Former Marine Gets Banned from Daughter’s School Over Islam

[meggers5]

ca.shine.yahoo.com/former-marine-gets-banned-from-daughter-s-school-over-islam-lesson-dispute-195059648.html


A father of a student at La Plata High School in Maryland was banned from school grounds last week when he took issue with a lesson on the history of Islam in his daughter’s World History class.


On Wednesday evening, Kevin Wood, a former corporal with the U.S. Marine Corps, saw his daughter, a junior at the school, working on a homework assignment that examined Islam. “It’s not a religion my husband believes in,” Kevin’s wife, Melissa, tells Yahoo Parenting. “My husband’s issues, and mine too, are that they’re teaching Islam, but they are not teaching the current events on Islam. They are making Islam sound like [its followers] are peaceful people.… He is not saying all Muslims are bad.”


Melissa says she and her husband asked the school to give their daughter an alternative assignment, but were told that she either do the assignment or receive grades of zero. “That didn’t sit well with my husband,” Melissa says. “He said, ‘I will bring down a sh*t storm on the school. I’m contacting the media, the newspaper, and contacting an attorney.’ He did not say he would come to the school and create a disruption.”


Shortly after that conversation, however, the school issued Kevin a no-trespass order.




“This parent threatened to cause problems that would potentially disrupt La Plata High School,” Katie O’Malley-Simpson, Director of Communications for Charles County Public Schools, tells Yahoo Parenting. “[The no-trespass order] is to ensure the safety of the students and staff of the school.”






The no-trespass order, photo courtesy of Melissa Wood


The school’s social studies curriculum adheres to Maryland standards, O’Malley-Simpson says, and World History is one of three social studies classes, along with American History and U.S. Government, required for graduation. In a few specific instances, like Sex-Ed, parents are allowed to opt out. “If a certain book is required for Language Arts, but the main lesson is for students to read and discuss a book and analyze the writing, an alternative assignment is easily given,” she says. “That’s not the case with World History or other history classes, because the content is what it is. If you miss that lesson, you haven’t met the standards of that class.”





Melissa says she and her husband should be allowed input regarding what her daughter studies, noting, “As parents, we feel that we should have a say if we choose we do not want our child to study a certain religion.”




The school says it is not teaching religion, but history. A statement provided to Yahoo Parenting by the school reads: “The particular unit in question at La Plata High School is on the formation of Middle Eastern empires, in which students learned the basic concepts of the Islamic faith and how it, along with politics, culture, economics, and geography, contributed to the development of the Middle East. Other religions are introduced when they influence or impact a particular historical era or geographic region.”


During the two weeks that the lesson on Islam has been taught, Kevin and Melissa’s daughter has been pulled out of the classroom, spending that time in the library. Tomorrow, she will return to class, having received zeros on this portion of the curriculum.


In November, the Woods will meet with the Board of Education and the school principal to go over the rest of the year’s curriculum, Melissa says, at which point it will be decided whether or not the no-trespass order will be lifted. “I want to take this further, because I feel like if they don’t take it out of the curriculum, parents should at least have the authority to say if they want their kids to participate,” she says. “There should be alternative assignments to this.”


O’Mally-Simpson says parents are free to reach out to the school and voice their opinions, but the school curriculum mirrors the state’s standard. Still, she says, “This doesn’t happen often. We rarely issue a no-trespass order.”

[thebuddhagouda]

I cannot fathom being so anti-anything that I wanted my child to get a week's worth of zeros simply so they wouldn't read about it. Reading about Islam isn't going to make her instantly convert, and now you've ruined any chance of a good grade in that class which has potential scholarship and academic standing fallout if she was in the running for anything. 

[MWOS]

I hope this girl majors in World Religions in college

[themoneytree]

Oh good. Just what we need. LESS understanding of religions other than our own.

[amberlyrose]

If a Muslim complained about Christianity being mentioned during the lesson about pilgrims, this couple would be up in arms about how Christianity is the religion of the USA!!!!11!

[zoomzoom]

Lol that the dude thinks he's going bring a shit storm down on the school. Dumbass. All he's doing is embarrassing his kid and making himself look like an assclown.

[Bernadine]

Ugh, can we kick this guy out of MD and send him to Texas?

[thebuddhagouda]

Calculus is pretty much straight from the devil. I could get behind this.

[CurlyQ284]

I will sign anything saying calculus is the Devils work.

[ginap]

Oct 31, 2014 12:03:33 GMT -5 zoomzoom said:

Lol that the dude thinks he's going bring a shit storm down on the school. Dumbass. All he's doing is embarrassing his kid and making himself look like an assclown.

Sadly he likely has a whole lot of people supporting his whackjobiness because

[m1and1m]

So, he's mad that this history class is teaching history instead of current events...?

[nomad100]

Oct 31, 2014 12:25:13 GMT -5 @cse1960 said:

Oct 31, 2014 12:17:49 GMT -5 thebuddhagouda said:

Calculus is pretty much straight from the devil. I could get behind this.

let's get some consensus building started here, woman!  

I'm down with letters in math is the sign of the devil and have felt that way for a long time. (see siggy)

[fryjack2]

This dumbass needs to be kicked out if the marines. Is he afraid that his daughter will learn how to be a terrorist by learning about history?

I hope the teacher brings in real live Muslims to talk to the class. Maybe even dressed in traditional clothing. Just to spite him.

And fuck the headline of this article.

[isabel]

If they want control over what their daughter learns in school, they should probably home school her. I only read the first few paragraphs, but so far this dad is getting a big side eye from me.

[tulip]

Oct 31, 2014 12:05:45 GMT -5 Bernadine said:

Ugh, can we kick this guy out of MD and send him to Texas?

Texas doesn't want him. I'm seriously sick of this, not all of Texas is what you think. Give it a rest.

[threejs]

I live in this county and have friends who work at this school. The FB comments from parents agreeing with this dad made me so, so sad.

[Deleted]

My aunt strongly supports this man and posted about on Facebook. I go back and forth between blocking and unblocking her so I can see pictures of my cousin's son. My cousin will often call her mother and make her take down the worst of her rantings, but this post is still up so I blocked her again this morning over it.

[tinybride]

What an asshat.