Saturday, March 6, 2010

Buddhist Appearance In School Draws Parent's Ire

I am going to paste the whole news article here and give my opinion on this.

Mar 5, 2010
BRIGHTON, Colorado, USA– A parent of a Vikan Middle School student is crying foul about a recent appearance by someone she thought was a Buddhist monk.
Susan Paradee said she was told the visit was part of a school unit on Buddhism and that the discussion centered on meditation techniques.
“We had no notification of it,” she said. “We need to be informed of it. My daughter is a Christian. We had no chance to say whether we wanted to participate. They took away her rights.”
27J attorney Janet Wyatt said the visitor made a presentation about a recent trip to Thailand. It was part of a class unit in social studies that was discussing the history and philosophy of different parts of the world ( it was not appropriate not to allow her daughter to learn about cultures from other parts of the world, her daughter is gonna lose out later in her life )
Wyatt also said someone in the class asked about meditation, which prompted the guest speaker to give a demonstration.
“He was a friend of the teacher,” Wyatt said. “He brought pictures and artifacts from his visit. His visit to Thailand included a stop at a monastery. But he was not a Buddhist monk.”
Paradee said the school told her there would be no similar unit on Christianity.
“I don’t think I should force my daughter’s Christianity on anyone,” she said. “I was told they wouldn’t speak about Christianity. That’s wrong.” ( so it's wrong not to talk about Christianity but it's right not to talk about other religions in the class ) ( Nobody was forcing Buddhism on your daughter too ! Buddhists unlike Christians do not go around knocking on the doors of non-Buddhists to promulgate Buddhism )
Despite conversations with the school’s principal, Ana Mendoza, Wyatt said Paradee ( sounds like a Thai name ) “refused to believe that this person was not a Buddhist monk.” ( so what ? legal action against the school ? )
“He was not a monk by any means,” Wyatt said. “He wasn’t there to present anything about religion ( even if it was about religion, there was nothing wrong about it ). He was there to present a talk about his recent experiences in Thailand. The teacher thought it was a great opportunity for the students to see things from other countries.” ( the teacher was absolutely right ).

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