Some South Jersey Parents Upset About Award-Winning Diversity Video Being Shown In School

Millennium Radio New Jersey ^ | Thursday, January 25, 2007 | David Matthau

[Calpernia]

Some parents in a South Jersey school district are upset that 3rd graders were shown an award winning diversity video about families - that includes same-sex couples in the story.

The Evesham school district - along with several others around the State - is using a video, called "That's a Family" in their health classes.

John Zlock, a spokesman for the Jersey Department of Education, says each district makes its own decision about whether or not to use the video, but the States core curriculum content standards require "as early as grade 2, that children should be able to identify different kinds of families, and explain that families may differ for many reasons."

He says "it's important for children to learn just how diverse a family can be…and we all know that living in New Jersey, it's a very diverse State, and children should be able to have those discussions."

Steven Goldstein, the Chairman of the group Garden State Equality, says he's shocked that anyone would have a problem with this video, because it has won several awards and "it was shown at the White House in 2000- before educators and child advocates from across the country who praised the film."

He adds if people don't feel comfortable with having their kids see That's a Family, "maybe New Jersey is not the right place for them."

Several calls to the Evesham school district were not answered.

[Calpernia]

Helping kids understand about all kinds of family structures

That's a Family! is an entertaining documentary that breaks new ground in helping children in grades K-8 understand the different shapes families take today.

With courage and humor, the children in That's a Family! take viewers on a tour through their lives as they speak candidly about what it's like to grow up in a family with parents of different races or religions, divorced parents, a single parent, gay or lesbian parents, adoptive parents or grandparents as guardians. This award-winning film will stretch your mind and touch your heart no matter what your age.

That's a Family! comes with an extensive discussion and teaching guide, which includes lesson plans to use with the video, suggestions for facilitating classroom discussion at different grade levels, and additional resources for teachers, families and children.

Schools and community groups may also sign up for training on how to use That's a Family! as a diversity teaching tool with young children.

Recommended for students in grades 1 through 6.

The money....

Family Diversity Projects (FDP) is a non-profit organization 501(c)3, which depends on grants and individual donations to help fund our annual budget. This past funding cycle (2002-2004), FDP received generous grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (a state agency), the Gill Foundation, the Icarus Foundation, and the AEC Family Foundation, as well as gifts from many individual donors.

"That's a Family!" was directed by Chasnoff and produced by Helen S. Cohen. It teaches about diversity in a straightforward way--by letting children talk about their families, which include grandparents raising their grandchildren, divorced parents, multiracial households, single mothers and fathers, adoptive families and gay couples. A child's-eye tour of various family structures, the video aims to give all young people a chance to feel visible--to let them talk about their families as a foundation for understanding differences of all kinds. As Emily Fong, a third grader, explains when describing her mixed race family, "You don't have to be a rat to marry a rat. You can be a rat and marry a mouse." Bit by bit, Cohen and Chasnoff hope to uproot prejudice before it has a chance to grow.

[Calpernia]

ping

[martin_fierro]

That used to be a family.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Don't chastise children, drug or brain wash them.

[NCC-1701]

"...Don't chastise children, drug or brain wash them...."

Or kill them in the womb.

[Tax-chick]

the State's core curriculum content standards require "as early as grade 2, that children should be able to identify different kinds of families, and explain that families may differ for many reasons ...

Words fail me.

[Tax-chick]

Check out this quote from NJ's "core curriculum":

the State's core curriculum content standards require "as early as grade 2, that children should be able to identify different kinds of families, and explain that families may differ for many reasons ...

"Another Reason" ping?

(And could I get on the ping list, please?)

[the_devils_advocate_666]

How come why I was in school I didn't need these types of lessons to be taught?

[Calpernia]

I'm so disgusted I can't even laugh at post 3. And that is my favorite graphic that Martin posts.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

"Or kill them in the womb."

Or murder them in the womb.

First degree murder because they plan the murder.

[NCC-1701]

Thanks for the correction. I should have caught that myself. And I agree 100% with your third line.

[LonePalm]

It's not diversity that makes a nation/state/city/family great.

It is ability and character.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[LonePalm]

Identifying a family is not a problem,

A unitary family is one MAN and one WOMAN and the children they conceive together or adopt. An extended family is a unitary family plus relations by blood and marriage.

Anything else is something that someone made up to make themselves feel better because they are different and don't like being different.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Calpernia]

"You will accept me or I'll sue you".

[Tax-chick]

I'm so disgusted I can't even laugh at post 3.

I smirked a little, because I don't think I've ever seen a photo of McGreevey before. GAY!

[LonePalm]

The homosexual community has gone from "the love that dare not speak its name" to "the love that won't shut up."

They started out by asking for tolerance. Now they are demanding acceptance.

Tolerance? OK, but only if you shut up about it.
Acceptance? NEVER!

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Tax-chick]

Identifying a family is not a problem,

No, but identifying a "family" politely could be a real problem:

The family when none of the kids knows who his Dad is, because their Mom's a junkie ...

The kids who live with those two guys who, well, you know, with each other ...

Britnie and her Mom and the man they're living with, no, not that one, that was last year, this is a new one ...

And don't forget that families can differ for many reasons!

[pandoraou812]

I think Steven Goldstein, the Chairman of the group Garden State Equality who adds If people don't feel comfortable with having their kids see That's a Family, "maybe New Jersey is not the right place for them." ...is a ARSE. He should leave NJ ASAP....
My daughter won't be watching that film. You can request that your child not see it. Or you can chose to have them stay home the day its shown. If my school intends to show it to my child I will have a problem with it. I have found if enough parents get angry the school will back down. If its a state mandatory issue I don't know what you can do... There are somethings that the school has no business explaining in my opinion and this is one of them.... I am going to call the school right now and see if its being shown here. I will let you know. ~~Pandora~~

[Calpernia]

They have full blown leaped over tolerance, acceptance and into the twilight zone.

That damn, Jersey Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage...The only way to make homosexual and heterosexual marriages equal is under a Civil Marriage.

The Department of Motor Vehicles no longer accepts marriage certificates from religious institutions to show a woman's name change from maiden to married.

http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/Licenses/DocumentSelector/doc_secondary.htm

I'm going on 3 months now trying to figure out how to get my digital license.

[Calpernia]

This is NJ. No one is polite.

;)