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  Friday, October 2, 2009 Teachers should teach students the truth Young people continue to trail blaze social change. BARBARA VENEZIA: FOOD FOR THOUGHT CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST Civil rights, anti-war protests, environmental issues – all headlines when I was a student in the 1960s. Nothing's changed. Today's civil rights issues – gay rights, anti-war protests – the war in Iraq and Afghanistan not Vietnam. Back then we replaced paper for plastic; today we're replacing the plastic. Young people continue to trail blaze social change. My 10-year-old neighbor posted a sign on a vacant lot in protest. She wanted to see a park built, not a parking lot. Today that land is Mesa Birch Park. Student activism prompted Newport Beach to ban Styrofoam. Corona Del Mar High School students successfully fought the principal's opposition to the musical "Rent." Their voices being heard and the homophobia within the student body and school exposed. Seems our educators could learn a few lessons from their students. The American family is constantly changing. No longer cookie-cutter, today's parents have crossed racial, age and gender lines. The reality is children have two mommies or two daddies, a younger mom and a dad who could double as a grandfather, racially mixed parents, and whose folks haven't been divorced? Kids today are hipper about social issues than some give them credit for. Enter the fuss about Harvey Milk Day. OC and Newport Mesa school boards are against it. Fear mongers worried the government's teaching homosexuality to their kids. Well not quite. What the Senate Bill SEC. 2.5., Section 37222 of the Education Code is amended to read: "37222. (a) the following days in each year are designated and set apart as days having special significance: (1) The second Wednesday in May as the Day of the Teacher. (2) April 21 of each year as John Muir Day. (3) April 6 of each year as California Poppy Day. (4) May 22 of each year as Harvey Milk Day. (5) March 30 of each year as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. (b) On each of the days designated in subdivision (a), all public schools and educational institutions are encouraged to observe those days and to conduct suitable commemorative exercises as follows: (1) The Day of the Teacher, exercises commemorating and directing attention to teachers... (2) John Muir Day, exercises stressing the importance that an ecologically sound natural environment plays in the quality of life... (3) California Poppy Day, exercises honoring the California Poppy..... (4) Harvey Milk Day, exercises remembering the life of Harvey Milk, recognizing his accomplishments, and familiarizing pupils with the contributions he made to this state. (5) Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day, exercises recognizing the contributions of all those involved in the Vietnam War..." History picked Harvey Milk. He was by no means perfect, but he was an important figure in the fight for civil rights and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I'm not sure it's wise to delete teaching that history based on his sexuality. Teaching kids about Harvey Milk isn't about teaching them to be gay. The lessons learned here are about fighting injustice, standing up for equality, tolerance and promoting change in the face of overwhelming odds. Educators should be teaching the truth, not afraid of it... or their version of it. |
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