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Title: School District Bans Father-Daughter Dances After Single Mom Complains
Source:
Yahoo!
URL Source: http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/sc ... nces-single-mom-174500262.html
Published: Sep 19, 2012
Author: Lylah Alphonse
Post Date: 2012-09-20 14:33:13 by X-15
Keywords: None
Views: 186
Comments: 11
In an effort to comply with state laws about gender discrimination, a Rhode Island school district has banned father-daughter dances and mother-son baseball games after a single mom complained that her daughter wasn't able to attend a dance. The mother filed a complaint with the Rhode Island branch of the American Civil Liberties Union last May, saying that her child felt excluded from the dance because she did not have a father figure to take her. The dance was a longstanding event run by a parent-teacher organization. "I think when schools tell girls 'You love dances' and boys 'You love baseball games,' I think that is going too far," Rhode Island ACLU executive director Steven Brown told talk-radio station WPRO-FM. "That is the whole point of having laws and policies to say public schools should not be the business of really encouraging such blatant stereotypes about what girls like and what boys like." But some parents say the events were about tradition and family bonding, not gender roles. "I'm outraged. My family looks forward to this," Lisa Shaljian Mancini told WBZ-TV. "I have three daughters in the school system, and they love this event." One father -- who also happens to be a Republican candidate for State Senate in Rhode Island -- calls the ban is "an assault on traditional family values." "For generations, we've had mother-daughter, father-son events," Sean Gately told Fox News. He found out about the ban after an open house earlier this month at his son's school, and brought it to the attention of the local media this week. "My wife was looking forward to taking our son to the annual mother-son event." Though the complaint was filed with the ALCU in May and the school district resolved it in August, Gately has made the issue part of his election campaign. "I do believe that once this happens in Cranston, the ACLU will pursue every other school district in Rhode Island," he told Fox News. In a statement released on Tuesday, the ALCU's Brown called the controversy "old news." "The school district recognized that in the 21st century, public schools have no business fostering the notion that girls prefer to go to formal dances while boys prefer baseball games," the statement read. "PTOs remain free to hold family dances and other events, but the time has long since passed for public school resources to encourage stereotyping from the days of Ozzie and Harriet. Not every girl today is interested in growing up to be Cinderella -- not even in Cranston." A message left for Brown by Yahoo! Shine was not immediately returned on Wednesday. Title IX -- the federal law against sex discrimination in schools -- has exceptions for gender-specific parent-child events, but Rhode Island's gender discrimination law does not. Over the summer, the school district's lawyer decided that the dance and baseball game needed to be "open to family and students of both genders" in order to comply with state law. "I acknowledge that many of these events have long traditions and for many parents, these types of gender-based events are not an issue," school Superintendent Judith A. Lundsten wrote in a letter sent to partner organizations in August. "However, this is a public school system and under no circumstances should we be isolating any child from full participation in school activities and events based on gender. Please be all-inclusive when planning your events." "We're going to follow the law," Lundsten told WBZ-TV. "I think that, as a community, we'll figure out if we need to move forward and have the law changed." Cranston Mayor Allan Fung said that he thinks the ban is a result of a "too limited, too narrow read" of Title IX and Rhode Island state law. "That is what is most frustrating about the entire scenario right now," Cranston Mayor Allan Fung told WBZ-TV in Boston. "Because of one complaint, many children, many sons, many daughters might not have those memories that we all cherish growing up." The ban only affects gender-specific events held at school. An all-inclusive "parent-child dance," for example, would not be a problem, School Committee member Janice Ruggieri told the Associated Press.
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#1. To: X-15 (#0)
Where baby-daddy when he be needed?
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
Single Mom's are a bane of civilization. They are tax parasites, sucking income from productive men to mostly worthless skanks. The entire child support/alimony scam is nothing but a redistribution of wealth boondoggle, transferring wealth from men to teh wimminz. The whole single Mom phenom is economically unsustainable, it will bring down the welfare/warfare State, it is the straw that will break the camels back. Get ready Grrrrrls, it is not going to pretty.
They are tax parasites, sucking income from productive men to mostly worthless skanks. That blanket assessment of single mother's is rather unfair, don't you think??
#2. To: X-15 (#0)
(Edited)
#3. To: Lysander_Spooner (#2)
Single Mom's are a bane of civilization.
-Alex Kurtagic
#4. To: X-15 (#3)
I did qualify it with "mostly". Also I was not talking about widows, that would be unfair. But, women, initiate over 70% of divorces. A short list of the affect on the children: Being poor - most children of divorce experience at least one year in dire poverty. Problems in school - lower grades, being held back, dropping out. Poor health. Higher risk of substance abuse, mental illness, criminal behavior and early sexual activity. Feeling of loss over one parent's absence due to divorce. Risk of children being abused - living with a stepparent or unmarried partner automatically makes child abuse more likely. Children becoming divorced themselves someday. Additionally, it is estimated divorce takes five years off of the children's lives. Me thinks, the one who initiated the divorce should have 5 years of their lives taken from them for each child. In my case, my mother should get 25 years, my EX should get 10, I would be happy to shove either one in a cage. That blanket assessment of single mother's is rather unfair, don't you think??
#5. To: Lysander_Spooner (#4)
Damn, Ly. I truly hate to learn this. Just damn.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#6. To: Lod (#5)
Aw jeez Lod, It is only 35 years, a little mascara and hair dye, and they will be right back in the game. :)
#7. To: Lysander_Spooner, players, 4 (#6)
here's one that's...odd -
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#8. To: Lod (#7)
You are the master of understatemant, my man. On the bright side, I followed some of the recommended links at the end of the videos and took a nice little jaunt through the 80s again. Gawd, life was fun back then. here's one that's...odd
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#9. To: Lod, esso (#7)
See now, solitary confinement can be fun ;) Yup :) the 80s again. Gawd, life was fun back then.
#10. To: Lod (#7)
How the heck did you track that one down Lod? She seems like she'd be a fun date... here's one that's...odd -
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#11. To: FormerLurker (#10)
I'm confident that no alcohol was involved that evening. (I was searching for a Stevie Nicks' video when that short one came up; so I clicked it...)
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
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