School/Life is Too Politically Correct...

Wow, you brought up a lot of important issues here. First, of all, it's easy to offend people when you have a "melting pot" society with all people being equal but then you want to call yourself a "Christian" nation. Christmas has two versions, one with Santa the other with Jesus. As a non-christian, my children have seen a little bit of all of it, christmas, chaunakah, kwanzaa, ramadan, and the winter solstice. I never raise one over the other and I never put one down. By the same token, I don't like the concept of God being shoved down my children's throats. I don't like the thought of them having to make pledges to a god they do not believe in and should not have to believe in, in order to be considered patriotic. This is a country founded on civil liberties and religious freedom. That also includes the right to choose no religion at all. In a public school, my belief is just as important as any christian parent's belief. If you want to pledge allegiance to your god, do so in a private school dedicated to your beliefs or in the sanctity of your home. Sticks on the playground and nurses fixing glasses have to do with insurance, not political correctness. The school is liable if they allow my child to play with sticks and he pokes your child's eye out. They are actually more liable than I would be. Schools are afraid because the less parents are involved with their children's education, the more they want the schools to be responsible. So, yeah, join the school board for your kids' district and get involved.

I agree that things are getting seriously out of control with trying to not offend anyone, but in reality, unless you speak to noone, look at noone, and do not leave your house, chaces are you will inadvertently offend someone! Schools are getting carried away in some respects as to how to deal with the pc issue, but at the same time, we as parents need to shoulder some responsiblity. We cannot complain about how things are going if we're not actively trying to change it. For us, we decided to homeschool, mainly because I don't like the amount of testing that is going on in the hopes of trying to fix a failing system. They are putting to much pressure on these kids and the pressure should be on the school boards and the politicians that fund the schools. And as far as behavior in the schools, a lot of what goes on in the schools starts in the home. We cannot expect a teacher to discipline our child as well as 28 other kids. I can rant about this all day, but I'll stop now....