This one makes me mad.
This is my sweets. She's six. First grade and all that. She thinks she's 18. Or maybe 21. Or 30.... She really wants to be involved, and she's really smart. I am very proud of her.
Yesterday in the evening we gathered around the radio to listen to the presidential debate. She noted my reactions to some of the comments and perceived that I was leaning toward Obama. After chiding me for my disparaging remarks about McCain, she asked if I was going to vote for Obama. I said yes, I probably am (I know that comes as a bif shock to all of you). She said, "Dad! You can't vote for him! He put a circle around the flag (?) and he didn't put his hand on his heart when he says the pledge of allegiance!" I said that I had heard that too, but where did she hear it? Yep, you guessed it - her school teacher. She was so mad and frustrated that she stormed off to her room in tears.
Well, I calmed her down and told her that the great part about living in America is that we can vote for whomever we want. I personally like Obama for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that he reminds me how great of a country this is - minority son of a single mother who worked his way through his life to get where he is now. I like his views on many issues, and others I am diametrically opposed to. But all in all, he represents (to me) what is good and right about America (hope, potential, work, faith, and the pursuit of the ideal). And I explained that while these are my ideas, that I am not in charge of your teacher, my wife, or my daughter - they can choose for themselves.
What makes me mad is that her teacher is talking about these kinds of things in the first place. I love that they are talking about politics. But talking about one person's actions to their detriment and promotion of another - especially a first grade teacher, who is in a position of authority for very young and impressionable minds - is not appropriate. I know that her teacher is young, and I certainly don't want to make it anything more than it is. But when my sweet little daughter, so innocent and so impressionable, runs from her father in tears because of something said at school, well, that makes me upset.
I told my daughter that if people were saying bad things about people then she should say that it's inappropriate and she doesn't want to hear that. After all, Jesus said love everyone, treat them kindly, too. When your heart is filled with love, others will love you.
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