This was not a pop quiz. It was a survey taken from an old Ann Landers column that was passed out to students.
While I think it was most likely a big mistake on the teacher's part, I suspect we don't have all the facts. I've read a few different articles on this subject and they've been one-sided. It is a parent and her daughter, who is a student in the class, who claim that the class was required to turn the survey in for a grade. That might not actually be the case. Perhaps the kids were just asked to read the survey. Who knows? I taught public school for a few years and from my experience, students misunderstand assignments ALL THE TIME.
Apparently, this teacher has passed out the survey in prior years and no one has complained. This is Utah. If the assignment really is what the parent and student claim, wouldn't there have been others by now who would have complained also? From what I've read, there hasn't been.
I'm a little suspicious of a parent who can't handle a situation like this by calmly talking to the teacher and administrator and making sure a change has been made and then letting it go. Why try to ruin a teacher's long career over something like this by posting this all over social media and notifying news outlets. For Pete's sake, it was a mistake. The kids are in high school, not kindergarten.
and VERY MUCH WAS in high school, I think all my answers would have been "no." I'd have to go look again.
MAYBE if she had done it so it was anonymous to get an idea of what is really going on with teenage kids as I think parents are pretty clueless in the mormon world. They don't have a clue what happens in high schools.
I had to give a few lessons in R.S. on teaching our kids about sex. When I suggested that maybe it should be taught in school (this was over 20 years ago), the R.S. president about lost her mind. One of my neighbors, who taught in high school until she had her first baby, raised her hand after the RSP's statement and said, "We may THINK that we are teaching our kids about sex, but having been in the environment, none of you know what you ar dealing with."
I just think if it had been anonymous, it would have been entirely different. No grade.
I heard the afternoon guy on KSL radio talking about this this morning and he agreed that parents need to get a clue.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2017 04:50PM by cl2.
For one thing, you don't insult your students to their faces. Calling a student "indecent" or "hopelessly condemned" is inviting trouble.
For another, if you are going to teach certain hot button topics (sexuality, evolution,) then you want to follow your school district's curriculum *exactly*. That is your protection and your cover. Other topics such as drug education and religion also have to be handled with extreme care.
This teacher is a fool. There is simply no excuse for that level of ignorance.
This teacher was teaching a concurrent enrollment class for Weber State University credit, Adult Roles and Responsibilities. The class is mainly taken by seniors. Sophomores may not enroll. Parents have to sign a release stating that they understand the class is not taught as a high school class and covers areas of human sexuality, though high school credit is given.
She may gave used this "quiz" as an introduction to sexual behaviors and to show how much things have changed since the quiz was written. I don't imagine students would be "graded" on their answers or that the teacher would even care what the answers were. I can see how some parents might be upset, but really, some perspective always helps. I was a high schools guidance counselor for many years. I hope this teacher does not lose her job. All of us make choices that others second guess. We left the church, didn't we?