Minnesota teachers union opposes policy on controversial topics

The teachers union in Minnesota's largest school district urged its school board Monday night to drop a proposed policy on handling controversial topics in the classroom, saying educators should be trusted to mediate student discussions about sexual orientation and other issues.

The board proposed the change to replace a current policy that requires teachers to remain neutral when the topic of human sexuality comes up during class. Some people believe the current policy, which is being challenged by two lawsuits, fosters bullying of gay students.

The policy came under fire after six students in the district committed suicide in less than two years. The district in the northern Twin Cities suburbs has about 38,500 students and 2,800 teachers.

Julie Blaha, president of the Anoka-Hennepin district's local of the Education Minnesota union, told the board that the union supports dropping the current policy. She called the discussion "a good step" toward improving the climate for discussing contentious issues.

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Jim

Here we go again. It all boils down to homosexual demands. There are laws on the books that protect people from assaults now. Enforce those laws and you won't have to add new laws just for the homosexuals. Everything has to be geared so that their demand for minority status will be fullfilled, that is what is at the bottom of the matter.
- Ray
  
  I would agree with Jim. I would also like to say that I think that he is trying nice and politically correct. In my opinion we cannot continue to be politically correct and win the battle. Myself, i do not like to watch gay people on prime time television. I do not want to act like it is ok and i do not want my children exposed to it.
  They have taken God out of the schools, and i know that some people may disagree, but i feel like we are moving away from the way this country was founded.
  - daves
    
    In July of last year, 15-year-old Justin Aaberg took his own life after being bullied for being gay.
    
    Four other suicides over the last year in the same school district, Anoka-Hennepin, were also linked to “a pervasive atmosphere of anti-gay hostility.”
    
    It’s hard to imagine a school environment so toxic to lesbian and gay youth that it could lead five students to take their own lives — until hearing about Anoka-Hennepin's district-wide “neutrality” policy on homosexuality, which allows anti-gay bullying to go virtually unchecked.
    
    In this 40,000-student school district, the “neutrality” policy bans faculty and staff from discussing sexual orientation or recognizing homosexuality — effectively a “gag” rule that officially marginalizes gay students and licenses bullying.
    
    Petition signer Baiba Olinger, who taught at Anoka-Hennepin district schools for 33 years, said, “I feel we have gone backwards in our policy towards LGBT students. How can ‘being neutral’ work? Can I be ‘neutral’ on someone being female or black?”
    
    Right now, administrators and faculty are standing by as students are bullied and even beaten. One teen dropped out after being attacked and called a “faggot” in front of teachers and classmates who did nothing to intervene.
    
    Gay youth are left with the choice of attending school under miserable conditions or leaving – and some are becoming so depressed they take their own lives, as Justin Aaberg did.
    
    Justin’s mother says, "I had no clue that in a school they would have a climate like this and be okay with it.”
    - daves
      
      I cannot imagine how horrible it would be to be gay.
      
      This is my daughters school district. She does her best to treat people with kindness, the way Jesus taught us to.
      - Eric
        
        "I cannot imagine how horrible it would be to be gay."
        
        I know, right? All that having sex with other men stuff? Icky! It's horrible just thinking about it…
      - http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
        
        Which gets into the heart of whether being gay is a choice or a natural behavior. I also cannot imagine having sex with a man. Under any circumstances. Which is why I am sure it is not a choice. There is nothing that could occur in my life that would make the idea of sex with a man something I would ever consider doing.
      - Eric
        
        It's irrelevant if it's a choice or not. Lots of things in life are non-choices, but we still must live with them: where we are born, to whom we are born, what skills and talents we have, what interests us, etc. The choice aspect is a non-argument. What's really important is whether it is right, wrong, or indifferent.
        
        People that are really intrigued by and interested in the human body might choose to become surgeons or serial killers. The attraction is not the issue, but what the individual does with it.
      - http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
        
        It is completely relevant. If being gay is a natural tendency, then it shows that the limitations being placed by a supposedly all knowing god is bunk.
        
        People who decide to kill others are harming others. Two gay men, engaging in consensual sex are not harming anyone. Your comparison is way off.
      - Eric
        
        It wasn't meant to be a comparison, it was meant to be an example. You believe that everything is a natural tendency, so what difference does it make to you? If it comes from "nature," whether it is similar or different from other "natural" things, who is to say it is either good or bad (in your way of thinking that is). You measure "harming others" as the ultimate litmus test, I do not.
      - http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
        
        Eric, you believe that god and the bible is the ultimate litmus test. Well, Jesus says to treat others nice as well.
        
        Matthew 7:12
        New International Version (NIV)
        
        12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
      - Eric
        
        Actually being "nice" has nothing to do with it, as this is 100% arbitrary. The point Jesus is making is one of equity and not one of the "Bill and Ted" ethic ("be excellent to one another"). This is obvious because Jesus goes on to state that this "sums up" the teachings of the entire Old Testament (i.e. the Law and the Prophets). The intent of the Law was the focus here, not the mere keeping of it. Far from denigrating the Law, Jesus is actually giving it a much deeper meaning. To be sure, not hurting others is a part of it, but it is not the resolution of it.
      - http://bit.ly/tacnDN Despeville
        
        'People who decide to kill others are harming others. Two gay men, engaging in consensual sex are not harming anyone. "
        
        13th imam of ignorance you obviously ate oblivious to medical statistics showing decreased life span of homosexuals and a whole plethora of diseases that leads to that.
      - http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
        
        http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_…
      - http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
        
        http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligenc…
    - msjallen
      
      Someone needs to learn from the middle school my granddaughters go to. There is ZERO tolerance to bullying. One of my granddaughters was being bullied so much that she withdrew into herself and almost failed one term in 7th grade. We tried to do and say everything we knew to do. It was not until we went to the school office and found out that all she needed to do is fill out a form naming all the kids that were harrassing her. She did and to this day they leave her completely alone. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when they met with those bullies. We are thankful for the school they attend and BTW it is in CA.
    - keyboardshark
      
      daves:
      Students at schools get bullied for all kinds of reasons. They may be small, they may have some disfiguring feature, they may speak with a stutter, etc. How do I know this? Because I attended secular public schools all my life and witnessed it firsthand. Thankfully none that I know of committed suicide, and my heart goes out to the family of Justin Aaberg. No one should have to go through such trauma, and the bullying that was done was absolutely wrong, regardless of the reasons.
      
      Point is, there are far more reasons for someone to get bullied than being gay. These special protections for gays are just a smokescreen for pushing a larger agenda of widespread acceptance of homosexual behavior. That is why stories like these get so much publicity in the media.
      - daves
        
        Telling teachers that they can finally get involved and stop the bullies when it involves sexual orientation is not a special protection.
      - keyboardshark
        
        daves:
        That's not what I was referring to. I was talking about the special laws that have been enacted, mostly at the state or local level, when there are already laws on the books to prosecute violence against anyone, not just gays, and the so-called "hate crimes" legislation that has a chilling effect on free speech. http://www.transgenderlaw.org/ndlaws/index.htm
      - http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
        
        Since Christians are the majority in this country, the bulk of kids in this country are being raised by Christians. If they would simply teach their children that bullying is unacceptable, and to leave others alone, the problem would not need to be addressed by the school system.
      - keyboardshark
        
        I agree, Jeff. Not only Christians, but everyone of every stripe has to realize that bullying of any sort for any reason is unacceptable. And you're correct, it has to start at home.
- http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
  
  You could also try teaching your children to not be a bully. Why not give that option a try. How about teaching your children that bullying is unacceptable?
  
  How about leaving gay kids alone? If the Christian god has a problem with gays, let him deal with it.
retiredcoach

The issues causing teen suicide are much more and much deeper than a "discussion" in a classroom and not the major responsibility of the schools!
Parents upbringing, influences of the popular music, videos, and movies, and use of drugs and alcohol,+ little or no religious training-all are causes!
Randy131

Homosexual propaganda, in coordination with LBGT Organizations, and stupid teachers who think they know what the truth is, have caused some of our youth to believe falsely that they are homosexual, and that fear has caused them to take their own lives, as much as any purported bullying by heterosexuals. What should be promoted is that any child with questions about themselves, should be encouraged to speak to their parents about it, to help them to cope, learn, and understand the truth from those who really care and are truly responsible for their wellbeing. The state needs to quit trying to control and indoctrinate our children, and let the parents raise their own children, not teachers that are one year acquaintances.
Esteban Cafe

Students are ill-equiped to discuss these topics and are easily led by their teachers…as they should be were the teachers trust worthy. Next, they'll want full homo access to your Sunday School classroom.
ONTIME

Yep, free speech and facts just get in the way of socialist, especially in a closed civil forum under scrutiny. Yelling and cursing while someone else is practicing free speech, now that's social equality.
ONTIME

Why would a socialist atmosphere allow civil discourse and free speech in a closed forum when the can suppress and control the content and call it social justice?
buck

Yeah ! Way to go ! How about just letting kids be normal and severely punish the bullies . Homosexuality is a fact , but it is far from "normal " . Every time I hear this crap about protecting homosexuals which is just code for making their perversion " acceptable , I say a little prayer for a huge asteroid to slam into the planet and make it a bunch of " normal " meteors .
- http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
  
  Sure, pray for all life to be destroyed. That is a perfectly normal response. (eyes roll)
  - KnowTheTruthToday
    
    Schools should not teach them on sexuality one way or another – that should be done at home
KnowTheTruthToday

Teach them academics and we will teach them what they need to know about sexuality at home.
- http://rationalresponses.blogspot.com/ Jeff Dixon
  
  If parents had bothered to do that in the first place, the schools would not have needed to impliment sex ed.
Bud MacGuire

People who reject Christianity generally do not believe in God, and for that reason they have no reason to fear the results of suicide. Everyone gets to face hurdles of one sort or another in life. It is the aetheism of those students that was primarily responsible for their suicide. People who are properly educated on what to expect in the next world do not commit suicide. It was their faulty education that bears primary responsibility for their suicides.
msjallen

There have been many Christians who have committed suicide. Why? Because they decided to live life their way instead of God's way. They loose their confidence in God and can't find their way back and full guilt they think they have to end it all. This is why it is so important that the Word of God be taught consistently so people can know who the Lord is, what He did for us and why we are here and why we need a savior. However, there will ALWAYS be soul sick people who can't take the pressures of life regardless of their circumstances — both believers and unbelievers. Every believer's responsibility is to live their lives as unto the Lord and not as unto people or the world's system. Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.