As the mother of a 9 year old daughter I an guarantee you they do NOT believe whatever the teachers tells them.. If my daughters teacher says something to her that confuses her or that she doesnt believe she comes home and asks me first thing ...Give a bit of credit to your kid .. They hear about it all over the TV , the radio, the net...its not a subject that concerns most 9 year olds.. I know mine is ore concerned about the new episode of hannah montana

In oregon there was a case of a sadistic man hater that was also a teacher, she used that sodium penthoul stuff to mess up a bunch of children, And a lot of men went 2 prison because she made the children believe thay had been molested, It was cleared up, when people found out what she was doing.
BUT a lot of folks dont talk 2 their kids, And the kids dont talk 2 the parent/s.

You don't have to think war is wonderful to SUPPORT THE TROOPS. Instead of saying "quagmire" and "hopeless" and "We can't win", say things that encourage the troops. The are suffering terribly, they don't need anyones negative thoughts to add to their suffering.

Thanks Spider...it's good to know there are those out there who feel the way you do. We sacrifice a lot.

This is exactly the kind of pontificateing that teachers do. Which day, week, month, or year do most parents have to be away from work to monitor the time their child is in the classroom? The reality is many parents are now working 60 to 80 hours a week just to make basic houseing expenses.
If for any reason they feel something is wrong, even actually observe something wrong they have to have physical proof photo's, video. a paper trail to get much done.
Your child's or your word is NOT enough to get much of anything done. And can take years.
All the while the teacher has layers of procedural protections if a child or parent makes a complaint the child is left for months to be harrassed by the administration, teacher, their friends, or even their "enforcer" students not to mention frequently openly biased "investigators". They can be flunked, expelled, internally exiled, and arbitrairlily transferred to other teachers, classrooms, even campuses with deragatory admission summarys both written and verbally communicated. If the child then fails from the stress and disruption that is justification for further discounting their claims. Since school records do not belong to the student but in fact the techer and school there is little or no access. If or when a lawyer gets in front of a judge many are miraculously absent or fabricated. Rarely do children get adequate legal representation since the school district is not going to willingly provide it. Because many parents can not afford it or the time involved to fight it they simply abandon the situation. Often children drop out. Many actually commit suicide or similiar self abusive behavior. Parents have to find their own peer support and it s NOT available through PTA.

agreed and surprised this thread is still going on it shows we do care

pacific...which is why I have posted that the parents need to be involved as well as to ask the child and the teacher. parents do NOT lose there rights by sending them to public schools...they may give them up but it;s not taken away. they parents are responsible for their kids but the teacher have a duty as well (not to raise the kids)

I have gone to teachers before and if that doesn't work I will go higher. and most of the time...they make sure there is no backlash to the child because they don't want the bad publicity or anything.

again...i don't know what the schools are like where you are and thankful they aren't that way where my son has gone to school. most teachers here respect different beliefs and they take it as part of their job to teach all sides so the student can be well rounded

but if there is a problem..the parent has the duty to speak to the teacher to find out the story and handle it

as with alot of things...things like politics and religion should either be taught with all sides or none

i was wrong with my original opinion teachers shouldnt force opinions on their students was looking for a reason 2 vent because i dont support the war. but i do support our troops.

While I agree with your belief that parents have a duty to articipate and raise their own kids and sometimes are allowed to do so the fact remains that the structure of the school system decidedly favors the treacher, includeing really bsad tesachers, having autonomy over your children in the classroom and any child/parent who bucks that arrangement has a deciedly dangerous row to hoe. I would like to tell you this is a view developed from and isolated experience in one sorry school but what I have learned traveling across the USA is that public schools have malignant problems that even the most highly educated, well funded , and time affluent parents to the more common parent that struggles to be home maybe and hour or so before their children are asleep have to contend with. The sttistics of how many children who are over medicated, self medicated, commiting suicide, droppong out and generally failing in public education shou;d scre the pants of of not only parents but anyone who is deending on us having an educated populace that has skills and pays taxes into the system in our "golden" years.

with all the spelling errors where did your schooling come from

pacific....I don't know what the school's are like where you are ut it sounds to me like they need an over haul. that isn't how it is around here. for the most part the teachers and parents work together and the teachers care and want the kids to be well informed.

if any child came to me and asked me why we are at war...I would tell them my opinion (and state it's my opinion) and tell the other views as well. I would, also, tell them to talk to their parents. that is being responsible. any school where the parent can't stand up and speak to the teacher without fear of something coming back on the child is NOT a school I would get along well in. I would expect the type of school you described to be in Nazi Germany. not here. people are too sue happy tese days and the schools don't want bad publicity so they try to be as PC as they can

you as a parent you have a right to a copy of everything in your child's file including disiplinary action.It is their record.The school does not volunteer information so its good to get with other parents.I have learned a lot from parents who have been thru
some of the issues i have.Schools maybe pc but they also will try and get away with things so they don't have to pay.

What about the suffering that brings to millions of innocent men ,women ,and children ? ! . Also ,do we not believe in peace ,justice ,fairness ,and common sense ? !. !.

If a human has consciousness and believes in right and wrong ,
his or her brain forces him or her to do only good . Supporting those who do bad is very bad indeed !. !.

not really the topic sam. it's about what the teacher was doing....not a political debate here about the war

i hope you aren't suggesting the soldiers are doing bad

Just think, how many times have children been used to support this illegal war. I can show you many instances when the parents have used the children to draw pity for their cause when it is to defend the war. The child probably brought it up.

Besides, 8 more years and he can go to Iraq too, might as well know why!

fanta....are you in a mood tonight????? this isn't the forum to debate political views.

this is about a teacher saying we are fighting for oil to her class.its her belief not part of the cirriculum shes supposed to teach

True, but this war is an everyday fact to these children. They probably brought it up themselves. I doubt the teacher just started the discussion during a spelling bee.

Many parents dont seem to mind using their kids to support the war, and many kids have family there.

And then there are these children. Watch if you can stand it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkdBYxvzD-0&feature=related

tina...my advice to you (as a mom) would be to talk to your child (like you are just interested in the day at school) and find out what was said. it maybe that what was mentioned stuck in the brain. if one thing was said...go to the teacher to find out their story. if it matches then you know how to deal with it. if not then it's he said/she said thing and i would just tell the teacher...ok, i misunderstood then. and i just want to make sure my child is getting all sides if it is being discussed.