General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsParents upset over ‘game' at middle school that asked questions like ‘Do your parents drink?’
The game was called Cross the Line, an ironic title because thats exactly what parents of students at a middle school in Marinette, Wisconsin think the educators did. WLUK Fox 11 News is reporting that Marinette Middle School played the game in which 5th through 8th graders were grouped together and asked to step forward if they had a yes answer to questions like, Do your parents drink? and Has anyone in your family been to jail?
Its unclear who exactly was leading the game. Parent Amanda Fifarek was not happy with the activity, telling WLUK, It was too personal. Its just things your kids dont need to be disclosing to other kids. Its hard to argue with Ms. Fifarek. 6th grader Sarah Maitlin told the station, [The school employee] asked if you ever wanted to commit suicide to step forward and then after that she asked if you ever experienced or wanted to cut, to step forward. Im going to say maybe that kind of conversation is best left to a one-on-one.
Administrators wouldnt give on-camera interviews, but did give a statement. WGBA NBC 26 News quotes Principal Shawn Limberg as saying, The intent of this activity was to build stronger, more respectful relationships among students. WLUK notes that Limberg also said the game was voluntary and, students could have said no. But, is that the case? Not according to parent Janette Sadowski, who told WGBA that her daughter was threatened with in-school suspension if she didnt participate.
<snip>
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/parents-upset-over-%E2%80%98game--at-middle-school-that-asked-questions-like-%E2%80%98do-your-parents-drink-%E2%80%99-and-%E2%80%98has-anyone-in-your-family-been-in-jail-%E2%80%99-210909617.html
stupid and intrusive.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)WHERE was this...?
SamKnause
(13,114 posts)marions ghost
(19,841 posts)way northern WI, further north than Green Bay, on the water. Scenic small town, pop 10,000 or so.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marinette,_Wisconsin
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)anyone in their families are doing drugs, drinking, smoking etc. Many teachers objected but so many just go along.
Reminded me of 'warning!, Godwin's law about to be invoked' of the teachers in Germany asking children if any of their neighbors or friends were Jews.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)I'm not sure if it was a policy or just individual teachers, but parents were surprised when their elementary school children told them they were asked to 'raise your hands if anyone in your family is a drug addict'.
It might have had to do with the program 'D.A.R.E as they promoted kids 'turning in their parents' for drug abuse. Apparently cops come to the school and talk them about reporting anyone they see using drugs. In 2010 eg, a fifth grader turned in his parents and got them arrested for smoking joints.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)question a child in private about some of these things IF you see signs of problems at home. But calling kids out in front of their peers to answer these invasive questions--this is so wrong.
Really? They've been doing it this way in the schools? I'm not up on this.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)at their schools where they are, apparently, told to turn in anyone who they know is doing drugs. It happened to a couple in LA in 2010 when their child turned them in and they were arrested. Lots of controversy over that program.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)I'm all for strong anti-drug messages, but you can't make children informants on their parents. It's up to LE to do their own investigations. This is a terrible burden to put on children.
Lost_Count
(555 posts)Wait for the excel spreadsheet that showed who did what comes out...
cali
(114,904 posts)HappyMe
(20,277 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)These were 5th to 8th graders on top of it all? Wow.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)SamKnause
(13,114 posts)Do they buy their cigarettes in packs from the store ?
Do they roll their own cigarettes ?
Does your house ever smell strange after your parents smoke ?
Have you ever seen your parents do anything illegal ?
Do your parents speed ?
Do your parents jaywalk ?
Do your parents act strange after they take prescription drugs ?
Do you ever hear strange noises coming from your parents bedroom ?
Do your parents kiss and touch each other when you are in the room ?
Do your parents ever speak ill of the government ?
Do your parents complain about paying taxes ?
Do your parents vote ?
Do you know what party they vote for ?
Are you parents the same gender ?
Please feel free to add to the list.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)arely staircase
(12,482 posts)Kali
(55,027 posts)"activities" of my kids' school years
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)Kali
(55,027 posts)HappyMe
(20,277 posts)was shown pictures of joints, bongs and bowls and was asked if she had seen any of these items at home. They were shown pics of liquor bottles and asked how many there were at home. This was outside of Madison WI.
it was like D.A.R.E. to train them to accept all sorts of constitutional violations
I got pissed and wrote a LTTE after they tricked the kids into going to an "assembly" in the auditorium so they could take dogs past their lockers.
got a rebuttal about "safety" from one of the sheep. never involved myself with that bunch again, thank god it was towards the end of their high school years.
now in my grade school years we had the obligatory hilarious visit from a cop to burn some shitweed for us to smell and watch stupid scare movies about acid. in high school there was a rent-a-cop but my kids had a full time city cop ON CAMPUS - a "resource officer" - and this was in a town with two stop lights at the time.