originally posted in:Secular Sevens
[quote]A controversial Tennessee bill that would stop teachers from discussing sexuality with their students has been resurrected in the state legislature, and the 2013 version includes a troubling new provision.
Nicknamed the "Don't Say Gay" bill, Republican state Sen. Stacey Campfield's measure would "prohibit teachers from discussing of any sexuality except heterosexuality in grades K-8."
At grade levels pre-K through eight (pre-K-8), any such classroom instruction, course materials or other informational resources that are inconsistent with natural human reproduction shall be classified as inappropriate for the intended student audience and, therefore, shall be prohibited.
The proposed legislation, officially titled the "Classroom Protection Act," was not put to a final vote at the end of last year's General Assembly, reports the Knoxville News Sentinel, but one of its sponsors warned it would be re-filed if "alternative lifestyles" were being promoted in the state school system.
This new incarnation of the bill retains its proposed ban on LGBT discussions in the classroom and has also added a provision that could be interpreted as forcing school authorities to inform parents if their child is gay.
School counselors, nurses, principals and assistant principals can talk to students about human sexuality if a student is "engaging in, or may be at risk of engaging in, behavior injurious to the physical or mental health and well- being of the student or another person," according to the bill. However, the measure provides that "Parents or legal guardians of such students shall be notified as soon as practicable of the circumstances requiring intervention."
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This bill was incredibly ridiculous from the start and now it can easily be interpreted by teachers as requiring them to inform parents if they have reason to believe that their child is gay etc.
I can't believe that there are people in this country that are even willing to pass legislation like this although it really shouldn't surprise me.
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Edited by GrandmasterNinja: 2/1/2013 12:46:35 PM
Started a new topic: Why do people think schools should teach you everything?(34 Replies))
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Lol. Woah. Glad we don't have problems like that in Canada.
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[quote]one of its sponsors warned it would be re-filed if "alternative lifestyles" were being promoted in the state school system.[/quote] You can practically smell the homophobia.
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Whats wrong with it? If little johnny is making out with a dude during lunch, someone needs to tell his parents.
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Edited by Coup de Grace: 1/31/2013 11:52:11 PMWell, I'm -blam!-ed No but srsly: Not that I agree with it, but it makes sense (in theory). The teachers wouldn't be aloud to promote or attack homosexuality. And homosexuality isn't considered a mental disorder, so the teachers wouldn't be required to tell the parents if they're suspicious that a student is gay. It would be more accurate to say that "Dont Say Gay bill requires teachers to tell parents if child is into BDSM"
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"obummers comin for ur freedums"
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So basically what they are saying is, "If we ignore Homosexuality, it will go away." That's like saying "If we ignored Hurricane Katrina, it would have gone away."
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So...teaching ignorance?
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That is idiotic. -blam!- those bigoted, sexualist, old, conservative assholes. They don't deserve to hold public office.
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[quote]School counselors, nurses, principals and assistant principals can talk to students about human sexuality if a student is "engaging in, or may be at risk of engaging in, behavior injurious to the physical or mental health and well- being of the student or another person," according to the bill. However, the measure provides that "Parents or legal guardians of such students shall be notified as soon as practicable of the circumstances requiring intervention." [/quote]So being gay is injurious to physical and mental health and requires intervention? Dafuq?
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Yes, because teachers are always right and can tell with 1005 accuracy the sexual orientation of a minor.... WTF people.
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Welcome to the south
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Edited by A 3 Legged Goat: 1/31/2013 4:54:34 AMDon't they usually start human anatomy/biology/sex ED in 8th+ anyway?
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I sort of don't blame Tennessee. I'd have to see the entire build to nitpick at it, but in sum, the bill is about to exclude talk of homosexuality from school. There is nothing wrong with that in thought. Schools are academic institutions. You're meant to learn subjects such as English, Math, Science, History, and so forth. What does homosexuality, let alone heterosexuality bring to school? Absolutely nothing. It is a gender/sexuality topic and it has no hard academic purpose in grades K - 8.
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why can't you guys just nuke the south? it would be a lot easier than hearing about what retarded "laws" they pass.
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There are some downsides to Federalism....
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Personally, I wouldnt send my kid to a school where they teach or talk about homosexuality.
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I swear something needs to be done against the unnecessary bashing of gay people. We are passing laws and basically treating them unequal for having a different lifestyle. It's -blam!-ing ridiculous!
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This seems relatively consistent with the idea that teachers aren't to be teaching their students about personal/developmental values. As easy as it is to take a stance of "it's not fair to gay people", heterosexual interaction is a part of human reproduction which cannot be said about homosexual interaction. It may sound callous, but it actually makes sense if were just speaking academically.
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I understand that it's an attempt to prevent bullying by removing the spotlight from typically inflammatory subjects, but why not just remove all talk of sexuality from classrooms and reserve it to sex-ed?
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I share TJ's opinion on this. Especially the "moderate" republican part.
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From what I see, this bill is saying to not talk about sexuality in general. Heterosexual sex is something that produces children, and that is why they SHOULD be talking about that. It answers the "where do babies come from?" question that parents lie to their little kids about (storks etc.). It's literally a bio lesson. Now homosexual sex education is just going to end up like this "some men like men, and some women like women, and some like both." That would be it. Nothing to learn, nothing to test on. It is something you'd learn in a psychology class in highschool.
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This is stupid and needlessly cruel. Kids that question their sexuality are confused enough without having to worry about their teacher reporting every word back to their parents. I could see if they were talking about teen pregnancy or drug use. But this? Its aimed to teach gay kids to get in and stay in the closet forever.
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[quote]engaging in, or may be at risk of engaging in, behavior injurious to the physical or mental health and well- being of the student or another person[/quote][quote]Parents or legal guardians of such students shall be notified as soon as practicable of the circumstances requiring intervention[/quote]I have no words.
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Edited by Tartan 118: 1/31/2013 1:21:48 PMI should stop replying to these threads with >Murrika >Republicans