Teachers cancel Mother's & Father's Day activities due to student trauma

[Theinquisition]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/school-...cial-1.3407118

WTH is going on with our hat?

Wouldn't it be easier to include more holidays instead of canceling traditional ones?

Two classes at a B.C. elementary school will not celebrate Mother's or Father's Day this year due to a "trauma at the school” and not out of an attempt to be politically correct, the school board superintendent says.

Albert McMahon elementary school, in Mission, B.C., has faced intense criticism on social media recently, after a letter home to parents surfaced on Facebook. In the letter, the school's Grade 1 and 2 teachers say they are nixing Mother's and Father's Day crafts "in an effort to celebrate diversity, inclusiveness and also nurture our students who are part of non-traditional families.

"Due to this, the children will not be making gifts at school to give on Mother's Day and Father's Day," the letter said.

A copy of the letter was posted online by Roy Glebe, whose child attends the school. "I don't understand why we, as Canadians, need to give up our traditions that have been passed through generations," he wrote, in a post that generated many outraged comments.

But Angus Wilson, superintendent of the Mission District Public School Board, says the letter did not address the real reason why the celebrations were cancelled. "Two classes chose not to do a Mother's Day thing due to a trauma at the school," he told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on Wednesday. He added that he could not disclose the nature of the trauma due to student confidentiality rules.

"The messaging home was not great," Wilson said of the letter. He added that the teachers in this situation were fully within their rights to drop their Mother's Day plans, because the holiday is not part of the school curriculum.

"There's no politically correct 'plan,'" he said. "We're not shooting the Easter Bunny."

Wilson says the school has received international attention for the decision, which many have been quick to condemn without looking into the reasons behind it. "The lack of fact-checking… is kind of shocking," he said.

Online reaction has been largely negative to the issue, with many claiming their traditions are under siege.

However, some have acknowledged that Mother's or Father's Day can be particularly painful for those who have recently suffered the loss of a parent.

"As an adult living with the loss of a parent, I can't imagine being in a room full of people making Father's Day cards," user Amanda Roste wrote on Facebook. "I don't think I could handle that at 30, let alone 10."

[hydrium]

They say it's not PC culture but that's just pissing in the wind.

Honestly I love PC culture especially here in the US. Anytime PC culture rears it's ugly head the far left get made fun of even worse and the GOP grows it's base by a ton because of moderate liberals no longer identifying with the Democrats because of the crazies in their party that have hijacked it.

[Zeth Hawkins]

It is perplexing that Superintendent Wilson makes a condemnation of those with a "lack of fact-checking" while providing no facts. His comment about trauma is vague at best, and convenient at worst.

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

I'm really tired of everything being looked at through such a negative lense. One of my grandparents died when I was like 7, that doesn't mean I'd have been upset in class if we're making cards for grandparents day, why can't you make symbolic cards for those who have passed. Same with mother's and father's, if I'd lost one of my parents I can't imagine expecting everyone else to forgo something just because I lost some body.

[Mister Cheese]

"I didn't have parents, therefore everyone else who has parents isn't allowed to enjoy a holiday that doesn't affect me."

That about right?

[Utigarde]

I mean, just making a Parent's Day at the school instead would be easier. It's not like kids are in school for Father's day anyways. Every child has some kind of guardian.

[the game]

There's a trauma in the school but it's classified.

[Serpha]

"I didn't have parents, therefore everyone else who has parents isn't allowed to enjoy a holiday that doesn't affect me."

That about right?

Spot on. Johnny has 2 father so we will celebrate that instead of your Mother's Day. Deal with it.

[Deleted]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/school-...cial-1.3407118

WTH is going on with our hat?

Wouldn't it be easier to include more holidays instead of canceling traditional ones?

It's California, what's the surprise?

[minteK917]

Not everyone has a mother in their lives. No reason to force little kids to be depressed because they feel like an outsider in addition to not having a mother.

Should cancel all sports, not everyone has legs either. Should cancel all life, not everyone is still alive. Mothers day at that age could even be used as a day to make everyone remember they are lucky to have one and show sympathy to kids that dont.

[Rokom]

It's California, what's the surprise?

It's in Canada, though...

[Deleted]

It's California, what's the surprise?

.ca is Canada, not to mention the /canada/ in your link should've given it away.

[Garnier Fructis]

"I didn't have parents, therefore everyone else who has parents isn't allowed to enjoy a holiday that doesn't affect me."

That about right?

Not using class time to do holiday stuff is the same as disallowing people from enjoying a holiday?

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Should cancel all sports, not everyone has legs either. Should cancel all life, not everyone is still alive.

Being in class is mandatory. Being in a sports team, is not.

[MonsieuRoberts]

Why does everything have to get boiled down to satisfy the lowest common denominator? It's okay to have differences, and not everything has to have a negative light shined upon it.

[Grimbold21]

I mean, the letter the teachers wrote is just them asking for backlash with all the diversity and inclusion crap.

If the real reason is over a trauma a particular student went through, why not just say that, that they opted not to celebrated it out of respect for someone? You're not naming anyone and you might actually get a positive reaction for that as opposed to what happened.

[Socialhealer]

"I didn't have parents, therefore everyone else who has parents isn't allowed to enjoy a holiday that doesn't affect me."

That about right?

pretty much so, i shouldn't bother to learn anything because you know somewhere in the world, it's not affecting someone, so fuck all holiday's fuck their beliefs fuck everything because all 7.5 billion people can't relate to it.

[El_Diabl0]

Not everyone has a mother in their lives. No reason to force little kids to be depressed because they feel like an outsider in addition to not having a mother.

Some people are deaf, therefore no one should be allowed to talk. No reason to force little kids to be depressed because they can't hear what other people are saying.

[Arewn]

I'd assume by trauma they're referring to a death or some-such that occurred in a student's family. Which is a reasonable enough cause to suspend related activities. I don't usually support "if one person suffers, everyone else has to too" solutions, but in this case I don't think it's a big deal.

That said, I'm in complete agreement with the response which that parent had to the letter. The original letter's stated reason for suspending mother's/father's day is pretty B.S. (not that they had much choice on what to put in the letter, because of the confidentiality issues)

[Wyrt]

Who cares? They're just made up holidays for hallmark to sell cards and shit.

[Mister Cheese]

Not using class time to do holiday stuff is the same as disallowing people from enjoying a holiday?

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Being in class is mandatory. Being in a sports team, is not.

Holiday activities are standard for elementary schools.