OMM Proposes "Keep Your Child At Home Day"

[GeoBQn]

One Million Moms urges its 46K Facebook followers to keep their children home from school on the Day of Silence.

If your child's school allows 'Day of Silence' propaganda, keep your child at home April 20!

Let your school officials know that if they are going to allow social and political action in class, your child will not be there.

The Day of Silence, which is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), fast approaches. This year it will take place in most public schools on April 20. On this day, thousands of public high schools and increasing numbers of middle schools will allow students to remain silent throughout an entire day-even during instructional time-to promote GLSEN's socio-political goals and its controversial, unproven, and destructive theories on the nature and morality of homosexuality.

Parents must actively oppose this hijacking of the classroom for political purposes. Please join the national effort to restore to public education a proper understanding of the role of government-subsidized schools. You can help de-politicize the learning environment by calling your child out of school if your child's school allows students to remain silent during instructional time on the Day of Silence.

Parents should no longer passively countenance the political usurpation of public school classrooms through student silence.

If students will be permitted to remain silent, parents can express their opposition most effectively by calling their children out of school on the Day of Silence and sending letters of explanation to their administrators, their children's teachers, and all school board members. One reason this is effective is that most school districts lose money for each student absence.

School administrators err when they allow the classroom to be disrupted and politicized by granting students permission to remain silent throughout an entire day.

Visit this website for complete information on opposing the Day of Silence.

TAKE ACTION

1. Call your local schools and ask whether they permit students or teachers to remain silent in the classroom on "Day of Silence." IMPORTANT: Do not ask any administrator, school board member, or teacher if the school sponsors, endorses, or supports DOS. Schools do not technically sponsor the Day of Silence. Technically, it is students, often students in the gay-straight alliance, who sponsor it. Many administrators will tell you that they do not sponsor the DOS when, in fact, they do permit students and sometimes even teachers to remain silent during instructional time. Also ask administrators whether they permit teachers to create lesson plans to accommodate student silence.

2. Find out what date the event is planned for your school. (The national date in 2012 is April 20, but some schools observe DOS on a different date).

3. Inform the school of your intention to keep your children home on that date and explain why.

OMM gets all indignant about children disrupting the school day and the "political usurpation" of public schools, but they'd probably totally support students who stayed silent as a pro-life protest.

[doggie]

lets not forget the controversial, unproven view that homosexuality is bad.

[Boogalou]

You can help de-politicize the learning environment by calling your child out of school if your child's school allows students to remain silent during instructional time on the Day of Silence. politicizing the learning environment! Yay!

In order to avoid what you claim you don't want, do exactly what you don't want. Right. This whole thing has a very convoluted message. Schools are "allowing" students to not talk? I didn't realize their was some mandate in place forcing people to talk everyday at school. Yet again, I think it is really stupid to use your children as political props. Especially in high school when people are old enough to make their own decisions about whether or not they want to participate in something like this. Crazy. Not to mention the hate behind this kind of protest, but that is pretty obvious.

[Visionoyahweh]

I'd like the kids to participate in 'White Flight Day' if/when a racial/ethnic groups they disapprove of decides to attend their school. They get to leave. Reasonable?

Way to take a stand for Jesus, by turning tail and running away from the scary homos (& their friends).

[clibbyjo]

Can I send my 3 homeschoolers TO school that day? I know the 50 other families in my co-op would be more than happy to stand in for the losers who don't show as well... :dance:

[darareaksmey]

**yawn** Forty people keep their kids home. What an impact they will have.

[Kitty]

You know by "social and political action in the classroom" they mean "social and political action that WE don't approve of."

Of course, only like 5 kids, all of them siblings, will be pulled out of different schools. OMM is so pathetic.

[Daenerys]

The irony of opposing politics being imposed on their children by making a political statement using children is clearly lost on these women.

[Bookworm89]

Wow, their mad because they don't want the classroom hijacked by politics.

When I was in high school there was a pro-life day where students who participated could not speak and some even wore silver ducktape over their mouths with life written on it. Bet OMM would have been fine with that. Most of the students just ignored it and it only became irritating when some of students participating very loudly proclaimed why they were doing it (what happened to silence?) in class during a test when the teacher asked her to answer a question (teacher hadn't looked up to see the tape on her mouth). They all carried notes with what they were doing to hand to teachers, to explain why they wouldn't be talking that day.

If that can happen in schools I am very much in favor of April 20 for the GLSEN to have a day also.

edited for riffles.

[PBrooke]

When I read the title of the thread I expecting it was being presented as an alternative to "Take Your Children to Work Day." I can't come up with anything appropriately hateful that they would say off the top of my head, but you know what I mean.

(And I say this as the daughter of someone who was a secular stay-at-home mom through most of my childhood).

[Koala]

Can I send my 3 homeschoolers TO school that day? I know the 50 other families in my co-op would be more than happy to stand in for the losers who don't show as well... :dance:

I agree clibbyjo. Well done to the students participating in DOS :clap:

[SealFan1963]

My daughter, silent all day? Never gonna happen. Same applies to almost all the junior high kids I know, including the gay and lesbian ones. They are a chatty bunch.

[Mama Mia]

They chose 4/20 to do this :lol: I can see some very "silent" stoned out of their minds high school kids, and some who decide they just have to be pulled out of school to follow their convictions that day .. or the smell of weed, whatever ;)

I think they could have picked a better day

[Aeryn406]

I agree clibbyjo. Well done to the students participating in DOS :clap:

My high school did something like this once for DUI awareness. Kids would get randomly picked during the day and get there faces painted white & wear a sticker: I was killed by a drunk driver at (xyz) AM/PM. This kind of event happens all the time! Social issue awareness and support is a great thing and we should be encouraging it - not taking away young people's right to their own opinions.

Kudos to the kids that participate this Friday!

[User123456]

And to those readers who think silent student will interupt the learning process...

"Please sit down students, put your books and paper away and take out a pen. You have 50 minutes to complete today exam. You may begin now."

I think that pretty much takes negates any lost time for teaching. Knowing well in advance, a teacher can have a "silent" activity for just about any class.

[slickcat79]

And to those readers who think silent student will interupt the learning process...

"Please sit down students, put your books and paper away and take out a pen. You have 50 minutes to complete today exam. You may begin now."

I think that pretty much takes negates any lost time for teaching. Knowing well in advance, a teacher can have a "silent" activity for just about any class.

Even if they didn't manage that, AFAIK the day of silence coordinators don't actually advocate staying silent during class time. If your teacher requires you to participate, you should.

I wish the 40K one million moms would quit clutching their pearls and go away. Of course they would support a pro-life DoS or a day of prayer/prayer assembly. It's not that they actually care about "politicizing the classroom", they just want it to be on their side of the political aisle. Hypocrites, as usual :roll:

[julie paradox]

They chose 4/20 to do this :lol: I can see some very "silent" stoned out of their minds high school kids, and some who decide they just have to be pulled out of school to follow their convictions that day .. or the smell of weed, whatever ;)

I think they could have picked a better day

What am I missing?

[keeperrox]

They chose 4/20 to do this :lol: I can see some very "silent" stoned out of their minds high school kids, and some who decide they just have to be pulled out of school to follow their convictions that day .. or the smell of weed, whatever ;)

I think they could have picked a better day

April 20th is The Day of Silence, which is why they are keeping them home. OMM didn't pick the day, GLSEN did.

[PBrooke]

Now see, since I was in high school when Columbine happened, that's what I associate the 4/20 date with almost immediately after the obvious - that and the accompanying urban legend that sprang up instantly after: "I know someone who knows someone whose cousin goes to Columbine and would have been there when the shooting happened, but he stayed home 'cause of 4/20!"

[emmiedahl]

Skipping school on 4/20 is hella suspicious.

420 is a marijuana holiday. On the west coast, a lot of kids skip school and get stoned that day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_(cannabis_culture)

[ThisOlGirl]

My first reaction to the good, Godly women of 46 Thousand Moms was "If you're going to teach your kids to be awful human beings, why don't you keep them home every day so my kids don't have to deal with them?". But then I realized that kind of attitude doesn't do my kids any good either. If anything, the children of OMM need to be at school more than the other kids, if for no other reason that to get some exposure to other ideas. They don't have to agree with them, but at least maybe they'll learn to interact with people besides those that agree with them. But then, I think that's exactly what the OMM is afraid of.

[PBrooke]

And the East Coast. And probably the Midwest. ;)

[emmiedahl]

And the East Coast. And probably the Midwest. ;)

I wasn't sure if it was in a limited geographical region. I have seen it observed in California, Oregon and Washington so I knew West Coast at least.

[urban teacher]

So for my observance of Day of Silence which I do to support kids, can I also wear a fuck you OMM shirt andp serve a GSA cake?

[Glass Cowcatcher]

My first reaction to the good, Godly women of 46 Thousand Moms was "If you're going to teach your kids to be awful human beings, why don't you keep them home every day so my kids don't have to deal with them?". But then I realized that kind of attitude doesn't do my kids any good either. If anything, the children of OMM need to be at school more than the other kids, if for no other reason that to get some exposure to other ideas. They don't have to agree with them, but at least maybe they'll learn to interact with people besides those that agree with them. But then, I think that's exactly what the OMM is afraid of.

Funny how a lot of these groups want Christian kids homeschooled, right up until the point they can be use to make a political statement.

Side note, is National Organization of Marriage pushing this, too? Then the two organizations could be billed as OMM-NOM. :D