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I had read different people who are parents of this district I am a substitute for say that they heard this from teachers, but wasn't sure until someone from the department confirmed it to me.
The issue of controversy was that nearly all the social studies classes were showing CNN10 as their daily news to the students.
This conversation started when I was left very light lesson plans by a teacher about JFK, his campaign, and how our government works electing leaders, so I was playing a couple documentaries in the background for the 6th grade students. One class period I showed a couple clips from the 1988 campaign of Bush v Dukakis, and other from 1960 to a different class period from Kennedy v Nixon, which both met academic standards and were related to the content. My intention really was just to expand upon their knowledge, and give they only had 3 short questions to answer and in 15 minutes in the class, I was pretty much done, it helped keep them engaged.
The teacher next door found out from the aide that I was showing videos, and came to tell me that they used to allow or at least overlook it, but now they are cracking down on that, and to just stick to the lesson plan and the videos the teacher included, as the topics for 6th grade were already controversial to begin with, and to try saving myself potential grief as they can't defend me if I was showing material not previously approved.
I understood what she was saying, and I apologized for both not reviewing the videos and making sure they were appropriate and also asking if I could show them first, as I should have known better than that, but was asking for some more tips, as the behavior was falling apart because I had nothing to go with as the plans left for me took only 15 minutes to whip through.
It was then she elaborated and saying we really can't show anything anymore. Not even current events or news. She said that every day they showed CNN10, but they can't anymore.
The part about showing videos I understood. She said part of the problem was teachers were picking and choosing what videos to show to students, and they weren't vetted by the department to make sure they aligned with curriculum standards. In January, they are beginning a committee of people just going through videos and adding them to list of approved resources for teachers to use for history lessons and they are going through a process where they review first if they meet the standards of curriculum, if they are appropriate for the grade level, and to make sure there isn't any bias or agenda in them that parents or students might complain about.
However, the problem is that I'm wondering is if the complains about CNN10 and current events are legit, or if they are just trying to appease parents.
I'm pretty sure they could find curriculum standards that align with keeping students up to date with current events, and it is a news source designed for children.
The issue here is that the town tends to vote more conservatively, and given the last few years current politicians trying to stigmatize outlets such as CNN with attacks and accusations of fake news reporting, that many parents just see the CNN label and automatically send irate e-mails to the district without actually knowing what is in the videos they are showing the kids, and the district is just trying to appease the parents.
I was going to write a strongly worded letter to the district about how I'm ashamed to be an employee representing them if they are simply taking away a resource from the students education just because they don't want complaints, when not determining if the complaints are even legitimate. There are going to be complaints about nearly everything from parents, and the volume of them should not be a determination of whether or not they are legit, but the substance itself.
The network I am in is a group of more liberal people in this town who are parents of kids in this district, many of them wanting answers from the district on if parent complaints are the only reason for this new policy. I have found online many people who are more conservative who have not found any credibility to label CNN10 as biased or inappropriate for kids. I've watched many of them myself, and they are nothing like CNN for the general public. There is no anchor who is biased towards one party, no panels of democrats and republicans, or anything people could complain about.
Suppose CNN were replaced with Fox? Would you be good with that? The problem today is separating facts from fiction and half truths. A better way would be to show the same event from multiple viewpoints and teach the kids how to analyze and draw their own conclusions.
Suppose CNN were replaced with Fox? Would you be good with that? The problem today is separating facts from fiction and half truths. A better way would be to show the same event from multiple viewpoints and teach the kids how to analyze and draw their own conclusions.
Fox is not a news network though. Only when local.
CNN10 is not CNN. This is the entire point. The President and other politicians stigmatize the network, so it appears they just see the CNN label and blow up the lines of the school administration. If it's just because they don't want complaints, that's a pretty ****ty reason.
CNN10 is not CNN. This is the entire point. The President and other politicians stigmatize the network, so it appears they just see the CNN label and blow up the lines of the school administration. If it's just because they don't want complaints, that's a pretty ****ty reason.
I have shown CNN10 in numerous school districts and any district that finds it political is not someplace where I would want to live or work. For those who are not familiar, Google it and watch a few episodes. They broadcast a new 10 minutes episode each school day. It is simply an overview of world events and does not take political positions.
I frankly think you are wasting your time fighting this battle. I sub mainly for social studies and have never been questioned about any videos that I have shown. Coming up with content for "very light lesson plans by a teacher about JFK, his campaign, and how our government works electing leaders," for a 6th grade class would take some creativity. I would've limited the class to what the teacher had outlined. It would've been helpful to know what the teacher had covered in the past couple days. You could've asked the classes that question and used that as your starting point. Discussing Kennedy's life prior to 1960, a short video on the Nixon debates, some highlights of his presidency such as his inaugural address and hos "We choose to go to the Moon" speech would have easily filled up a 40 minute class period.
If you are a sub you need to teach what was left for you.
That was not the real issue. I apologized for expanding upon the lesson plan too much, but this was something else.
A teacher in the district that I know had contacted the district for further clarification. The response he got that was the concern came from different social studies teachers stating they were being told to use something not in line with state curriculum standards. He said that the content in the curriculum should come from the sources the district provided and paid for, but the use of CNN 10 for announcements and current events were at the discretion of the classroom teacher and the principal.
This wasn't what most teachers were under the impression of though. Many of them got e-mails saying not to use it at all and were under the impression that no news can be shown, but the district is stating that was not what they told the administrators.
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