The war in Iraq. Abortion. Creationism vs. evolution. Sex.
Hollister – The war in Iraq. Abortion. Creationism vs. evolution. Sex.
How do teachers even begin to talk about these sensitive and controversial issues in the classroom?
Spurred by recent incidents in Cupertino and Gilroy, where teachers got themselves in hot water by talking about topics deemed inappropriate in the classroom, San Benito High School’s Board of Trustees plans to amend its controversial issues policy to help teachers navigate through sensitive topics from religion to the war in Iraq.
“It protects teachers so they know what they can and can’t say… and gives them guidelines,” said Dr. Jean Burns Slater, district superintendent.
San Benito High School has had a policy on how teachers should handle controversial issues since 1982, but it has gotten periodic updates through the years. The most recent change, which will be finalized at the board’s meeting next week, spells out that controversial issues discussed in the classroom should not only be relevant to the curriculum being presented, but that they correspond with the maturity level of the students. It also stresses that the discussion does not “adversely reflect” on people because of their race, sex, color and national origin.
“Anybody who has been trained to teach in the social studies is trained to deal with these kinds of issues,” said Charles Schallhorn, social science division chair at the high school.
Despite the policies, which exist at all local schools, many teachers say the gray area between what is and isn’t kosher for discussion is still large.
Meghan Muscato is a seventh grade science teacher at Rancho San Justo Middle School who teaches sex education. In her classroom, she has a box where kids can leave questions, which she answers, granted they are relevant to the discussion. But if a student asks about homosexuality and sodomy, she is not allowed to say anything.
“There really is no curriculum about sex life,” she said.
In her classes, sex education revolves around abstinence, which teaches that abstaining from sexual intercourse is the only certain way to prevent unintended pregnancy and disease.
Muscato says that many of her students are misinformed when it comes to sex because their parents don’t talk to them about it, yet she is continuously worried about saying too much or not the right thing.
“I mean, many of my students think that you can get pregnant from oral sex,” she said.
All curriculum in classrooms is based on standards put forth by the state Department of Education, which must, in turn, be approved by the federal department of education, said Judith Barranti, superintendent of Hollister School District.
Teachers know they are not allowed to share their opinions in the classroom, but they are also acutely aware that it can be hard to keep them to themselves, especially in lower grades when students ask lots of questions and are not satisfied with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ responses.
Susan Bessette, who teaches at R.O. Hardin, remembers an incident where a National Geographic map of the Middle East spurred discussion about the current war in Iraq. While her fourth-graders asked factual questions, Bessette answered eagerly, but when they moved on to why U.S. soldiers where there, Bessette got nervous.
“I started telling them what I thought, but realized that I was going to get in trouble,” she recalled. “So I just told them to ask their parents.”
One of the ways Bessette avoids political controversy is by subscribing to Time Kids, a current events publication that her students take home to read and occasionally do reports on. That way, the kids are exposed to all points of view without having Bessette put her “spin” on things, she said.
Controversies at school are nothing new, but occasionally they become so big they erupt into the national limelight.
Last month, a teacher at Cupertino Union School District was suspended after he used numerous historical articles that made references to God in his American history class. The man, an Evangelical Christian, has claimed the articles were relevant because they were excerpts from various state constitutions and George Washington’s journal, important parts of American history.
And in November, a Gilroy teacher was put on paid leave after reading a racy poem to her fourth grade class.
Schallhorn doesn’t know whether the charges against the Cupertino teacher are true, but if they are, says they are “highly objectionable. We are not here to prosethelize, that’s what Sunday school and parents are for,” he said.
Leslie Austin, recently elected to Aromas-San Juan Unified School Board said that the controversial issues policy is a good idea because it protects educators in the classroom while exposing students to the complex issues of modern society.
“Discussing these topics is an important part of the democratic process,” she said.
Karina Ioffee covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at (831)637-5566 ext. 335 or ki*****@fr***********.com.
