Peter Menzies: Schools Should Reflect Parents’ Values, Not Public Servants’ Ideology

Commentary

Next month, on June 21, most North Americans will be celebrating Father’s Day in some fashion.

Maybe some golf balls for the old man or a nice brunch to let him know people are grateful for his contribution to his family and being the best dad he could be. Or, as is the case with so many of us, at least trying to be the best dad one could be.

In many other countries, the date designated to celebrate this occasion is different than the one we use in North America, but the sentiment set aside is consistent. In Lithuania, it’s even a public holiday.

Mother’s Day, or “Mothering Sunday” as it is also known in the UK, is similarly marked around the world in one form or another.

Both traditions go back hundreds or in some cases thousands of years, with their modern manifestations being formalized in the early 20th century. But despite all that, some Canadian educators have decided they need to be replaced by something more “inclusive.”

Officials at Sage Creek Elementary in Winnipeg recently sent Grade 1 and 2 students home with non-gender-specific “family gifts” to celebrate International Day of Families, observed on May 15, instead of something the kids had made specifically for their moms.

Teachers had given parents a heads-up that this change was being made in order to “respect the diversity of families that are represented in our classroom and community.”

The mothers and fathers of these children (each of them has or did have one of each, at least biologically if not in person) were not consulted on the changes.

Similar moves have been reported at other schools.

Earlier this year, a Calgary elementary school, Fairview, was reported to have made its own “diversity” move when it sent parents an email outlining best lunch hour practices during Ramadan so that children who were fasting didn’t have to watch their fellow students while they chowed down on their (I was going to write “peanut butter” but am guessing that’s not allowed anymore) sandwiches.

What was curious about this—and there were a number of overwrought headlines and inaccurate reports of the situation—is that it only takes a little online research to establish that the sunrise-to-sunset Ramadan fasting tradition maintained by Muslims doesn’t apply to pre-pubescent children. Certainly, many children may wish to join the elder members of their family in the fast, but there is no requirement. That means it’s highly likely only a very few of Fairview’s students fast during their elementary years, making the school’s moves no more necessary than it would be to remove pop machines from hockey rinks because some kids have sworn off Coca-Cola for Lent. Or ban ham sandwiches because, within some religions, the consumption of pork is forbidden, or haram.

But the actions taken at Sage Creek and Fairview certainly leave the impression that school administrators now feel much better about their efforts to be inclusive. These have been expanding ever since the days when Christmas became the holiday that dare not speak its name within schools and concerts were relabelled “winterlude” or some other reliably “inoffensive” synonym. The intellectual confusion required to deactivate one religious period—the celebration of Christmas—while bending over backwards to accommodate another—Ramadan—all in the name of exclusive inclusion, is a rabbit hole best left unexplored until another day.

The bigger issue here is the top-down process too often used by public servants when it comes to the remake of society. To put it bluntly: they only have permission to do so with permission from the public they are commissioned to serve. That is why they are called public servants and we are called the public.

It would not be difficult, after all, to consult with parents, either virtually or in live meetings and pose the question to them regarding whether they are comfortable with recognizing occasions such as Mother’s Day. Or, inquiring as to the community’s opinion on how best to accommodate—or not—students during lunch hour who may be, for whatever reason, fasting. Islam’s Ramadan is certainly the highest profile these days, but almost all religions practice fasting to some extent. It is common for Christians during Lent, with Ash Wednesday and Good Friday being days of particular note. Judaism has several days designated for fasting, Yom Kippur being the best known.

All that is required is that those paid by the public to perform a service on its behalf respect that their role is to serve and not to command from a self-assigned moral high ground. To forget this can only diminish trust on all sides, while deference to it is the real understanding of inclusion.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.