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I mean, you pick the subject, there's a hot-button issue. Could be evolution in the science side of things, the legacy of slavery or colonization in the histor

I mean, you pick the subject, there's a hot-button issue. Could be evolution in the science side of things, the legacy of slavery or colonization in the history side of things. Math is generally pretty safe, although I do see a steady stream of "I'm so glad I'm homeschooling my kids, I can't believe what $currentEducationalBogeyman is trying to pass off as education" when presented with some way to understand math that I had to teach myself, in college, to do the math faster in my head. Composition is pretty safe, but as its frequently combined with literature (that is, the study of rhetoric in other people's writing) which also has a lot of self-censorship. It's also unsteady ground, as the Bible should be study as literature as well as religious tome, but that can lead to kids thinking about the humans who wrote the bible and what rhetorical outcome they were reaching towards. Physical education is safe so long as it limits itself to exercise, but health topics like human sexuality are obviously going to raise some hackles. I think it really depends on the parent what is the absolute bogeyman of public schooling, but evolution has posed the most consistent existential threat to the stereotypical fundamentalist who is looking to avoid "sinful" public schools.

TacticalCoder 3y ago
> Could be evolution in the science side of things... I don't think that the theory of evolution was the issue in 2021... Here's an example that happened in France: parents disgusted by a performance where an adult male performer was pretending, in front of kids, to eat vegetables in a garden, naked, in front of kids "because ecological art" (or whatever that performance was called) [1] I'm sure I'm the evil, close minded, one, who refuses to see the "art" and the "ecology" in that performance and who sees instead the perversion of kids. But while I'm the evil one who is seeing perversion, there were people involved in showing an adult male, on all fours, balls and dick out, ass spread, because he had an important message to pass (certainly). Do that to my kid, and my kid is getting homeschooled the next day. I don't have a problem with anyone but I do have a problem with proselytism. [1] the art performance (call it what you want) is now forbidden to be shown to kids (so there's still some sanity out there)... Video of the performance kids saw (the one inside the tweet): https://actu.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/lyon_69123/artistes-nus-devant-des-enfants-la-mairie-de-lyon-reagit-une-video-sortie-du-contexte_59725818.html https://actu.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/lyon_69123/artistes-nus... Note that I don't know and don't care if the person who revealed that is an ultra-fundamentalist christian, a neo-nazi, or an alien from outer space... You are not showing that to my kid without repercussion.
- petsfed 3y ago
  That's pretty hard to argue with, although (according to google translate, my french is a bit rusty), the performance was already banned from kids. Children weren't supposed to be there. So maybe that's less a question of "look at the filth they're showing our kids!" and more "why weren't the docents doing their jobs?".
humanrebar 3y ago
> It's also unsteady ground, as the Bible should be study as literature as well as religious tome, but that can lead to kids thinking about the humans who wrote the bible and what rhetorical outcome they were reaching towards. This is where public schooling is hypocritical. There are various forms of education about race, gender, etc., but almost no mandatory education on religion? I'm not saying indoctrination, but education. Shouldn't everyone have a basic understanding of the history and tenets of Buddhism? Atheism? Hinduism? And so on? I think so. Even if the prism of importance is postmodern and focuses on respect fo others' self-identification, religion is clearly a major aspect in self-identification or we wouldn't treat the subject as controversial.
- alexvoda 3y ago
  I very much agree with that. Unfortunately that idea is antithetical to most religious people because most religions claim that they are the only valid religion. Teaching a kid about the variety of beliefs across the globe and the option of none is likely to make the kid less attached to the bubble of the religion of their parents. In my country, religion is a 1h/week class from 1'st to 12'th grade and parents have to explicitly opt-out of it if they do not want kids to take part. Opting out is also slightly detrimental to a kids scores. What is thought is pure indoctrination and there is no element of multi-religious sociology and anthropology.

TacticalCoder 3y ago

> Could be evolution in the science side of things... I don't think that the theory of evolution was the issue in 2021... Here's an example that happened in France: parents disgusted by a performance where an adult male performer was pretending, in front of kids, to eat vegetables in a garden, naked, in front of kids "because ecological art" (or whatever that performance was called) [1] I'm sure I'm the evil, close minded, one, who refuses to see the "art" and the "ecology" in that performance and who sees instead the perversion of kids. But while I'm the evil one who is seeing perversion, there were people involved in showing an adult male, on all fours, balls and dick out, ass spread, because he had an important message to pass (certainly). Do that to my kid, and my kid is getting homeschooled the next day. I don't have a problem with anyone but I do have a problem with proselytism. [1] the art performance (call it what you want) is now forbidden to be shown to kids (so there's still some sanity out there)... Video of the performance kids saw (the one inside the tweet): https://actu.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/lyon_69123/artistes-nus-devant-des-enfants-la-mairie-de-lyon-reagit-une-video-sortie-du-contexte_59725818.html https://actu.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/lyon_69123/artistes-nus... Note that I don't know and don't care if the person who revealed that is an ultra-fundamentalist christian, a neo-nazi, or an alien from outer space... You are not showing that to my kid without repercussion.

petsfed 3y ago
That's pretty hard to argue with, although (according to google translate, my french is a bit rusty), the performance was already banned from kids. Children weren't supposed to be there. So maybe that's less a question of "look at the filth they're showing our kids!" and more "why weren't the docents doing their jobs?".

humanrebar 3y ago

> It's also unsteady ground, as the Bible should be study as literature as well as religious tome, but that can lead to kids thinking about the humans who wrote the bible and what rhetorical outcome they were reaching towards. This is where public schooling is hypocritical. There are various forms of education about race, gender, etc., but almost no mandatory education on religion? I'm not saying indoctrination, but education. Shouldn't everyone have a basic understanding of the history and tenets of Buddhism? Atheism? Hinduism? And so on? I think so. Even if the prism of importance is postmodern and focuses on respect fo others' self-identification, religion is clearly a major aspect in self-identification or we wouldn't treat the subject as controversial.

alexvoda 3y ago
I very much agree with that. Unfortunately that idea is antithetical to most religious people because most religions claim that they are the only valid religion. Teaching a kid about the variety of beliefs across the globe and the option of none is likely to make the kid less attached to the bubble of the religion of their parents. In my country, religion is a 1h/week class from 1'st to 12'th grade and parents have to explicitly opt-out of it if they do not want kids to take part. Opting out is also slightly detrimental to a kids scores. What is thought is pure indoctrination and there is no element of multi-religious sociology and anthropology.