“Kindness.” This is a word of compassion, peace, and a silent way to respect one another. But how did this word become a manipulative tool in the Roanoke City Public Schools (RCPS) to be used to teach innocent children some ideologies and lifestyles that their families might not approve of? And how did the tax-payer funded public schools become places to teach a philosophy that many conservatives, such as Christians, Muslims, and perhaps some other beliefs oppose?
Through guidance classes, the students are taught to be kind and to love everybody, but it is a kind of Trojan Horse, because the intention behind that is to promote homosexuality. This is even being done to young students in elementary and middle schools. “Kindness” is the word that is used to persuade students to accept such a lifestyle. It must be realized that teaching children to treat homosexuality or transgenderism with acceptance will create, first, confusion among the children who are from conservative families with religious beliefs which forbid these acts and, second, such a teaching that is different from the families’ faith establishes a ground for ideological conflicts between children and parents.
However, the purpose of this column of course is not to oppose kindness per se, but the way that it is being manipulated by the Roanoke City Public Schools.
Since it’s funded by taxpayers and is supposed to serve everyone, RCPS should not advocate, approve of, or disapprove of any lifestyle, belief, or any other ideologies that become indoctrination to students. Under no circumstances should any employees and staff of public schools have the right to “preach” or advertise for a particular group and apply kindness to influence students to accept and embrace a lifestyle that contradicts their traditional beliefs. The Roanoke Public Schools system must refrain from misleading students but instead continue its sacred duty which is teaching children a curriculum that is completely free from any material that refers to one’s lifestyle.
The RCPS administration ought to respect the diversity of backgrounds of the students’ and their families’ principles and realize that schools are not places to teach to accept or deny a certain lifestyle. Furthermore, teachers must not be put in a position to discuss any sexual-related matters with students except, for example, what is part of biology classes.
Since the City schools’ teachers are obviously diverse with different value systems, requiring all instructors to teach material they find inappropriate or even offensive can create a critical situation for some teachers as they oppose this lifestyle, specifically, to be “preached” among children.
The public schools are taking a risky path by slowly trending away from traditional teaching of the necessary subjects such as science and languages but instead focusing on homosexuality and posting rainbow flags that obviously can be observed in the schools. It is necessary to build a fence between students’ personal lifestyles and their beliefs and the school system.
In general, this is a major concern for conservative parents and many citizens of Roanoke City as the public schools’ administration has become a powerful system for bringing political agendas to the schools and requiring the staff to teach materials that are opposed by many parents. In fact, RCPS is operating without regard to the diversity that exists in the schools and our community.
In conclusion, the two clear and unambiguous messages that are directed to RCPS leadership are, first, discussions of sexual orientation must stay outside the schools, and second, no lifestyle or ideology should be advocated among our children.
– Serwan Zangana supported Operation Iraqi Freedom as a U.S Army translator before coming to the U.S from Kurdistan, Iraq in 1997 to seek political asylum. He was granted asylum status and years later proudly became a U.S citizen. He currently serves as a correction officer in Roanoke.