Dear Literary Loves,
Well, I was away for a wedding last Thursday and did not arrive home until Sunday, March 17th, 2015. Beautiful wedding by the way in Montreat, North Carolina. Very progressive town.
Now, I've made my way back down the mountains of North Carolina and am back in the triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) to discover that evidently some parents were outraged at the way a third grade teacher at Efland-Cheeks Elementary School handled a situation involving bullying in his classroom. The story is that the teacher, Mr. Omar Currie, observed students bullying a male student by calling him a girl or woman. Mr Currie then read the book King & King by Linda Detlean and Stern Nijland to his class. This is a book where a King must find a male suitor and subsequently, the two men live happily ever after as Kings. Brilliant! I'm a former middle school teacher, inner city by the way, and I give Mr. Omar Currie a standing ovation. You nipped it in the bud man! My hat's off to you.
Interestingly, some parents were upset by Mr. Currie reading the book King & King to their children. And one parent went so far as to say that Mr. Currie was promoting homosexuality and steering children in that direction. Oh, for the love of Mother Mary! Well, dear parent who objects to the way Mr. Currie handled the situation, here's my advice to you: Wake up and witness the diversity that surrounds us in 2015. It is truly what makes the world go round. Open your mind and your heart. I realize that's going to be difficult as both are obviously welded shut. Since when do I as a teacher or former teacher have to stand by and willingly allow your kid or any other student in my classroom bully, insult and verbally abuse another child?! I wouldn't be doing my job if I allowed this to occur. And if you feel your child is being pushed in the wrong direction, well then my dear, you can always find your dearest and fairest of the fair child a new private, religious school where you can dictate to the staff and faculty your beliefs and acceptable behavior. In the public school system, I was there to call forth the best in my students intellectually and emotionally. That includes open-mindedness and a peaceful nature. Is that not what you would want for your child/student?
You know, in my day, I taught summer school one year because no teacher in North Carolina is ever paid what they truly deserve. I witnessed students bullying a student who wore some of the same clothes to school each day because that is all he had. And do you know what I did in front of my class and all those bullying students?! I looked them all squarely in the eye and said quite sternly, "Who Are Any Of You To Say Anything About What Another Student Wears?! Who Died And Appointed You God or Goddess?! Afterall, It's Not Like Any Of You Are Exactly Sporting Armani Now, Are You?! The Person You Are Teasing Is One Of Our Own. This Class Is A Family. And I Will Not Stand By And Watch You Behave In A Snotty And Arrogant Manner To One Of Our Own?! Comprende?!" No one in that classroom said a word. You could have heard a cotton ball drop darling. And no, the student who was being bullied nor any other student in that class during that summer school session displayed bullying behavior in my presence or in my classroom again.
So take that and put it in your VitaMix and Blend Well.
Love,
Grace
(Amy)
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