Principal’s Strange Response About 8th-Grade Health Lesson
Last week, I detailed inappropriate topics in Fairfax County’s 8th grade health curriculum, including how to discuss race and parental views on dating. I emailed the middle school principal to find out why the school would ask such private questions and what they intend to do with the survey (below).
This is her response:
“The purpose of the lesson is to encourage students to have an open dialogue with their parents/guardians about dating and their beliefs/expectations for them as they continue to get older. The teachers are not doing anything with the responses except reviewing them in order to provide a grade. In the past the questions were printed out as a worksheet. The PE teachers use the Google format in an effort to save paper. The questions help guide a meaningful conversation at home about these important topics that impact teenagers.”
Cynthia Conley, Principal at Irving Middle School – January 17, 2023
The survey, the “health” lesson itself, and the administrator’s response to my question are all examples of what is wrong with public education. While many districts across the country are failing at their jobs of simply educating America’s children in the basics (especially during the pandemic when schools shut their doors completely), they have further expanded their tentacles into domains that are far outside of acceptable jurisdictions.
When asked about this boundary breach, the principal doubles down. She suggests that it’s just fine for teachers to ask children about their parents’ private views (Question 13) – in a survey that she admits will be graded. She further explains that these questions, which the parents didn’t receive from the school, are somehow going to “guide a meaningful conversation at home”.
Does this mean that any topic the principal believes will “guide a meaningful conversation at home” is an acceptable survey question at school? Families can have many meaningful private conservations about a variety of controversial topics. But should the school be forcing students to provide their own opinions and their parents’ opinions to inspire dialogue?
