New Jersey Decides Not To Ask Children Weird, Voyeuristic Questions
Chalk one up for the good guys.
The New Jersey Senate had passed a bill, and the Assembly was about to vote on its version, which would allow schools to ask students to fill out surveys with questions dealing with the following topics (I kid you not - these are straight from the legislation):
(1) political affiliations;
(2) mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student or the student's family;
(3) sexual behavior and attitudes;
(4) illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior;
(5) critical appraisals of other individuals with whom a respondent has a close family relationship;
(6) legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships,such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers;
(7) income, other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under a program; or
(8) social security number.
I was for a couple of years a substitute teacher, which makes me no expert on education. Can anyone tell me how that information is related to teaching the three Rs?
The real dust-up came about not just over substance, but procedure: The parents would be sent home a notice (I'm sure buried in a thousand other notices) and if they didn't opt out, the student would be offered the survey.
Luckily, the Assembly was smarter than the Senate and pulled the bill.
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: New Jersey Decides Not To Ask Children Weird, Voyeuristic Questions
You know, when we get into discussions about social values, this is exactly what I think about - government intrusion into the lives of families. Ronald Reagan talked about this a lot, but somehow, it seems to have been obscured over time. Why is that? Have we capitulated? Or is it that this sort of stuff is so pervasive that it's easier to to concentrate on abortion and gay marriage?