Speaking of MLK....

flower

Ok so I'm talking to my kid (4) today about Martin Luther King and the importance of the things that he believed in. He is in preschool and they also talked about MLK in school apparently which I think is great. I asked him what he learned about MLK and he said he that he was a 'special man because he cared about people and he said it didnt matter what they looked like'. Great..wonderful...I'm thrilled that my son is learning things like this at a young age.

THEN, he proceeds to go on for the next 10 minutes about how someone got a gun and shot and killed MLK DEAD! Excuse me!? Am I wrong to be pissed that my sons PRESCHOOL teacher had to tell him this? I dont think that at 4 it was really necessary to focus on that part of history. I think we should give the kids a little time to enjoy life before we start bombarding them with reality for cryin out loud. My son was emotionally disturbed because he kept saying 'when is Dr King going to be alive again?'. I have not had and was not ready to have a conversation about death with my child yet and I'm kinda pissed at his teacher for forcing on me when I wasnt ready. Why not focus on the good things that MLK did and leave it at that?

Maybe I havent yet fully shed the JW mentality but I dont allow him to view violence on TV so this is the first time hes been aware of a gun causing someone to die. I just dont think kids his age need to know about how violent the world really is. I dont think his teacher should have taken it upon herself to assume that 3-4 year old kids are ready to hear about death by gunfire.

Am I wrong? Overreacting? Nieve?

SixofNine

At least we can share the resurection hope with our children, sister.

MegaDude

Are you serious?

czarofmischief

I think we should give the kids a little time to enjoy life before we start bombarding them with reality for cryin out loud

Then don't send them to preschool. Sorry, but that's life. It's full of violence, and they are going to learn about it, and school is for learning FACTS not cotton candy delusions of rounded corners and Santa the magical dancing elf. Your son, if he is going to go to preschool should be learning the price of being a hero - MLK was a hero, a courageous man, just like Jesus, and your son needs to know what happens to people who are brave. But he should also learn the rewards for heroism. Preschool shouldn't just be expensive, federally funded toilet training - it should start teaching the basic concepts of society, and the realities that suck and why we have to work hard to change that.

Maybe I havent yet fully shed the JW mentality but I dont allow him to view violence on TV so this is the first time hes been aware of a gun causing someone to die.

The fact is the world is full of guns, tools designed for one purpose and one purpose only - to kill, usually other human beings. If your kid doesn't know that guns kill, what's he going to do when he finds one on the street, in the backyard, at a friends house? Ignorance is not bliss, it is a trap. I personally think that basic firearms education should be part of every Americans' school experience. These are not toys - but if the only guns your kid has ever seen ARE toys, and he has no idea that there is a real tool that the toys are based on - I'm sorry, he's in trouble if he ever runs across one. And odds are that he will, no matter how much you shelter him. They are too omnipresent to hide from.

I'm of course supportive of your decision to reduce the violence your child sees on TV. Violence as entertainment is not a good thing, especially for kids. But it is a fact - and hiding from it does not reduce it, at all!

Just my opinion.

CZAR

Special K

Hi Flower..

A friend of mine used to live on an Island with her mom and Dad. Her Dad was the lighthouse keeper there until the early 70's.

My friend did a presentation to all the kids in elementary school on what it was like to live on an island and run a lighthouse. At one time, when she was 12, they found a dead body washed ashore.

She did not share this information with the 5 and 6 year olds.. However, the 11 and 12 year olds wanted to hear more and more about the dead body rather than her other adventures on the island.

MY POINT:.. is that my friend felt that the "dead body story" was not appropriate for the 5 and 6 year olds. It would have scared them and I agree with my friend.

Sometimes just because things are important history doesn't mean that small children are ready to be given that information yet...4years old is a bit young.

How did all the other kids in the class react? or the other mothers? Those can be good indicators.

sincerely

Special K

flower

Mega, yes i am serious.

Czar, I have no intention of trying to shelter my son from reality but I just feel hes a little young. At his age he will certainly never come across a gun 'in the street' or his backyard as you say. Hes just too young....thats my beef with this whole thing. If we were talking about public school, elementary school...that would be a different story but these kids are 3 and 4 years old for cryin out loud..they are just out of pull ups.

I am not planning to shelter my kid from all of the negatives in the world but I would like to decide when I think he is ready for certain things. I DONT think hes ready for death yet.

czarofmischief

Then don't send him to preschool.

What did you think was going to happen? Honestly, you send your kids out, entrusting their education to perfect strangers with different standards than yours - of course they are going to learn something that you might think they aren't ready for yet. That's what the world is like, and school is part of the world. If you don't think your kid is ready to learn about any part of the world, then don't send them out into the world.

There's really no point in getting "pissed" as you say, and blaming the teacher for exposing them to something that is a genuine fact and a part of life. That's what teachers do. If you want your kid hidden, then hide him. If not, then get used to it. He's going to be coming home talking about swear words soon, and kissing girls. Faster than you think, too. You simply cannot control it.

Sorry, but you asked for my opinion. I don't even have any kids, so, maybe there's a side I don't get. I guess growing up looking at the Bible Story book with Jesus writhing on the stake and people getting bitten by snakes or burned alive by fire from heaven or drowning in the red sea or at the flood kind of warped my perspective.

CZAR

cypher50

Czar, I have no intention of trying to shelter my son from reality but I just feel hes a little young

Nah, I think 4 years old is a great age to talk about what guns are & the danger of them. Plus, you aren't going to be able to protect your child from other kids in Kindegarten who do look at cartoons on television with guns in them...besides, talking about guns isn't as nearly difficult as the sex talk will be...

flower

. I don't even have any kids, so, maybe there's a side I don't get.

hell yea there is.

forgetmenot

I think I agree with czarofmischief. Yep, I do. Good points!

I hope you all see MLK day as a day to continue the fight for human rights for all people. So many people see it as "that guy was great" when it's really about more. So much more...

Speaking of MLK....

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