(Todd Taxpayer Bailey) – To celebrate Mother’s Day, many second grade students (aged 7 and 8), received a coloring book from their teacher to decorate for what is supposed to be a day of family celebration.
Unfortunately, the coloring book also included several questions that do everything to create family DIS-unity, in some cases causing emotional distress, and even creating family conflict.
Is this really something Washoe County School District should be doing to families on Mother’s Day?
Here are the questions, 7- and 8-year-old second-graders, had to answer about their mothers.
Why were mothers made?
Is there any educator in the State of Nevada that can give an academic answer to this question? If so, I’d like to meet that educator. This question goes to a person’s faith, and has many possible answers that are complicated even for adults to discuss, yet, Washoe County School District put this question to second-graders, as a gift to mothers.
How were mothers made?
Everyone knows the answer to this question – GOD! Are second-graders in Washoe County School District allowed to give this answer and have an honest discussion about the religious origins of mothers? NO! So what is the point of asking second-graders to come up with an answer? Only Washoe County School District knows.
What ingredients are mothers made of?
Sounds innocent enough, but what is the point of such a question?
Why did you get your mother and not some other mother?
This where the second-grader coloring book starts to get interesting, as it opens the question about the “other mother,” forcing some students to answer personal questions about their families that Washoe County School District has no business asking. It reveals a complete disconnect of the reality of families today, or an overly intrusive meddling in the private affairs of families who have children in Washoe County School District.
What kind of little girl was your mom?
Where exactly is this question going, to the extent that a second-grader can answer. Why is this the business of Washoe County School District? If the mother’s childhood was in some way traumatic, abusive, or neglectful, mothers will often shield their children from this reality until the child is old enough to understand. Washoe County School District forced the discussion on second-graders, on Mother’s Day.
Who’s the boss at your house?
How does this question relate to Mother’s Day exactly? What business does Washoe County School District have in asking “Who’s the boss”? Why do it on Mother’s Day, when the possibility of creating a conflict over such a discussion in a family can ruin what is supposed to be a day of family celebration. Washoe County School District created conflict in a place where they have no authority to poke their noses. Government interference in the private lives of their customers.
What’s the difference between moms and dads?
What kind of knowledge and experience do second-graders have to answer such a question when coloring a book as a gift to their mothers? It forces an 8-year-old child to compare and contrast their two parents in a way in which one is going to be seen as less than the other. Why would Washoe County School District force a child of any age to do this? Is this a question about sexuality? NO.
What does your mom do in her spare time?
Spare time, what Nevada family has that right now? Only a government employee with a Collective Bargaining contract could be so disconnected from today’s reality to ask such a question right now. This is personal, family information, that Washoe County School District has no business asking, especially on Mother’s Day. What exactly is the point of this question?
What’s your favorite memory with your mom?
This is the only question that might be appropriate for a second-grader.
What would it take to make your mom perfect?
Should Washoe County School District be holding the mothers of Nevada to such a high standard? Think about the families in Nevada, what they are dealing with economically and socially, and how much of that can a second-grader truly understand? The question Washoe County School District will never ask students, is what would it take to make your teacher perfect, because that’s too much to expect. They had no problem, however, putting that expectation on mothers, on Mother’s Day.
What did your mom need to know about your dad before she married him?
This is not a question most parents even think about discussing with their second-grader. How many parents get married because they become pregnant while dating? People get married for very personal and private reasons. Washoe County School District has no business asking such a question of parents, let alone through their second grade children, on Mother’s Day.
Why did you mom marry your dad?
Again, Washoe County School District, it’s none of your business, and you shouldn’t even be asking the question, let alone through a Mother’s Day gift, from a second-grader.
Obviously, this is an unauthorized psychological evaluation of second graders that will allow Washoe County School District to identify those families they believe need extra help and attention. There simply is no other explanation for this back door government intrusion into the private lives of the people that are supposed to be their customers, on Mother’s Day. Imagine being a second grader trying to answer these questions while your friends are looking over your shoulder in class.
That’s what happened last week in Washoe County School District.
Shame on you Washoe County School District. Change is coming, just not soon enough for this Mother’s Day.
(Todd Taxpayer Bailey is Chairman of TheCommittee@FixWashoeSchools.com.)
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