“Primary” Education
Monday, March 17th, 2008Amidst a deep conversation regarding civil right, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and defining government the following dialog took place:
“So Emily, did you know we are having an election this year to pick the next President?”
“Yes! And I hope the girl wins!”
Not having expected my six year old to know anything about civics, much less the sex of the candidates, I was taken aback and pleasantly surprised - my tax dollars at work!
“Why do you want the girl to win?”
Then came the dreaded response, “Because my teacher told me - this would be the first time a girl was president! That would be awesome!” Dreaded because it’s the first time Emily has come home having been taught a viewpoint counter to that which her mother and I would prefer her to hold.
“Emily,” I said, “we don’t pick someone to be president because they are a boy or a girl. That would be like picking someone because they are tall or because they can cook. We pick someone because they will do the best job.”
“But I want the girl to win!”
“Will the girl do the best job?”
“I don’t know… will she?” – throwing the argument back into my court.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter if the President is a boy or a girl. We pick the person who will do the best job.”
In the end she was disappointed, but she eventually understood that we need to pick a President based on merit, not skin color or sex – both of which will obviously be played up in this year’s election. What makes me mad is that I have to be the one to correct her teacher’s feminist viewpoint. I thought teachers were supposed to teach things like critical thinking and objectivity. Maybe I just truly underestimated the “girlpower” that