http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/02/02/nb-lamrock-anthem.html
I found this story on CBC (I read it every morning so I know what I'm missing out in the world), and I found it to be interesting on two fronts: patriotism and human rights. Does the government have the right to enforce the anthem on a school everyday? Obviously parents can opt their children from this, or the students can choose not to sing at all and just stand for the anthem, but at this point are we forcing patriotism on students? I'm on the fence on this one but would love to hear from everyone else on this story. This could happen in BC very easily, so how would you feel about that?
Just some thought stirring and what not:)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is important to have the national anthem in schools. It's a way to unify a school and make everyone feel as though they are a part of something bigger. Think about people who have immigrated to Canada. When they learn the national anthem, it's like welcoming them into our country. It also brings pride for the rights and freedoms that they might not have had in their own country.
ReplyDeleteI loved the quote "political correctness gone wild" because it has come to the point where people are trying to neutralize everything and that's pretty much an impossible task.
On a musician's note, the Canadian anthem is extremely hard to sing and most children do not understand the meaning of the words. Perhaps it needs to be taught more thoroughly. Just a thought.
You're in Canada, expect to be Canadian and show pride for our country and if one of those ways is to sing the national anthem, so be it.
I agree. It is impossible to neutralize everything. I do understand that there is a risk when governments enforce patriotism, but there is always a risk of the government, school or teacher present a bias in the classroom. No matter how hard we try, a classroom will never be neutral.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be better to spend our time learning how to teach kids to critically think than neutralizing everything. If they can identify bias, manipulation and can come up with their own thoughts about Canada in this case, it which be much more effective for the learning process.