Classwork on gay marriage riles parents

Parents gave local educators an earful after fifth-grade students at Derby Ridge Elementary School were asked to read a newspaper column supporting same-sex marriage.

Columbia Public Schools administrators say the assignment wasn’t appropriate for 10- and 11-year-olds. "The purpose was to become familiar with editorial writing and respond in an editorial back," said Jack Jensen, assistant superintendent of elementary education. "But it was not an appropriate topic to use at this age level."

The students had brought up the topic of gay marriage before the assignment during a classroom discussion on current events, Jensen said. The newspaper article used in Wednesday’s assignment was a nationally syndicated column written by Richard Cohen titled "Gay marriage ban no benefit to society." It appeared in the July 17, 2006, edition of the Tribune.

Responding to a New York Supreme Court decision to uphold a ban on same-sex marriage, Cohen argued that the court should "grant to homosexuals and lesbians the benefits of marriage so casually granted to heterosexuals."

Jensen said the school fielded several phone calls from parents upset about the assignment. Administrators have talked to the teacher, whom he did not name, but no other disciplinary action will be taken.

Jensen said teachers should collaborate with peers or administrators if they’re unsure about an assignment. "Unfortunately, that did not happen in this case," he said.

It’s common for newspaper articles to be incorporated into classroom lessons. Many newspapers, including the Tribune, supply schools with free issues through the Newspapers In Education Program. Research indicates students who use newspapers in classroom curricula become better readers, more motivated and more aware of the world and their communities, according to the Missouri Press Association.

But newspaper editorials often take stands on controversial issues such as gay marriage, stem cell research and abortion. Teachers sometimes have to walk a fine line between using those articles to teach current events and deeming whether the materials are appropriate, said Earnest Perry, chairman of journalism studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia’s School of Journalism.

"It’s not as easy as just saying, ‘No, it shouldn’t be done,’ or ‘yes, do it,’ " he said. "It’s up to a teacher to instruct at the grade level in which they’re teaching and to determine whether or not the students have a grasp of the subject and understand what’s going on. It depends on the age level and maturity level of the children whether they understand and can define what same-sex marriage is and the moral as well as political ramifications of that. Is that a subject the entire class will be able to understand?"

Schools rely on parental input to help make those decisions, Jensen said. "We’re pleased when the parents had concerns, they immediately called the school," he said. "We knew exactly how they were feeling, and we acted on that."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reach Janese Heavin at (573) 815-1705 or jheavin@tribmail.com.

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IT’S IMPORTANT WE GIVE LOGICAL THOUGHT FILLED REASONS TO TURN THE THINKING OF THOSE BRAINWASHED

Jensen said teachers should collaborate with peers or administrators if they’re unsure about an assignment. "Unfortunately, that did not happen in this case," he said.

Well, if the teacher had been unsure and had "collaborated with peers" (eduspeak for "talk to another teacher about it"), the result would probably have been exactly the same.

10- and 11-year-olds can effectively learn editorial writing arguing the case against homework, not this. They are being told to “write what they don’t know,” which is the opposite of what young writers should be doing.

If our children were not so precious and heirs to our world, I would want the sec progressives to have all of their bills passed, get every perverted and destructive thing going that they want in society, and have to live with it. What a happy bunch they would be until they realize what a mess they made... And yes, I’m being sarcastic to the extreme.

Yeah, collaboration with peers probably would have gave the 5th graders an article to critique from a homosexual magazine.