Broken Lesson

Lawsuit Over Brokeback Mountain in Class

This headline is not particularly shocking, considering the abysmal state of our education system today. However, I must ask the rather obvious question: Regardless of content, when is it ever okay to allow 12 year-olds to watch an R-rated film?! There is a reason that R-rated movies are "R"estricted to those 17 and older. Whether it is foul language, violence, or graphic sex (including sodomy), children should never be exposed to this kind of "adult content"--especially without the consent of an adult.

This is yet another example of the arrogant attitude many in the education mafia exhibit when it comes to parental rights. Too often these "educators" believe that they know better than parents how to educate children and therefore keep information from the parents. It is an abuse of the trust parents place in teachers and schools to protect their children from morally questionable behavior and issues that the children are not emotionally prepared to deal with.

The teacher in this class actually had the audacity to declare "what happens in [my] class, stays in [my] class." Well, obviously not, since young, impressionable minds absorb such images and carry them on into adolescence and beyond. Perhaps worse than the institutional arrogance, is that this teacher probably wanted the kids in her class to "like her" and see her as a friend, not a teacher. In the never-ending quest to be seen as cool and hip, some adults abdicate their role as the adult and become worse than the immature children they try to befriend.

I suppose it may be too much to expect this teacher will be fired and banned from ever setting foot in another classroom. It's easier to walk to the moon than fire a teacher. And this is part of the problem: bad teachers are not held accountable. In the end, good teachers, as well as students, suffer the consequences.