Posted on 03/03/2008 4:28:48 PM PST by SmithL
The Milpitas science teacher who showed eighth-graders a graphic anti-abortion video remains on paid leave but has resigned from teaching at Russell Middle School effective June 30.
It is not clear whether Randy Yang, a first-year teacher, will return to the classroom this semester. Superintendent Karl Black, citing confidentiality rules, refused to comment.
In a closed session, the Milpitas Unified School District board accepted Yang's resignation Feb. 12, Black said.
On Jan. 23, Yang showed clips of the controversial film "The Silent Scream," which depicts a fetus being aborted. The film was not part of the curriculum. The next day he was placed on paid leave.
Yang could not be reached for comment.
In a letter sent to parents two weeks after the screening, Principal Laura Foegal wrote that a film had been shown without district permission, and that the district had begun an investigation.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Good Move on his part that he quit before it became a controversey and example for liberals all over the country to use it as their justification to forcefeed thier agendas on kids.
Kids are kids and should not be force fed social agendas of either side. If we oppose GAY101 and HOTSEX101, we have to oppose ABORTION101 and ANTIABORTION101. JMO.
No 1st amendment rights for pro-lifers. The left can’t handle the truth.
Kids can be taught the horrors of abortion without being so graphic. That would be something that should have at least had parental permission required. I would not be happy if my kids were shown that without my permission and we're as pro-life as they come.
No teacher, regardless of religous or political persuasion, has any business bringing his/her own personal agenda into the classroom to influence the minds of naive and impressionable children. This is a huge problem throughout our entire education system.
This guy was wrong. He should be held accountable as should all teachers who step over the line. And there are MANY of them.
Who knows what other kind of BS is going on in that school that might be considered offensive?
Let all sides be heard but that’s not the way it is in public education with things like Al Gore’s film being part of science curriculum everywhere.
And no one who questions it is allowed to be heard.
I see no problem in this.
I doubt the school board could make a defensible case for this firing in court. What would the judge do? Could he say "Heaven forfend", or "reprehensible ~ a savage act", or what ~ the USSC has spoken. All is permited. Nothing forbidden. The young man should take the board to court and field strip them of all its funds just for the fun of it.
I am also against one of our teachers showing Schindler’s List to middle schoolers. It’s rated R for a reason. Shown in a 12th grade History class is one thing but not at this age.
Do tell us, please, how somebody's first amendments rights were violated here.
8th grade is age 13 right? I don’t think that’s too young for selective clips of such a film, especially considering by that age the kids have already had several “sex ed” classes and probably been given free condoms as well. However, parental permission should be required for any such topic. But since it’s not for sex-ed and homosexual indoctrination in much earlier grades, this teacher doesn’t seem so out of line in the overall perspective of what’s taught in public schools.
I agree.
I'm with you.
I have a 13 year old in public school in San Jose (next to Milpitas). He has not had anything much on sex ed, except for biology class where they talked about reproduction.
I would be mad if my son was shown that kind of clip or if he was shown Shindler’s list.
He has one teacher (who happens to be a Christian) who does show some R rated movies, but he gets permission every time, and he edits out the language and other inappropriate material. He showed the Patriot during their coverage of the Revolutionary War.
My husband and I give our permission to this teacher because he is so good about contacting parents. We can watch the movie before he shows it to the class. He’s very respectful towards parents.
We’ve had good luck up to this point on things being appropriate.
However, our district starts going off base in high school. The local high school drama dept put on “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. I took my son to the production because he’s into drama and we wanted to check out their drama dept.
The advertisement for the play said it had been edited for PG-13. The play was full of cuss words (everyone except the F-word and sexual themes). My son just sank lower and lower into his seat while we were there. We left at intermission, but my husband said we should just gotten up and left earlier.
Afterward, my son said he now had a very good reason for wanting to go to Christian school. He also said he could never be in a play like that. He was very glad his little sisters did not come with us. He said he wants to be in plays that his sisters and grandparents can enjoy.
There’s a simpler and “less controversial” way to do this. Simply assign the students to research abortion. This sends them straight to the internet where they can encounter such film clips and pictures on their own.
I know a science teacher who does this every year and ends up counseling students male and female over what they’ve found. Mostly they’re distraught over the fact that people deliberately kill babies in such a way. Never ONCE has there been a complaint and some years parents call or email their approval of the lesson.
If the 8th grade sex education class includes abortion as one of the topics, I see no problem with showing the film.
Sounds like you have a very bright boy. Interesting to hear your perspective, as a Mom of a youngster that age.
I agree completely that “R” movies should not be shown to children. Not only due to the material being inappropriate, but I question the educational value. A movie is made for entertainment, to make money, it’s created to deliberately stir up emotion, create drama, instill shock, make a political statement, etc.
There may be exceptions, such as the films you mention. But for the most part a good lecturer can use the 90 minutes it takes to show a film to instill much more knowledge, background and appreciation of the subject matter.
Agreed, better to show them The Miracle of Life
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