to a B. She was extremely upset by this as she earned the A to begin with. She went back and forth with the teacher in email and person before bringing in her academic adviser for support. In the end, her grade was adjusted back to what she originally earned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child's MCPS high school 10th grade health teacher has told her class that vaccines are ineffective, and can cause autism. (She has also told her class about her infant daughter born last year.)

My first thought is to report this to the principal, but I don't want to stifle her free speech. (I am not certain if the topic came up as part of the course, or whether it was incidental. But my daughter did say she lost points on a test by arguing with her.)

Any suggestions on how to handle this?

Another vote for reporting.
Also, if you can document the lost points due to arguing about vaccines, you really MUST report that as well. This isn't acceptable.

[Anonymous]

I had a long-term sub teacher years ago who along with the textbook materials on the big bang theory, provided external materials on creationism. Most of us just laughed and rolled our eyes until test time came and it contained questions from that garbage she'd handed out!

She didn't get fired when we went to the Assistant Principal for our grade but she did get reprimanded and had to stick to the lesson plans provided by the actual teacher (out on maternity leave). We had a mini assembly where all the students in her classes were basically told, "look, people are free to believe what they want and all we can do is provide materials for you to examine on your own to draw your own conclusions." It was very much a "she didn't do anything wrong and we can't say she did even though we think she did so we don't get in trouble" type of situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child's MCPS high school 10th grade health teacher has told her class that vaccines are ineffective, and can cause autism. (She has also told her class about her infant daughter born last year.)

My first thought is to report this to the principal, but I don't want to stifle her free speech. (I am not certain if the topic came up as part of the course, or whether it was incidental. But my daughter did say she lost points on a test by arguing with her.)

Any suggestions on how to handle this?

Another vote for reporting.
Also, if you can document the lost points due to arguing about vaccines, you really MUST report that as well. This isn't acceptable.

YES +1000000

[Anonymous]

This stuff makes me so mad especially for kids who are at risk population I’m assuming that is is not a private school If public school, Her salary is paid by the government to provide information that is not just education but supports public health. And she is promoting information counter to all public health policy and science.

Thank you in advance for taking on this fight

[Anonymous]

Please report back on how MCPS handles it. In my experience MCPS does nothing. They’ve left a school counselor in her position at a diverse school after she made posts on social media that were racist and homophobic. Yeah, it’s her opinion we should build a wall and not call kids by their preferred pronouns, but tell that to the gay kid who found her posts and was very upset.

[Anonymous]

Report it to the principal and I am all for alternate vaccine schedules but those statements are dangerous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not free speech! She is teaching this as a HEALTH teacher to malleable adolescents! You absolutely should report her. I would not just report her but request a meeting with the principal and push for a follow up discussion with the students with corrections of her statements. If I got nowhere with that I would aim higher. This is not a small, unimportant thing.

This! Please do this, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please report back on how MCPS handles it. In my experience MCPS does nothing. They’ve left a school counselor in her position at a diverse school after she made posts on social media that were racist and homophobic. Yeah, it’s her opinion we should build a wall and not call kids by their preferred pronouns, but tell that to the gay kid who found her posts and was very upset.

It should make a difference that she said this in the classroom and not on her Facebook. But this teacher probably has it on her social media as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child's MCPS high school 10th grade health teacher has told her class that vaccines are ineffective, and can cause autism. (She has also told her class about her infant daughter born last year.)

My first thought is to report this to the principal, but I don't want to stifle her free speech. (I am not certain if the topic came up as part of the course, or whether it was incidental. But my daughter did say she lost points on a test by arguing with her.)

Any suggestions on how to handle this?

I'm a teacher. Free speech does not allow me to teach things as fact that are not fact. I teach math. If I told my students that quadrilaterals have 5 sides, or that multiplying two negative numbers gives a negative number, I would expect to be corrected. This isn't different.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I have written to the principal and will see what happens.

In our school, the Health class is taught by gym teachers, and not by science teachers. That makes it more understandable how the teacher might be an anti-vaccine zealot, ignorant of the scientific method. And by saying "understandable", I don't mean forgivable, especially since passing the Health class is a requirement for HS graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child's MCPS high school 10th grade health teacher has told her class that vaccines are ineffective, and can cause autism. (She has also told her class about her infant daughter born last year.)

My first thought is to report this to the principal, but I don't want to stifle her free speech. (I am not certain if the topic came up as part of the course, or whether it was incidental. But my daughter did say she lost points on a test by arguing with her.)

Any suggestions on how to handle this?

This was in the associated press 8 days ago after a study was released from a well regarded scientific research school.

So “studies say” this or that.

Would OP prefer teachers say not to vax your kids?