As a teacher I'm not sure what I would do, I was always the kid the received the lest valentines and some were even mean notes. Of course you had a Valentine party to open these so there was no going home in order to save the shame.
I however am thinking back even a little earlier , kindergarten and first grade. Your parents followed the rules for you because they had the class list in hand and you needed to learn to scrawl those names. Any way on to my real point....(not that I wouldn't like to hear your opinion on these so far) . I just sat down a Christian catalog to wrote this.(Give me a break I study religion I need the books.)
They have those boxes of 20+ mini valentine for the whole class.My first thought was oh for Christian schools or for some home school groups that meet or maybe even Sunday church school. Then I remember until my brother and I were old enough to realize this got us laughed at these are the ones we picked. where my mom and aunt bought church supplies. Yes we picked them. Yes we went to other stores like Rose's and had our choice but we picked these. I think back now to several kids in my classes that these would not be appreciated by their families. How was int handled in their homes? Our family never gave it a second thought. I'm not saying my family did right or wrong, it was our choice and this is what we choose.
Today as adults 2 questions:
1: how would you handle it if your child asked for such a set?
2:what if your child came home with a Christin one?
3: what if they came home with one from another religion (far fetched I know since St Valentine is Christian)
4: should public schools skip it all together??
It could be some thing as innocent as Veggie Tales.....I see these at Target and the grocery store....but most of us know their message is Christian.
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I've not said much in the way of opinion because I'm not really sure of mine and today I'm more interested in yours.
Let us know what you think!!! I hope we get discission today and tonight!
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| Wonder why no ones says (St.Valentine is the reason for the season? |
3 comments:
Carrie, like you I am not sure how I feel. But in the interest of discussion, I am going to say we should continue the holiday and be glad that it is associated less with religion than originally. I do like that it is has to do with love and not just romantic love, since valentines are made for friends and family members. I hate that it has been so commercialized.
I know that the day can be painful for alot of people, however it can be exciting and fun for others. I know that the disappointment starts in school and it truly hurts my heart for a child to feel rejection. I think that teachers should supervise the distribution of the cards so that nasty cards are not given to children and the teacher should find a way to handle why some child might not recieve a valentine from everyone.
I would love to see the day become less commercialized and more about how to share kindness and goodness to each other.
I agree that it has beautiful sentiment and i admit, as much as I hate commercialism, I love going into a GOOD hallmark store (not the one here in Kingsport)...I love love love, going in and seeing all the PINK and red. I DO like the fact that it is a lot about friendship and fun love, including family..not just romantic love. Jamie and I have been talking this evening about ideas to make easier on all children and parents at school and thought how fun it would be to do that big long butcher paper picture and make a valentine from each classroom to the rest of the school or also one from each classroom to places such as senior centers, children's hospitals, Ronald McDonald houses..etc. PS...would you let the kiddos in your life hand out religious valentines in the classroom?
You know I don't have children, so I'm just thinking and hoping how I'd react.
I love Valentine's Day. Everyone that knows me knows that.
I was fortunate growing up and everyone was included in Valentine's in elementary school. You went to the store and made sure you bought enough for everyone. As we got older, in junior high/middle and high school, things got a bit dicier. You bought candy or flowers from some school group for people. Sometimes as a secret Valentine sometimes you knew who they came from.
Ideally, if you received less or no Valentine's it would be a teaching example by the family. Explain that everyone can chose their own friends and so on. I think there are more bullies now because parents aren't being parents- parents don't seem to care as much as when I grew up. Too many parents seem to want to be their kids friends. My dad is my best friend. We've always been close. BUT I know he is the boss. I respect him. Anyway, that's another discussion.
I say keep Valentine's Day in the schools.
If my child came home with a religiously based card I'd be fine with it. As long as it didn't show direct hate, I'd explain to my child what it meant. To me, no big deal. If I disagreed with it, I'd also explain that to my child. If it was offensive, I'd probably say something to the school.
Like I said, in elementary school everyone received cards. Not everyone gave them out, but everyone received them. As we got older, everyone didn't get things. You have to teach your child (no matter what the age) that everyone isn't included in everything. Just like I don't think I agree with every child in a sports team/league getting a trophy just because they participated. There are winners and losers in life. That's different than your example, but still.
This should not be a reason for children to be cruel. Were there kids I didn't want to give a Valentine to? yes. Robert Whiting was mean to me and I didn't like him. But, I have him one anyway. He got my least favorite Valentine, but he still got one. Lo and behold he has grown up and has a dysfunctional family (much like the one he came from) but I've been told he isn't cruel.
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