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    Joined: Sep 2009
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    I have a 10 year old fifth grade girl and would have a hard time not complaining. DD is just entering puberty and is in that awkward stage where she is very shy about the changes in her own body. I think that for an empathetic kid like her, a report on genital mutilation would be traumatizing. I have to ask -- are other girls covering this topic or did she get singled out?

    Last edited by knute974; 10/25/10 08:36 AM. Reason: added question
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    Is this a male teacher? I'm a snot, but in her spot I'd be tempted to write a paper on circumcision (calling it male genital mutilation it often is by groups who oppose male circumcision) recognizing that a male teacher of that age is likely to be circumcized and I'd be making him uncomfortable, too.

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    That is completely batshit crazy.

    Please don't let her do this. Talk to the administration - I would skip the teacher entirely. This is a fiasco. I bet they will bend over backwards to accomodate your daughter after this.

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    Originally Posted by JaneSmith
    Please don't let her do this. Talk to the administration - I would skip the teacher entirely. This is a fiasco. I bet they will bend over backwards to accomodate your daughter after this.

    I'm with Jane on this one. I do like your overall approach, and overall it's working well - Yippee! There are bound to be little snags that require addtional flexibility in this sort of thing.

    I'd calmly but firmly write an email and cc the principal to the effect of -

    "I request an alternative topic for my daughter, as in our home we don't consider genital mutilation an appropriate topic for 5th graders. Let's make a time to sit down afterschool with DD and give her the new topic afterclass so she won't have to deal with the embarassment of recieving a new subject in front of her classmates. When would be convient for you? Thanks in advance for your understanding."

    If there is a male parent who is willing and able, an alternative is to have the males sit down to discuss a new assignment 'rationally.'

    My prediction is that because you are ccing the principle, that the school will recognize this as hazing and bend over backwards to be accomidating in future. Maybe bend over isn't exactly the correct phrase to use here, but...

    Best Wishes
    grinity


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    Agreed. I don't think that I encountered assignments like that until later in high school/college, and I would not be surprised if DC15 had a hard time writing something like that for a class. This also seems like something a male teacher upset with the administration's decision would do to get even or set a student up for failure. I would definitely bring it up to the administration if she is assigned another inappropriate for an fifth grader assignment from this teacher. Perhaps she isn't the only girl being assigned something this inappropriate by that teacher.

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    Absolutely inappropriate for 5th graders. I'd email the teacher with the principal cc:ed as suggested above. However, if you know that your DD won't be bothered by this, maybe not a concern.

    Cat

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    Originally Posted by knute974
    I have a 10 year old fifth grade girl and would have a hard time not complaining. DD is just entering puberty and is in that awkward stage where she is very shy about the changes in her own body. I think that for an empathetic kid like her, a report on genital mutilation would be traumatizing. I have to ask -- are other girls covering this topic or did she get singled out?

    I totally agree! I think they just barely start covering sex ed type topics at this age. I cannot see that mutilation is at all appropriate for ANY 5th grader. If this is not a topic that can be easily shared verbally in a report to the rest of the class, I don't think it makes an appropriate research topic for that age group.

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    I'm with the others: I think this topic is best left until high school. Female genital mutilation is related to sexuality, and fifth graders (even gifted ones) can't be expected to understand sexuality or the ramifications of this practice.

    FWIW, I don't think my ten-year-old would know how to process this idea, and it could be mildly traumatic for him. Kids have to be able to process disturbing ideas so that they can come to terms with them. I realize that it's impossible to avoid exposing them to disturbing ideas they don't understand, but that doesn't mean a teacher should go out of her way to throw something fitting this definition at a child.

    As far as I'm aware, serious sex ed doesn't begin until 7th or 8th grade. It seems reasonable that any school-led discussion of genital mutilation should occur after that. I mean, you don't tell kids about practices related to sexuality BEFORE they really even know what sex is, right?

    Again FWIW, I'd write to the principal about this one and skip the teacher.

    Val


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    Originally Posted by Val
    As far as I'm aware, serious sex ed doesn't begin until 7th or 8th grade. It seems reasonable that any school-led discussion of genital mutilation should occur after that. I mean, you don't tell kids about practices related to sexuality BEFORE they really even know what sex is, right?
    Sex ed does take place in 5th grade here, I understand. Having had dd12 skip that grade, I have no first hand knowledge of what it consists of. However, I do have to say that I found the sex ed in 7th grade to be wildly age inappropriate even for kids who weren't as young as dd. I wound up opting her out of part of it. She did watch the video of a birth, etc. but we skipped the contraception parts b/c they were discussing anal sex and how neither it nor oral sex were considered safe. I didn't need a kid of that age learning about things like that. I also didn't like the fact that they had a Christian anti-abortion group doing a presentation during the contraception piece. I wasn't sure how unbiased that would be.

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    Originally Posted by Cricket2
    ...but we skipped the contraception parts b/c they were discussing anal sex and how neither it nor oral sex were considered safe. I didn't need a kid of that age learning about things like that. I also didn't like the fact that they had a Christian anti-abortion group doing a presentation during the contraception piece. I wasn't sure how unbiased that would be.

    !!!!!!

    Unbelievable. And on so many levels.

    Agog,

    Val

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