Just let teachers teach

 

Brent Walker

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For a group of people who likely haven’t stepped foot on an elementary school campus in decades, there seem to be some strong and very misinformed feelings about what goes on there. Kindergarteners aren’t learning about sexual intercourse, Second Graders aren’t being encouraged to explore different genders, and Fifth Graders aren’t being pitted against each other in some sort of guilt-inducing race war. That’s utter nonsense, and the people peddling it are lying to you for votes and ratings.

Instead of raging over the vile hogwash you are being fed, I’d encourage you to make better use of your time by volunteering an hour of your week reading with struggling students, becoming a business partner to help fund different school projects, or signing up to be a substitute teacher once a month. Find your local elementary school and start putting effort into getting to know the staff and students there. We aren’t evil liberals indoctrinating the neighborhood kids with some leftist agenda; we’re real people with big hearts who choose to spend every day working with kids so they better comprehend what they read, explore the world around them, ask questions so they can more fully understand what they see, and live effectively in a community. We tie shoelaces, give hugs to sad seven-year-olds, talk through conflict between fourth-graders, and provide wet paper towels to soothe boo-boos Kindergarteners swear exist but we can’t actually see. We laugh with our kids, eat lunch with them, and give them a feeling of comfort and stability many are missing at home. Sometimes we might even provide the first smile or kind word they’ve gotten that day. And yes, we occasionally lose our cool and raise our voices because the little boogers have gotten on our last nerve and we’re human, for goodness sake.

But mostly we love.

Stop believing the lies, quit demonizing us, and let us do our jobs. Carve out some time in the coming weeks and and make a visit so you can see what really happens in these weird and beautiful little spaces.