By now, we have all heard about the disgusting and ridiculous situation with the porn that passes for learning materials in schools. My opinion on this is clear: this isn’t for children.
With that being said, there has been a growing trend in schools for more than a decade: dual enrollment or college level coursework being taught in high school. When you begin the course, the parents are told that the student is taking a college course that will result in the student receiving both high school and college credit.
Since the college (or other accredited entity that isn’t the high school) sponsors the course, it is the one that sets the standards. The standards for the course are the same ones as students taking the course on the college campus must follow. The high school has no say whatsoever in the curriculum or course content of dual enrollment classes. In fact, a dual enrollment teacher is not even permitted to discuss grades or student performance with parents, unless the student specifically gives permission in writing. Parents and students are made aware of this.
By signing up for this course, students are receiving an adult level education. For two of the seven years that I was a teacher, I was teaching a college level physics course. That is, the students could take an exam at the end of the year, and if they passed, they would get college credit for the course. Parents and students alike complained that my course was too difficult. They still expected that my course would be more of the same inane, easy courses taught at public schools, and simply having your name on the roster would be enough to pass the course. Hey, it even looks good on a college application!
That is why I support the teacher in this case. It was a college level course that was covering college (adult) level material. If you, as a parent, don’t feel that your child is sufficiently advanced and adult enough to handle adult level material (an R rated movie), then you shouldn’t sign them up for a college class.
3 Comments
Plague Monk · November 2, 2021 at 3:16 pm
I took two college level classes while in 11th grade, way back in 1973-74. I got a B in Freshman English, and an A in American History. When I went for my advanced degree some 40 years later, I was still able to cite these two courses for full credit.
But then, my high school was considered one of the best in the country. They lost that designation by the early 80s, unfortunately.
Will · November 3, 2021 at 11:51 am
About kids finding pornography in their library, I found “The Story of O” in my high school library. That was over 50 years ago and yes, I did learn a few things.
Mike-SMO · November 9, 2021 at 4:41 am
I guess it depends on whether the “teacher” is a “teacher”, “indoctrinator”, or a “pedofile”.
The best European history course that I had was taught by a refugee “White Russian” who, it was clear, detested both the Bolsheviks and the “West”. He presented events, sources and welcomed questions and “back splatter”. I learned to apprecdiate various points of view.
I don’t know any details about the course on “pornography”. That would seem to require some tact and context, since the material could give the oppotunity for “soliciting”. That seems to be an odd topic for a course without a whole lotta history and sociology as background. The entire concept of “art” depends on an awareness of the historical context. The entire concept of “pornorgraphy” depends a whole lot on what the artist was selling and when.
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