Some St. Tammany schools banned talk of Obama's election; many parents outraged

[kpete]

Source: The Times-Picayune

Some St. Tammany schools banned talk of Obama's election; many parents outraged
by Kia Hall Hayes, The Times-Picayune
Thursday November 20, 2008, 7:00 AM

Crowded into the multipurpose room at Mandeville Elementary School on the morning of Nov. 5, the student body of more than 500 boys and girls joined American citizens and people throughout the world in celebrating the election of Barack Obama, who will become the country's first black president.

That experience was not mirrored, however, at some other public schools in St. Tammany Parish. According to interviews with many students and school administrators in the past week, some teachers not only avoided talk of the election, but also banned students from discussing it or mentioning Obama's name.

The reports have many parents up in arms and black leaders on alert. Greater Covington NAACP President James "Gus" Davis and a coalition of local black ministers met with schools Superintendent Gayle Sloan on Wednesday morning to discuss the issue.

"It's racial, " Davis said afterward. "We have a person that's black that made president. This is the South, this is a completely Republican parish."

Read more: http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/some_st_tammany_schools_ban_ta.html

[BOSSHOG]

1. I'm not quite sure

but I think the "ban" on talk was because there was so much anti-Obama talk going on in subject schools. There is one parent of a St Tammany School Student who addressed this on DU earlier in the month.

[NOLALady]

17. Hey neighbor,

The girl from Slidell High was absolutely right according to my daughter. I just don't understand why the Principal denied that he gave the order to not discuss the election. I understood why he gave the order and had no problem with it.

Now, this is the first I heard about sending some kids to detention. That is wrong. As a parent, I would have complained.

[FSogol]

2. Send everyone in that District an invitation to join us all in the 21st Century. n/t

[Demeter]

3. And Note on the Invitiation That It's Being Held in the US of A

maybe include a copy of the Declaration AND the Constitution, for reference?

[L0oniX]

10. Invite them to a white sheet burning party!

[cobalt1999]

4. I agree with the schools.

A school staying on topic, that's a real good reason for parents to be outraged. :eyes:

The win was great, but I wouldn't expect the school schedule or teacher lesson plans to be modified because of it.

I'd be a pissed parent if my kids school had a celebration instead of classes

[bertman]

13. Yep, Cobalt, and if they had actually done that it would have been fine, but apparently

there were plenty of teachers who were willing to express their negative opinions about Obama and their positive opinions about McCain. That's unacceptable.

I have relatives who lived in Slidell and Picayune, and believe me, there are some serious racists down there. I guess 76% voting for McCain says it all.

[cobalt1999]

22. Well, then those teacher should be punished.

I live in a very red area too, so I know what life is like in one.

Either the schools are fair and discuss both candidates or they should discuss neither.

[bertman]

26. I agree, but what are the odds that will happen? Now, if a pro-Obama teacher had done that

we know what would happen.

[Bushies gotta go]

15. why in the heck

would you NOT consider the election to be one of the biggest historical events in our history? There's a BIG difference in having a party and making sure an educator discusses the event... they did not ban celebrations, they banned free speech and an opportunity to educate kids who really need a voice outside their homes about what just happened. Teaching our future voters civics lessons is JUST as important as teaching them math, maybe even more so.

I lived in Columbine a year before the killings. When the killings happened, I lived in TX and my son was in middle school. As upset as I was over Columbine, I went to the principal and asked him what his school was going to do, whether they were going to have an assembly and talk to the children. His response: "Naw, we ain't gonna mention it to the kids, we ain't gonna talk about it. We're gonna pray it don't happen here." I was aghast. I told him that I had entered the school, freely, via a back door. That his school was wide open to any kind of attack, that kids were "upset and scared" (according to my son) and that all he could thing to do was "pray to god?" Sure, ignore it and it will go away.

But then this school DID do something. They decided that since we were from Columbine, we must be crazy killers... so they took my son into the office, had a cop come in... and questioned him.... oh yeah, that was their entire way of dealing with it.

So, your seeming attitude of "the school is right" in not allowing an open discussion.... reminds me of THAT situation once again.

[cobalt1999]

23. Schools never allow open discussions during classes

There would be mayhem if schools didn't stop open discussions on whatever was interesting to the students for the day.

I would expect a short discussion in maybe a history class or civics class; otherwise the Math, Science, English, etc classes should proceed as planned.

[Bushies gotta go]

27. Never say never

I'm sorry but I disagree with you, schools are (in my opinion)not that rigid, that "black and white" (no pun intended). Teachers do allow the taking of a few minutes for kids to discuss things that bother them or they are happy about, even if it is home life, school life, etc. That doesn't mean they allow the kids to dictate how the entire class time is conducted. But what we are talking about in this thread is the school(s) banning all talk, period.

I agree with your assessment that civics or history classes could be a viable venue for a teacher-student discussion and, if a student in a class where he/she respects and trusts his teacher, to afford that student the opportunity to bring it up and discuss things... then fine.

And I further agree that this is a volatile subject in any school. Because, if the school had set a plan in motion with how teachers might handle/discuss the election the day after, there are going to be PO'd parents on the opposite side, whatever that may be. Teachers do have a duty to present history in an unbiased fashion. I can't help thinking that if the 2nd and 3rd graders in Idaho had gone to school and heard a teacher say something good about the election, even if it was a discussion on the merits of a democratic society, they may not have chanted "kill Obama".

This is why I related my kid's school/Columbine aftermath story.... burying your head in the sand and hoping it goes away doesn't cut it.... and outright banning a free discussion is even worse.

[NOLALady]

18. I'd be pissed if my kid was sent to detention

for discussing the President elect with peers while outside of class.

[cobalt1999]

24. Outside of class? Yes.

Inside class, I would expect my kid to be punished.

[NOLALady]

25. According to my daughter,

most of the political discussions among the students took place at Lunch and in the Halls.

[catrose]

5. OMG! Alma mater!

how typical

[Schema Thing]

6. It's bizarre. Going to work in Mandeville and Covington after Katrina

I noticed there were no black people.


I'm from Texas (no bastion of progressiveness in itself), and I'm shocked by the racism and segregation that is modern day Louisiana.

[NOLALady]

19. Did you work with the medics at the

Covington School? If so, there were Blacks working there. You may not have known that they were Black.

[madmom]

7. This would have been a perfect time for a few "extra" lessons in compassion,

history, and possibly civics. To cover something like this up will only make it worse.

[a la izquierda]

8. I know someone who grew up in Mandeville...

I'm not surprised by this based on what this person told me about life there. I also heard a statue of Ronald Reagan was going up in Covington not too long ago...don't know if that happened, but :eyes:

[L0oniX]

9. Another repuke GOP KKK district ...no surprise

[yellowcanine]

11. Hmm, seems like the social studies and history teachers would be using this event as a springboard

for class discussions on race and politics in the U.S.A, what it means as far as the way other countries view us, etc. Obama as President Elect is a fact. It should be part of the school curriculum. Any social studies or history teacher who does not understand that should probably seek employment more suited to their skills.

[Bushies gotta go]

16. EXACTLY!

[gabby garcia]

12. I wish we could bus teachers and admistration.

Send them right on up to the most liberal and racially diverse school districts we can find and vice versa. Our teachers must teach our country's future generations without hate and divisiveness. This should be taught in school!! Living in Texas, I can tell you I'm appalled at what my kids tell me our neighbors kids say about Obama and it is all overt racism they learn directly from their parents. I know they're getting it from their parents but we must not allow or encourage this kind of divisiveness in our public school system as well. Just like the economy we are going to have to grow unification from the ground up starting with our nation's children.

[NOLALady]

14. My daughter is a senior at Slidell High.

She didn't mention that some students went to detention. But, she definitely told me two days after the election, the Principal made an announcement over the PA that there could be no discussion of the election. He stated it was because of problems caused among the students.

"Kasey Terrebonne, a senior at Slidell High School who is white, said Principal William Percy announced two days after the election that some students had received detention for discussing it.

Reached for comment, Percy, who is white, disputed that he banned political discussion and that students were punished."

[yellowcanine]

20. Maybe that principal needs to be waterboarded in order to get to the truth of what he actually did.

Gitmo time for Mr. Percy!

[Schema Thing]

21. "Terrebonne", I have a feeling she's not a newcomer to the area!

[Doctor_J]

28. I wonder if the next generation of US History texts that list Obama as 44

will be banned in schools in the South.