DS12 was asked to participate in a peer training

[mom23boyz]

My DS was invited as 1 of 6 at his school to participate in a Cultural Awareness Peer training program by the Anti-Defamation League. I received the following email from his teacher explaining what is "expected" of him after his "training. What would you do?

Mrs. Rodriguez,
I understand the concern and hope this will answer the questions you mentioned.The purpose of the training is to teach students how to become accepting of those that are different then in turn they will be trained on how to present this information to the student body.
We are specifically gearing the training towards 7th grade students as I will continue to work with the chosen 6 from our site for additional training throughout the school year and next. The trainees will meet for another 24 weeks (on-site) with me either weekly or bi-weekly before
they can begin working with the students as "pseudo" counselors. Their basic responsibilities include working with their partner and/or group and going into classrooms or assemblies to make presentations based on their training.

[KJayEsq]

I'm sure it's an honor to be selected for something like that, but it seems like a significant time commitment - will he be missing required classes to go to training, have weekly meetings, and make presentations to his peers??

I'm not really convinced that the powers that be have thought this program all the way through.

[forHISglory]

Beside the time commitment (which seems hefty), I would also wonder about exactly what is being taught in the course. I would not want my child to be taught that he should accept a particular lifestyle, for example, if it were something against our values. You might inquire into the scope of the course.

Courses like this can raise a needed awareness of stereotypes and discrimination. It can help children understand people with handicaps and be more helpful. It can help the children realize that skin is just a covering and underneath are real human beings. But I would check out the course content just to be sure that it doesn't conflict with your family's values.

[Rosebush3]

That is a great honor. I bet you are proud to be raising such a warm and open son. Not only a great opportunity for him to grow further but to share that and likely bring forth more caring people. Goodness knows this world can use more. It is a great responsiblity for him, yes, and will take up a lot of his time. But what a wonderful spending of his time, don't you all agree? Also, this will look good when applying for college. You must be very proud of him, heck even I am and I don't know him! I can't imagine what 'lifestyle' the school would teach him to accept that would be totally inappropriate, we are all equal. No one is more equal than another. We all deserve to be treated with respect as humans.

[forHISglory]

I don't want to open a can of worms, but wanted to reply about how some things may be contrary to your family's values. This is not to say that the training WOULD be contrary, but I know of some instances where something similar did violate a family's standards.

In one instance, the children were being taught that all religions were equal and that no religion had more truth than another. While I believe that each person should have the freedom to persue any religion he or she wishes, I chose the faith that I have because I do believe that it has more truth. It can become a fine line to teach how we respect all people's faith choices, but not say that all faiths are equal. The family here chose to talk to the facilitator about their concern as they did not want their child thinking that it did not matter which faith the family chose.

In another instance, a course taught that a homosexual lifestyle was a valid choice. This is pretty controversial. The family in this case chose to withdraw the child from the program because the faciliator refused to deal with their concerns. The parents had no problem with the child learning to respect all people, but they did have a problem with the child learning that he should accept homosexuality as a normal and desirable lifestyle. This violated the family standards.

In a final case, the section about accepting people from other countries and nationalities turned into a bashing of America. The course materials did not bash, but the teacher did. Again, what should have been good awareness of other nationalities and cultures turned into something that the family did not want for their child.

It was indeed an honor for your child to be chosen for this program. All of us, both children and adults, need to be aware of differences and learn to respect others. But when the program begins to place values, it can run into problems. I hope that this program works well for you. I only encourage you to know the content.