Culture Clash in the Public Schools

[Anonymous]

What? Cheerleading is now on the no-no list. I have seen cheerleaders at the following schools, Wilson, Banneker, SWW and McKinley Tech all were predominantly black-girl teams in various type of uniforms and of your standards were probably doing suggestive moves. All members met the academic requirements to get into their schools, therefore I am sure they all had the academic requirements to be on the team. As for parent participation it was reflective in the audience, as for the approval and sanction of the groups; everyone who held responsible roles from DCPS was in attendance.

To have someone say that a female soccer member is more creditable than a cheerleader is utterly ridiculous. I betcha this is the same poster who testified at a DC Council hearing when Ballou, Dunbar and Eastern maching bands represented Washington, DC as the Presidential Inauguration parade participant. The testimony back then was "how is it that "those" bands are chosen to perform as they don't reflect diversity. All in all this is not a culture clash it is nothing but subliminal message of color clash. Do you really want the return of rah-rah, sis boom bah!?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you really want the return of rah-rah, sis boom bah!?!

Do you mean as opposed to watching my 6-year-old grind her ass? Yeah. Pretty much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't value socioeconomic diversity.

I thought I did ... until we went to the local public school and participated in community activites. And then I realized that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

For the most part, the lower income kids had teenage parents - my child is in 1st and yes their were kids in her K class whose parents were barely out of their teens - or very young adult parents who think their kid acting like an adult is "cute" and funny but they dont' see any other ramifications of the actions. Further, they themselves are poorly educated and do not value education. Then there is the issues of believing that being a walking advertisement for a bunch of clothing labels they can't afford its the most important thing...

No thanks. You can keep your socioeconomic diveristy.

My child is in a nice private school where "socioeconomic diversity" means driving a Honda and having a bi-weekly maid and I am ok with that.

As you are ok with "Then there is the issues "?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't value socioeconomic diversity.

I thought I did ... until we went to the local public school and participated in community activites. And then I realized that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

For the most part, the lower income kids had teenage parents - my child is in 1st and yes their were kids in her K class whose parents were barely out of their teens - or very young adult parents who think their kid acting like an adult is "cute" and funny but they dont' see any other ramifications of the actions. Further, they themselves are poorly educated and do not value education. Then there is the issues of believing that being a walking advertisement for a bunch of clothing labels they can't afford its the most important thing...

No thanks. You can keep your socioeconomic diveristy.

My child is in a nice private school where "socioeconomic diversity" means driving a Honda and having a bi-weekly maid and I am ok with that.

As you are ok with "Then there is the issues "?

I think you may have wandered in from the "Ask vs Axe" thread by mistake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was floored to hear from a friend of mine whose children attend a nearby elementary school, classmates of her DC in 2nd grade were taken by their mother to the Miley Cyrus concert on a school night!

Second grade! Seven year olds! Either this mom wanted an excuse for herself to go and see Miley Cyrus or she is overcompensating for not being a cool enough mom! Who knows. Miley Cyrus is absolutely inappropriate and trashy. What kind of message is this sending to our young kids. Sad!

My daughter is younger but is this something I'm going to have to worry about at age seven? Is this something very common now, for second graders being taken to Miley Cyrus? Can a 7 year old even see the stage, not that you would really want them to. How scary is this!

[Anonymous]

Guess what? You with the bi-weekly maid and driving the toyota, your status is deemed "low" in certain areas that are of public school standards, just here in the District.

Talking about what you assume that people can't afford is not the issue, I must say what you think is worthy, kinda has me wanting give more to the Salvation Army this holiday season. Priceless.

[Anonymous]

You do find this type of activity, and such behavior encouraged/considered benignly by parents, in the public schools rather than in private school, in this area of the country. That does skew a bit in the South and Mid-West. Like it or not, this IS a value choice and tends to be closely related to socio-economics (but NOT race/ethnicity and not solely income level either). When you do find parents who regard "sexualized" dancing and cheerleading as benign or at the other extreme, those who actually encourage and participate in it themselves, the soci-economics are often more closely related to education level of the parents and grandparents, and then to a lesser extent, household income levels. This encompasses a broader range of economics that includes many newly middle-class and even newly upper-class, if based solely on income. It is also more predictable when one looks at other family activites which relate to socio-economic status (whether NASCAR/WWF and football or the Symphony and golf/tennis/lacrosse) although these lines are more subjective and difficult to draw.

[Anonymous]

low end of the scale, right? I know b/c I drive a Subaru and do my own cleaning - and my children attend private schools.

Anonymous wrote:I don't value socioeconomic diversity.

I thought I did ... until we went to the local public school and participated in community activites. And then I realized that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

For the most part, the lower income kids had teenage parents - my child is in 1st and yes their were kids in her K class whose parents were barely out of their teens - or very young adult parents who think their kid acting like an adult is "cute" and funny but they dont' see any other ramifications of the actions. Further, they themselves are poorly educated and do not value education. Then there is the issues of believing that being a walking advertisement for a bunch of clothing labels they can't afford its the most important thing...

No thanks. You can keep your socioeconomic diveristy.

My child is in a nice private school where "socioeconomic diversity" means driving a Honda and having a bi-weekly maid and I am ok with that.

[Anonymous]

Honestly these issues go way further than cheerleading. I am pretty conservative about what I let my kid see and hear and don't have cable for that reason. This has presented challenges my daughter feels like she is clueless about pop culture and it compounds her social challenges. I basically tell her as a parent it is my responsibility to not expose her to these images and I disagree with other parents. However it is pretty challenging to deal with the wide range of early sexulization that are out there.