Another school Another dumb thing

I remained convinced that "educators" as a class have less common sense than the national average.

MARIETTA – Campbell Middle School has adjusted its curriculum on the Middle East after a parent complained that material provided for one assignment “positively slants towards Islam.” The creator of the materials, though, said she doesn’t understand the objection.

I will give the school kudos for responding to the problem, but note that the creator does not. What was the issue??

Hal Medlin said the assignment, sent home with his seventh-grader in late August, was aimed at helping students outline the pros and cons of school uniforms. The material includes a letter from a woman who is explaining why she is “proud and happy” to be Muslim and a list of seven conditions for women’s dress in Islam.

snip

“My name is Ahlima and I live in Saudi Arabia. … Perhaps two differences Westerners would notice are that women here do not drive cars and they wear abuyah. An abuyah is a loose-fitting black cloth that covers a woman from head to toe. I like wearing the abuyah since it is very comfortable, and I am protected from blowing sand. … I have seen pictures of women in the West and find their dress to be horribly immodest. …Women in the West do not have the protection of the Sharia as we do here. If our marriage has problems, my husband can take another wife rather than divorce me, and I would still be cared for. … I feel very fortunate that we have the Sharia."

Now I would say that anyone with any education, or exposure to any world news would read could read that paragraph and see that it is outrageously slanted. Anyone that is, except for the people in the education business.

But Sharon Coletti, the founder of Roswell-based InspirEd Educators and the creator of the material at issue, said she does not see Medlin’s objection.

“This particular sequence is a two-day social studies lesson. They read this letter and then examine stereotyping. The next lesson is a compare and contrast on the role of women in the middle East. Yes, the Muslim girl stereotypes Western women, but are there ways we stereotype Muslims? I have no idea what the objection is,” she said.

Link

No idea???? Well we could start with the fact that it paints an incomplete and inaccurate picture of women's plight under Shariah law.

I wish I had Ms Coletti's email address. I would send her an email asking if she was aware that women under Shariah Law are often not allowed to be educated, stoned for being accused of infidelity, killed for bringing "dishonor" to the family...you know... like being alone with a non family male or wanting to marry someone else....and among other things, this:

Just days after Saudi Arabia’s king announced landmark voting reforms for women, female activist Sheima Jastaniah was sentenced to 10 lashes for defying the nation’s ban on driving, according to fellow activists.

Link

And, of course, we always have the "we must have empathy" excuse.

All public middle school students in Georgia spend 12 weeks learning about the Middle East, and that includes religions in that region, including the dominant Islam, she said.

“It’s important for kids to have some empathy for other people in the world. Some people think we’re trying to teach their children to be Muslims, and that could not be more ridiculous,” Coletti said.

I would add:

No, Ms Coletti, you aren't trying to teach them to be Muslims. You are trying to teach them that Shariah law and its application is the moral equivalent of western societal norms and laws.

And I would ask just one additional question. In those 12 weeks in which you teach them about religion in the Middle East...... does that include Christianity and Judaism??



"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt "Logic. There is little logic among the cultural elite, maybe because there is little omnipresent fear of job losses or the absence of money, and so arises a rather comfortable margin to indulge in nonsense." - Victor Davis Hanson